Constructor: Mike Buckley
Relative difficulty: Easiest Thursday I've Ever Done (give or take)
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THEME: three songs Down, three songs Across — all 15-letters long … yes, that is the theme … yes, it is … I swear.
Theme answers:
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Beat my Tuesday (!) and Wednesday times on this one. Seconds away from breaking the four-minute mark. The fill is Monday-easy (possibly easier, since this grid doesn't have Monday's ridiculously unMonday JON SEDA). Anyway, anyone who thinks this is some kind of amazing feat—finding six 15-letter songs that can intersect like this—clearly has zero experience with the multiple databases and websites and other resources out there. I'm sure it took a little while to get six songs that worked, but a. why? They have nothing in common besides being songs; and b. filling in the grid from there is a cakewalk. There's nothing ambitious or interesting here. It's all paint by numbers stuff. The puzzle isn't bad; it's pointless. On a Thursday?—the marquee, pull-out-the-stops, kick-out-the-jams bad-ass theme day?—very disappointing.
Honestly, I have nothing to write about. I know a lot of song titles, so getting the 15s was no trouble. Barely needed crosses. The one exception was the [1953 hit for Julius La Rosa], which is an LOL outlier, esp. for anyone under 60. I can sing at least the chorus, and in most cases much more, of the other five songs. Julius La Rosa is from the pre-Rock era, so I have literally never heard a thing he's ever sung. But classic rock and oldies stations were playing Jackie Wilson and the Shangri-Las regularly when I was in high school (and trying to reject '80s pop music), so that stuff is super familiar to me even though it was popular before I was born. Other than Mr. La Rosa, not much trouble. Mistook the play on words in 3D: French capitalists? (PARISIANS)—thought "capital" would refer to currency (a la [Mexican capital?] = PESO), but it's the capital city that was at issue. Let's see, what else? Nothing. See you tomorrow.
[15!!]
Relative difficulty: Easiest Thursday I've Ever Done (give or take)
THEME: three songs Down, three songs Across — all 15-letters long … yes, that is the theme … yes, it is … I swear.
Theme answers:
- "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY"
- "LONELY TEARDROPS"
- "LEADER OF THE PACK"
- "ANYWHERE I WANDER"
- "I BELIEVE I CAN FLY"
- "PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE"
nountrademark
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Honestly, I have nothing to write about. I know a lot of song titles, so getting the 15s was no trouble. Barely needed crosses. The one exception was the [1953 hit for Julius La Rosa], which is an LOL outlier, esp. for anyone under 60. I can sing at least the chorus, and in most cases much more, of the other five songs. Julius La Rosa is from the pre-Rock era, so I have literally never heard a thing he's ever sung. But classic rock and oldies stations were playing Jackie Wilson and the Shangri-Las regularly when I was in high school (and trying to reject '80s pop music), so that stuff is super familiar to me even though it was popular before I was born. Other than Mr. La Rosa, not much trouble. Mistook the play on words in 3D: French capitalists? (PARISIANS)—thought "capital" would refer to currency (a la [Mexican capital?] = PESO), but it's the capital city that was at issue. Let's see, what else? Nothing. See you tomorrow.