
Words: 76 (14×16)
Average Length: 4.79
I’d had the idea for this puzzle for ages, but the construction turned into more of a challenge than I expected. I even had an entirely different puzzle with the same theme ready to go, but I wasn’t happy with it and decided to start over.
I’m a sucker for unusual time signatures, and 11D fits the bill: it’s one of only two rock songs I know of that’s predominantly in 7/4. (The other is “Salisbury Hill,” by Peter Gabriel; the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” alternates between 7/4 and 4/4.)
19A is something my mother used to say. She had other precipitation-related expressions as well: if it was raining while the sun was shining, she’d say “las brujas bailan” – “the witches are dancing” – an expression she picked up during her childhood in Puerto Rico.