Site of Missouri State Fair / TUE 7-30-13 / Martial arts actor Steven / Upholstery materials / Glossy cloth

Constructor: Peter A. Collins

Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging


THEME: Top five greatest songs per "ROLLING STONE" — Just ... famous songs, clued as if they weren't songs + ellipsis + "and #whatever on the list." Magazine title just happens to be embedded within one of the song titles:

Theme answers:

• 18A: Honor ... and #5 on a list by 40-/46-Across of the 500 greatest songs of all time ("RESPECT")
• 22A: Fulfillment ... and #2 on the list ("SATISFACTION")
• 34A: With 40- and 46-Across, mossless? ... and #1 on the list ("LIKE A / ROLLING / STONE")
• 54A: Casual greeting ... and #4 on the list ("WHAT'S GOING ON?")
• 61A: Pretend ... and #3 on the list ("IMAGINE")

Word of the Day: SEDALIA (70A: Site of the Missouri State Fair) —

Sedalia is a city located about 30 miles (48 km) south of the Missouri River in Pettis County, Missouri. U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 65 intersect in the city. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 21,387. It is the county seat of Pettis County. The Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Pettis County. Sedalia is the location of the Missouri State Fair and the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. On May 25, 2011, a tornado ripped through Sedalia, causing significant damage to much of the southern side of the city. (wikipedia)

Yep, those songs sure do line up symmetrically. Now that we've all observed this coincidence ... on to Wednesday's puzzle.


As for fill—couple of odd plurals right out of the box in DAMASKS (1A: Upholstery materials) and SLOES, but ICE BLUE KUNG FU is a style I would want to practice if I practiced KUNG FU, so I was in a better mood heading toward the middle. OCCULTIST, I like. Most of the rest of the fill is just OK. I still don't think SEDALIA is a place that has any genuine crossworthiness, but now that I've seen it once (or twice ... maybe), it doesn't give me too much trouble. Still, though, come on, 21K inhabitants. You know, you could've made SEDARIS work there, easily. He's got a best-selling book and everything. He even once wrote a fantastic piece once for The New Yorker called "Turbulence," which was in part about solving a crossword puzzle on an airplane. Here's a taste:

It’s pathetic how much significance I attach to the Times puzzle, which is easy on Monday and gets progressively harder as the week advances. I’ll spend fourteen hours finishing the Friday, and then I’ll wave it in someone’s face and demand that they acknowledge my superior intelligence. I think it means that I’m smarter than the next guy, but all it really means is that I don’t have a life.

As for this puzzle, there's really not much else to say. Five songs. There they are. I enjoy the songs. I enjoy thinking about them, a little. Imagine all the ERASERS / Livin' for SED-AAAAAAA-LI-IIII-I-IA. And good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld