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!
Words: 16
Average Length: 5.5
Difficulty: A gentle May breeze with one or two gusts
The seed for this one was 13 Across – to me, one of the greatest songs ever written. It’s a Leonard Cohen classic, and it was covered (gorgeously of course) by Judy Collins. You can listen to his version here, and hers here.
Check back on Sunday for a special Mothers’ Day Puzzle.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.57
Difficulty: Even though I’m posting this on 5/1, there’s no need to shout “Mayday”
1 Across was the seed, and it’s an interesting story: Prince Esterhazy, Haydn’s patron, brought the composer and his orchestra to his summer palace and stayed longer than the musicians expected. Being separated from their families back in Eisenstadt, where the Prince’s main palace was located, the musicians asked Haydn to seek the Prince’s permission to return. Rather than confront the Prince directly, Haydn composed this symphony; at the end, after all the other musicians had snuffed out their candles and left the stage, only Haydn and the concertmaster remained. The Prince got the message; the next day the court returned to Eisenstadt. The Wikipedia article is here.
Words: 18
Average Length: 5
Difficulty: Like Chick Corea’s Children’s Song #1
Don’t know the reference? It’s a deceptively simple, hypnotic tune with an intriguing melody line and some tricky rhythms. You can listen to it here.
After last week’s tribute to Coltrane’s Giant Steps, this grid leans classical. Nothing is too obscure, however, except maybe 1 Across, which is why it has such a tortured clue.
Words: 96 (17×17, a generous pour)
Average Length: 5.06
Difficulty: Quite drinkable, though it may leave a punny aftertaste
If, as Robert Louis Stevenson said, “wine is bottled poetry,” get ready for a big ol’ bucketful of doggerel. Enjoy it in moderation or even to excess – just enjoy it!
Words: 34 (8×14)
Average Length: 4.94
Difficulty: If you know a bit about jazz, it’s like soloing on All Blues. If not, it’s like soloing on the tune spelled out by the circled letters.
I played in a jazz trio for years, and even though I mostly listen to rock these days, I still put on a jazz classic every so often. Last week I listened to the album that’s the subject of this puzzle for the first time in ages. I’d forgotten how amazing and revolutionary it is.
I’d also forgotten how difficult the title track on the album is to play, let alone blow a coherent solo over. I managed that feat once in my life: one year in college, the great Mary Lou Williams was an artist-in-residence. After our jazz band rehearsals, she’d hang around and play piano while some of us would take a crack at improving our improvisation. (I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t realize at the time what a precious and rare opportunity this was.)
One night, she had us play and solo over the song in question. I don’t remember how she did it, but she managed to get me out of my head (where I was frantically trying to anticipate the chord changes) and into the flow of the music. It hasn’t happened again.
Words: 70
Average Length: 5.37
Difficulty: Not quite as difficult (by a small margin) as scaling these cliffs would be
16 Across was the “seed,” appropriately enough, though it’s a concept that baffles me, as a lifelong suburbanite. 28 Across: I had the opportunity to fly Emirates Business Class from DC to Dubai a few years ago and then fly it back from Singapore. It was probably the most luxurious travel experience I’ve ever had. 15 Down: In 2010 my brother and I visited the Shetland Islands, rented a car, and drove off to see (among other things) the puffins, which are all over the place – except, that is, for all the places we looked for them. Shortly after that trip I started a blog (long dormant) called Puffinless Travel. I’ve been to every continent except Australia since 2010 and still haven’t seen any puffins.
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