I realize that complaining about the lack of timeliness on the part of a crossword puzzle that I don't pay for leaves me without much of a righteously-indignant leg to stand on, but damn -- this thing didn't come out till about 4:30 p.m.. What's the hold-up? We're not looking for a word that'll work at 34 Down, you've got a whole week (at least) of puzzles, why can't you get them up on the website?
Oh well, here's your SPOILER WARNING: Don't read any further until you've done today's New York Sun Crossword Puzzle. New York Sun puzzles are every bit as fun and challenging as the more well-known New York Times and they're indisputably better in one way -- they're free. If you'd like to read about an unbiased head-to-head competition between the Sun and the Times puzzles check this out. Or if you're ready to decide for yourself you can download this puzzle and join in on the fun here.
In "Mercury Records" we watch the thermometer rise. I know I've seen a puzzle with a similar theme recently but I can't remember where now, and this one does have the saving grace of having the themed entries all be the titles of rock and roll records -- albeit not all hits.
17A: 1969 Plastic Ono Band hit (COLD TURKEY) Yeah, I know it says "hit", and it actually made the Billboard charts, peaking at #26, but have you ever heard this song about how unfun it is to quit heroin? Here are the lyrics:
Temperature's rising,
Fever is high,
Can't see no future,
Can't see no sky.
My feet are so heavy,
So is my head,
I wish I was a baby,
I wish I was dead.
Cold turkey has got me on the run.
My body is aching,
Goose-pimple bone,
Can't see no body,
Leave me alone.
My eyes are wide open,
Can't get to sleep,
One thing I'm sure of,
I'm in at the deep freeze.
Cold turkey has got me on the run.
Cold turkey has got me on the run.
Thirty-six hours,
Rolling in pain,
Praying to someone,
Free me again.
Oh I'll be a good boy,
Please make me well,
I promise you anything,
Get me out of this hell.
Cold turkey has got me on the run.
Oh-, oh-, oh--, oh...
I don't know -- 36 hours rolling in pain,can you dance to something li
ke that?28A: 1966 Capitols hit (COOL JERK) This one actually got to number 7 on the pop charts, but there really isn't much to it, just a guy bragging about how cool he is cuz he can do the jerk -- a popular dance at the time.
41A: 1992 Kris Kross hit (WARM IT UP) All I remember about Kris Kross is that they wore their pants backward, sang horribly and it seemed like a good time for me to give up on pop music.
53A: 1978 Foreigner hit (HOT BLOODED) Now this might be the greatest rock tune ever recorded. At least it seemed that way back in November 1978 when I had been in Air Force Basic Training at Lackland AFB for 3 days, freezing my ass off, going through some cold turkey of my own since I hadn't had a cigarette since I got there. We got out first smoke break, where guys stood on a square and puffed away, flicking the ashes into a bucket in the center of the square. Some guy in a flight ahead of us (who were allowed to have radios) walked by and his boombox was playing this song. I have never heard anything so beautiful before or since.
After the greatest rock song ever, there doesn't seem to be much worthy of comment in this puzzle. Yeah, there's a corny joke at 20D: "Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 __ 9!" (ATE) and you know I love corny jokes, but it seems in order for this one to work the answer has to be "Because seven eight nine" letting the listener pick up on the aurul pun, and not "Because seven ate nine"because if the numbers are devouring each other, it's no wonder they're frightened. It's not funny, either.
And I learned something at 46A: Simple Father's Day gift (TIE TAC) I always thought that thing that kept your tie together was a tie tack.
That's all for tonight.
3 comments:
I kinda liked 45A: It might be filled with pot smoke (KILN). I had originally thought TEEN, but decided that was a tad too risque, even for the sun.
I also liked 49D: Fall location (EDEN)
All in all, a good Monday on a Tuesday.
The numerical fear joke is big among the 7-year-old demographic.
I actually liked both of those clues too, Austin. I was just too tired to comment on them when the puzzle came out.
Orange, my sense of humor pretty much coalesced at age 7, so I like the joke; I just prefer the punchline "7 8 9" to "7 ate 9." There's a game or joke that my parents used to play on me and that I in turn played on my kids, where you say "I one a skunk." They say "I two a skunk" and you go back and forth until they say "I eight a skunk" at which point you recoil in horror and say, "Yuck, you ate a skunk!" If you're playing to a seven-year-old audience, I highly recommend this joke.
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