Constructor: Dan Margolis
Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Monday level)
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THEME:"Genre"— songs are clued wackily, via a "genre" that they belong to only in the most literal of senses:
Theme answers:
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I did this and then made dinner (a kind of pizza / salad hybrid that actually came out great) and then watched the latest "Orphan Black" (I would watch a spin-off just about Helena and her wacky, ultra-violent misadventures), and then came back up here to write and had completely forgotten what the puzzle was about. Even now, I'm not sure (I'm deliberately not looking down and to my left, where the puzzle sits … I'm just going to try to remember … I know I liked it pretty well … something … nope, gotta look). Oh, right, the "genre in quotation marks" clues. Yes. It's a very cute concept. Execution feels wildly arbitrary. OK, I don't know any other famous songs about things that hop [looks up "WALTZING MATILDA" to find out if it's about a kangaroo — discovers it isn't —moves on]. But (drum roll) "KNOCK THREE TIMES" is a gorgeous 15 (bingo!) letters long. And there must be a bunch of song titles with a country name in them. There are certainly a bunch of songs with "America" in their titles. "AMERICAN PIE" is the worst of the themers, in that "American" is an adjective, not a country. And hey, "TURNING JAPANESE" works if you like adjectives, and (drum roll) 15! Pardon me while I completely redo your grid for you.
Again, love the concept. And where is the "rock" song? ("Turn to Stone"?). The "pop" song? ("Father Figure"?). You've got yourself a Sunday theme here—it's semi-squandered on these four measly answers. Fill is average, but decent. Fine. I don't like NANCE on a Monday (an old veep's middle name? no). Also, two UPs and two TOs really close to each other, and then AT ME and IT NO, also really close to each other. It's a little messy. But largely inoffensive. So thumbs up for the concept, thumbs somewhere in the middle for everything else.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Monday level)
THEME:"Genre"— songs are clued wackily, via a "genre" that they belong to only in the most literal of senses:
Theme answers:
- 17A: "Hip-hop" song of 1967 ("WHITE RABBIT")
- 29A: "Rap" song of 1966 ("KNOCK ON WOOD")
- 45A: "Country" song of 1971 ("AMERICAN PIE")
- 60A: "Metal" song of 1950 ("SILVER BELLS")
John Nance Garner IV, known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack" (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), was an American Democratic politician and lawyer from Texas. He was a state representative from 1898 to 1902, and U.S. Representative from 1903 to 1933. He was the 44th Speaker of the House in 1931–1933. In 1932, he was elected the 32nd Vice President of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1941. A conservative Southerner, Garner opposed the sit-down strikes of the labor unions and theNew Deal's deficit spending. He broke with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in early 1937 over the issue of enlarging the Supreme Court, and helped defeat it on the grounds that it centralized too much power in the President's hands. (wikipedia)
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Again, love the concept. And where is the "rock" song? ("Turn to Stone"?). The "pop" song? ("Father Figure"?). You've got yourself a Sunday theme here—it's semi-squandered on these four measly answers. Fill is average, but decent. Fine. I don't like NANCE on a Monday (an old veep's middle name? no). Also, two UPs and two TOs really close to each other, and then AT ME and IT NO, also really close to each other. It's a little messy. But largely inoffensive. So thumbs up for the concept, thumbs somewhere in the middle for everything else.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld