Words: 74
Average Length: 4.65
Picture above: a house (not mine). It’s Hacienda La Compañia in Ecuador, and it’s gorgeous inside and out.
My quite limited artistic abilities are on display in this grid; if nothing else, the title should tell you what the black shape in the middle is. There’s a small amount of less-than-ideal fill necessitated by the constraints of the theme, so please accept my apologies in advance. I hope the phenomenally realistic grid design makes up for that.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.40
In the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe” series, Douglas Adams asserts that the answer to “life, the universe, and everything” is 42. In that vein, I proudly present Themeless 42, which answers such pressing questions as: What’s orange and hangs out in a mall (6 Down)? Who’s the leader of the pack (17 Across)? And what exactly is fast food (12 Across)? Please enjoy, and please share!
Words: 73 (16×15)
Average Length: 5.42
Time for a medium-difficulty themed puzzle relating to some of our fellow fauna. If you don’t know the song in the clue for 19A, give it a listen. It’s one of my favorites: a John Prine classic best known from Bonnie Raitt’s spectacular cover, , it focuses with dry-eyed sensitivity on a woman who’s tired of her life and longing for something or someone better.
Pictured above: Max, part of my 52 Across
Words: 16
Average Length: 4.88
This is the last MMM, for a while at least. I’m going to start a new series of midi puzzles after New Year’s. To wrap up the MMMs, I included a pun I’ve been kicking around for months and have finally decided to inflict upon you (10 Across) as well as a nod (4 Down) to the greatest music mockumentary ever, “This Is Spinal Tap” (narrowly edging “A Mighty Wind”).
See clue for 26 Across (Leaf producer)
Words: 72
Average Length: 5.25
Just a couple of notes on this one: first, it’s a themeless, but somehow several clues relate to musicians, songs, or lyrics. My brain has song lyrics (mostly from the 60s and 70s) crowding every synapse, to the apparent exclusion of more useful information. Maybe using some of those as clues will free up room for things like people’s names, which I am utterly inept at remembering.
Second, the clue for 46A: “Reading to your kids, e.g.” I read to my children every night when they were growing up, and those memories remain among my most cherished (“… is the word I use to describe, whoa-o-o-o-o-o-o …” [The Association, Cherish (1966)]. See what I mean?) Sandy and I have our first grandchild coming in February, and I can’t wait to make more wonderful memories (“… all alone in the moonlight …”) [Barbara Streisand, 1981, from the soundtrack of Cats].
Please, if you have young children, read to them – it’s an amazing bonding experience (take it away, Jimi [Hendrix, 1967]: “Are you experienced/Or have you ever been experienced?”)! And while you’re at it, sing to them. Lyrics can come in handy!
Words: 20
Average Length: 5.00
If two great Russian composers, two legendary British musical artists, two creative heavyweights of R&B, and a beloved talk show host made a puzzle, this would be it. I’ve saved them the trouble of getting together, which is good because the majority of them are no longer with us.
Words: 67 (14×15)
Average Length: 5.07
I’ve been toying with the idea for this theme for a while. When I finally decided to flesh it out, I realized it needed a non-standard grid size to preserve symmetry, which accounts for the fact that the grid looks like it’s lost weight. (Your humble constructor certainly hasn’t, having recently returned from Portugal, where food and wine are cherished: see the picture above of cod with roasted potatoes and onions, gleefully consumed at Restaurant Pinoquio, Lisbon.)
Words: 24
Average Length: 4.67
Welcome to the antepenultimate MMM. I’ve decided to start something different with my mid-week puzzles after I’ve reached 30 of these, so stay tuned for further news.
“Spanning the globe,” to quote the old Wide World of Sports intro, this week’s MMM includes musicians from the US, England, Scotland, and Russia, and song titles from Japan and the Middle East, with a nod to Brazil as well. If you solve it, you can enjoy the “thrill of victory”; fortunately, you can reveal any answers that stump you and thus avoid the “agony of defeat.”
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