Dear listeners,
In 2012, shortly after the death of the legendary blues musician Etta James, the writer Matt Gaffney provided a somewhat unconventional eulogy on the website Slate, remembering James as “a woman whose handy, four-letter first name has gotten us out of many tough corners and spared us countless painful rewrites.”
Gaffney is a crossword puzzle writer, and in this article he amusingly defined a specific type of renown: James was a perfect example of someone who was “crossword-famous.”
If you do enough crossword puzzles (as I certainly do; shout out to my esteemed colleagues in The New York Times Games department for enabling my habit), you start to see certain names over and over. (Brian) Eno. (Yoko) Ono. And yes, Etta (James). Why these and not others? Gaffney explained, “short groupings of common letters are the lifeblood of crosswords, and you’ll need a lot of them if you want to make things work. For that reason, crossword-famous names are likely to be three, four or five letters long, with as many 1-point Scrabble letters as possible.”
Today’s playlist is a compilation of songs by crossword-famous musicians. You’ll hear the aforementioned Eno, Ono and Etta, as well as a few more recent entrants into the pantheon of crossword fame: Sia, Adele and Ariana Grande. A certain Guthrie is also on this playlist, though avid crossword solvers know that the most famous folk singer with that last name is not necessarily the most crossword-famous.
If you’re new to the art of solving crossword puzzles, I hope today’s playlist gives you some pointers — along with some enjoyable tunes. And if you’re more of an advanced puzzler who doesn’t pay much attention to popular music, this playlist should teach you a thing or two. Grab a pencil (or if you’re feeling especially confident, a pen), load up today’s New York Times crossword and press play.
I feel like I win when I lose,
Lindsay
Listen along while you read.
1. Electric Light Orchestra: “Don’t Bring Me Down”
“Mr. Blue Sky” band, for short; three letters. The British pop-rock outfit ELO appears on many crossword grids thanks to its terse, vowel-heavy acronym. This classic tune from the 1979 album “Discovery” also prompts one of rock’s most enduring mysteries: Who is the “Bruce” mentioned in the chorus?! In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Jeff Lynne clarified that he’s actually singing “groose,” a seemingly nonsensical syllable he uttered as a place holder. “The engineer said that it meant ‘greetings’ in German, which I thought was lovely and decided to leave in,” he said. When he played it live, though, “everyone would sing ‘Bruce.’ I just ended up singing ‘Bruce,’ as well.”
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Brian Eno: “Baby’s on Fire”
Ambient composer Brian; three letters. Though most of the crossword clues about Eno reference his more ethereal compositions, like the landmark 1978 work “Ambient 1: Music for Airports,” the earliest part of his musical career was devoted to glam rock, both in his groundbreaking work with Roxy Music and on his great first few solo albums. You can hear that side of Eno on this smoldering highlight from his 1974 debut “Here Come the Warm Jets,” which crescendos with an absolute ripper of a guitar solo from Robert Fripp.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Ariana Grande: “R.E.M.”
Singer Grande, to fans; three letters. Thanks to the commonly used collections of letters that make up both her first name and her nickname (“Ari”), the first-time Oscar nominee Ariana Grande is one of contemporary pop music’s most ubiquitous names on the crossword grid. And in the highly unlikely event that you ever encounter the very specific clue “fourth track on Ariana Grande’s rather underrated 2018 album ‘Sweetener,’” this song provides that three-letter answer, too.
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4. Etta James: “All I Could Do Was Cry”
Blues singer James; four letters. Since Etta James’s last name is also a popular first name, that clue can cause some confusion for the uninitiated — but experienced crossword-ers know the answer. Though she’s sometimes also conjured by a mention of her most famous song, “At Last,” my favorite track on James’s debut album of the same title is this wrenching, scorchingly sung ballad of lost love.
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5. Arlo Guthrie: “The City of New Orleans”
Folk singer Guthrie; four letters. This classic crossword clue has tripped up many a newbie, confidently scrawling “Woody” onto a puzzle before realizing there’s no room for the “y.” The answer is Woody’s son, who has an especially grid-friendly first name: Arlo. And while Arlo is best known for a certain 18-minute, Thanksgiving-associated talking blues, nothing derails the flow of a playlist like sticking “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” right in the middle. (You are free to listen to it on your own time, if you must.) Instead, here’s the biggest chart hit of Guthrie’s career, a 1972 cover of Steve Goodman’s rousing ode to American train travel.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Yoko Ono: “Death of Samantha”
“Double Fantasy” singer; three letters. Well, if “Lennon” doesn’t fit, it’s got to be “Ono.” Let’s honor the great conceptual artist/musician with a track from one of her best solo albums, the 1973 release “Approximately Infinite Universe.” “People say I’m cool,” Ono croons, although as this song unfolds, the devastating tumult beneath that reserved exterior begins to show.
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7. Sia: “Cheap Thrills”
Singer with the 2016 No. 1 hit “Cheap Thrills;” three letters. That was an actual clue from a Times puzzle earlier this week, and the answer — which my boyfriend did not know — was Sia. He probably wishes I sent this playlist out a little sooner.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
8. Adele: “When We Were Young”
Singer with albums “19,” “21,” “25” and “30;” five letters. Those bookend vowels, her household-name status, the satisfying succinctness of a mononym — Adele is a crossword creator’s dream! Not to be one of those people who brags about having seen Adele’s Las Vegas residency, but — when I saw Adele’s Las Vegas residency, her emotional performance of this 2015 ballad got me all weepy.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
9. Abba: “Waterloo”
Swedish pop group; four letters. Agnetha Faltskog. Bjorn Ulvaeus. Benny Andersson. Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Individually, none of those names will be appearing in your average puzzle anytime soon. But combine their forces into their more familiar acronym, and you’ve got crossword gold: Abba.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“A Playlist Packed With Crossword Clues” track list
Track 1: Electric Light Orchestra, “Don’t Bring Me Down”
Track 2: Brian Eno, “Baby’s on Fire”
Track 3: Ariana Grande, “R.E.M.”
Track 4: Etta James, “All I Could Do Was Cry”
Track 5: Arlo Guthrie, “The City of New Orleans”
Track 6: Yoko Ono, “Death of Samantha”
Track 7: Sia, “Cheap Thrills”
Track 8: Adele, “When We Were Young”
Track 9: Abba, “Waterloo”
Bonus Tracks
“I want you to show me what you mean, then help me with the crossword in the mornings,” Lucy Dacus sings on her recent single “Ankles.” That’s romance!
Also, on this week’s Friday Playlist, we’ve got a great collaboration between two artists I love, Perfume Genius and Aldous Harding, along with new tracks from Tate McRae, Hurry for the Riff Raff, Ledisi and more. Listen here.
The post A Playlist Packed With Crossword Clues appeared first on New York Times.
