WEDNESDAY PUZZLE – I don’t believe I have ever come right out and said that a theme was complete and utter gibberish, but today I get to do just that.
And believe it or not, today’s constructor, Gareth Bain, will probably applaud me for using the word gibberish. Because he put gibberish in his grid. To be completely accurate, they are songs whose names sound like gibberish [Stop saying gibberish. Gah, now we're saying it! --Ed.] The six songs are DO WAH DIDDY DIDDY, OBLA DI OBLA DA (making its debut as a complete song title, as opposed to a fill-in-the-blank clue), IKO IKO, SHBOOM, MMMMMMMMMMMM, and DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO.
The grid design means that we have a plethora of three-letter words, but I couldn’t hear myself grumbling over the sound of all that singing (what, your puzzle didn’t set off all the songs at once?) In fact, it’s so noisy in here right now that I’m going to hand it over to Will Shortz and Dr. Bain, except to say that I really enjoyed this one and that my Clue of the Day was “Small wonder?” for ATOM. Oh, and don’t think I didn’t notice that “Ginger” reference to the entry RED HAIR, Dr. Bain.
Will Shortz’s Notes:
How Gareth Bain, a South African, understands American crosswords — and culture — so well, I will never understand. This is his 12th puzzle published in The Times, with more in the pipeline.
Constructor’s Notes:
All crossword constructors are in it for the records right? I’m hoping this goes down as “earwormiest New York Times crossword.” It was conceived while watching a local advert for I think Standard Bank that uses SHBOOM as its theme. Like every good (and not so good) constructor, I rushed to see if that answer had been used. As far as I could tell it hadn’t. My next thought was that a whole puzzle of sound-effect songs could create a pleasing effect. It’s a lot simpler and “listier” than most New York Times puzzles, but I think it works. I regret this puzzle’s density, especially as, only the week before making it, I vowed never again to force too much theme into a puzzle! It was a bear to fill, especially all those accursed M’s! The result, inevitably, is a puzzle that has little to offer if you don’t enjoy the theme.
Last, I’m hoping to coerce Deb into putting a bonus South African theme answer on her blog…[Spoiler warning!]
You’ve got it, Dr. Bain. Here’s the South African band Freshly Ground singing [Spoiler alert]:
Your thoughts?