Words: 76
Average Length: 4.87
Difficulty: Gently moderate
Ah, June in DC: The gnats are swarming, the Nats are in last place, and natch, I’ve got a June-themed puzzle for you. Please enjoy and share!
Words: 16
Average Length: 5.25
Difficulty: Moderato
Yesterday’s LA Times/Wash. Post puzzle, 23 Across: Clue – *Tunes for fogies. Answer – Classic Rock. The clue was asterisked to indicate an answer fitting the “sugar coat” theme, or as the clue for the “sugar coat” answer put it, “make sweeter, in the way the theme answers do to their starred clues.” As an old college friend of mine used to say, “I resemble that remark.” (I graduated college in 1980, so any college friend of mine is an old friend.)
Having said that, note that out of 12 music-related clues in this week’s mini, only one answer (11 Across), a mere 8.3%, is arguably classic rock-related. Don’t claim that 4 Down were classic rock. They were a classic band, but a decade too late.
Words: 76
Average Length: 4.87
Difficulty: Easier than finding four less similar acts to perform in the same concert
Persuading smushed-together song titles to divide symmetrically is a non-trivial undertaking. My other Set List puzzles had symmetrical theme answers spanning three long entries. For this puzzle, try as I might, I could only create a set list spanning two long, symmetrical entries. I’d been thinking of using the made-up rumored collaboration at 38 Across in a different puzzle, but I decided a shorter set list would be fine provided that the collaboration had a central spot in this grid.
I saw 16 Down on SNL last month and was blown away by her talent. Of course, I’ve heard her on the radio many times, but seeing her live underscored how amazing she is. Then it occurred to me that a seemingly inordinate number of musicians/compositions have “Zs” in their names, ranging from pop to rock to opera to jazz to conductors, and that there ought to be a grid acknowledging that observation. Et voila!
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.51
Difficulty: Straightforwardly challenging
I’m back from my foray into preaching/political strategizing and hoping to entertain you with a middle-of-the-road themeless. (Pick a lane, dammit!)
44D: Just before the pandemic hit, I was in Sri Lanka taking an architectural tour of Colombo. As we walked up one street between a phenomenal indoor market and some beautifully restored buildings, the guide mentioned that Duran Duran had filmed the video for “Hungry Like the Wolf” on that very street. Who’d’ve thought?!
Words: 74
Average Length: 5.16
Difficulty: I tried to make this easier than usual. That effort may have met with “incomplete success,” as President Carter once said.
A crossword puzzle is an ineffective means of getting a message across, but I’m a Democrat, so I come by that naturally. Here’s the point:
For years, Republicans have used the “pro-life” label to oppose abortion, with mounting success at the state and federal levels. Yet the Republicans’ conception of life is that it begins at fertilization and apparently ends at birth. As rabidly as the Rs yell that abortion is murder, they reflexively oppose laws that would curb gun violence, promote breathable air and drinkable water, guarantee affordable health care, housing, and education, ensure security from hunger, etc., etc., etc.
The Democrats must pound this message home: You can’t be “pro-life” while sabotaging the health and welfare of the living. Put that on billboards, TV ads, t-shirts, whatever … just get the point across!
Solve online | puz | pdf | solution
Words: 18
Average Length: 5.00
Difficulty: Legato
This week’s Mostly Musical Mini brings Ellington, Winehouse, a (very) little rap, a multi-talented Bajan billionaire, and more. Please solve and enjoy!
Solve online | puz | pdf | solution
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.00
Difficulty: A beach read, but on a somewhat windy day
I’m fascinated by the weekly “By the Book” column in the New York Times. If you don’t know it, every week a guest author responds to several questions about favorites, preferences, organization of their book collections, etc. One of the questions is something like “If you could invite any 3 authors, living or dead, to a dinner party, who would they be and why?”
Why stop at 3, I thought, and why not make a puzzle about it? Even better, why not have the theme entries be the most appropriate dishes for each author to bring? (The party morphed into a potluck.)
NEW!!! Solve on line here
Words: 78
Average Length: 4.78
Difficulty: Gentle, kind, empathetic, funny, generous, open-minded, fun-loving … Oh, wait, that was my Mom. This puzzle shares some of those characteristics.
Happy Mothers’ Day to all you mothers out there! I hope your day (and life) is filled with love, joy, and appreciation.
I constructed this puzzle in February. In March, one week shy of her 88th birthday, my Mom passed away. She lived a wonderful life, traveling all over the world, dancing at the slightest provocation (including with a tribal elder in Ghana as part of a ritual ceremony), giving generously of her time, spirit, and resources, and appreciating the dignity and value of everyone she met. I miss her terribly, but my grief is made bearable by joyous memories of trips, holidays, stupid jokes, her fantastic arroz con pollo (back in my meat-eating days), and a lifetime of wise and heartfelt support.
Thanks to my Mom and Dad, I think I was born interested in crosswords. Much of my childhood is a blur, but I vividly recall my parents passing the NYT Sunday puzzle back and forth, praising/questioning/correcting one another’s entries, and occasionally emitting a satisfied or chagrined “oh”. Solving the Sunday NYT remained a weekly habit for my Mom and Dad until my father died six years ago. Mom continued to solve puzzles, in both English and Spanish, until she passed.
Mom, wherever you are, 41 Across, a thousand thousand times, and Happy Mothers’ Day! I hope there are puzzles galore for you to enjoy!
Jeff's Puzzles