Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: HERE COMES MY BABY — Theme answers started with words related to delivering a baby.
- LABOR DAY WEEKEND (17A: Traditional end of summer)
- PUSH THE ENVELOPE (27A: Dare to exceed normal limits)
- DELIVERY SERVICE (46A: FedEx or DHL)
- HERE COMES MY BABY (56A: 1967 hit by the Tremeloes suggested by the starts of 17-, 27- and 46-Across)
Word of the Day: ARTIE (33A: Swing clarinetist Shaw) —
Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction.
Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists",[1] Shaw led one of the United States' most popular big bands in the late 1930s through the early 1940s. Though he had numerous hit records, he was perhaps best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine." Before the release of "Beguine," Shaw and his fledgling band had languished in relative obscurity for over two years and, after its release, he became a major pop artist within short order. The record eventually became one of the era's defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also an early proponent of what became known much later as Third Stream music, which blended elements of classical and jazz forms and traditions. His music influenced other musicians, such as Monty Norman in England, with the vamp of the James Bond Theme, possibly influenced by 1938's "Nightmare".[2]
(Wikipedia)
Bullets:
- WVA (45D: State with the words "Wild Wonderful" on its license plates: Abbr.) — I went to summer camp in WV, and let me tell you, they did not let us forget it. It's been probably about a decade and I still have all the words to "Take Me Home, Country Roads" memorized. One of our counselors once did a parody about her own hometown of Washington, DC; it was mostly about the traffic, which, fair enough. All I can remember of it is "the radio reminds me of the traffic back home."
- DALI (34A: Salvador who painted melting watches) — What's your favorite Dali painting? Mine has to be, pardon my language, "The Great Masturbator" (1929). Dunno why, but something about that weird melting fleshy thing just gets me.
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- GLEE (54A: Extreme happiness) — Also a title of the wildest show of my adolescence. Who could forget Rachel showing up to school in a dress made of Beanie Babies (for Lady Gaga Day, of course)? Quinn giving birth to the tune of a teen a capella "Bohemian Rhapsody"? Santana wearing a t-shirt that said "Lebanese" because her sorta-best-friend-sorta-girlfriend was bad with words and thought it meant "lesbian"? A true classic.
- HERB (52D: Basil or dill) — Weirdly enough, this reminds me of a character from the hit mobile gacha game Cookie Run, and now I have another character's theme song stuck in my head. You wouldn't think a silly game about cookies would produce such a fandom or such good music.
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