Today's Los Angeles Times and Daily News crosswords have musical themes. Gareth Bain's puzzles includes
Cardiologically healthy, as a diet: HEARTSMART
Affectionate apron instruction: KISSTHECOOK
(I wouldn't advise anyone to actually do that, however, unless the cook is a relative.)
Commuter's headache: RUSHHOURTRAFFIC
Title for Aretha Franklin: QUEENOFSOUL
"Musical conductor" is BANDLEADER. Each of the above four phrases leads off with the name of a rock band.
"'57 Varieties' brand" is HEINZ. In 1875, brothers John and Henry Heinz and their cousin Frederick co-founded the Heinz foods company in Pittsburgh. Henry Heinz bought out his two partners in 1888. He coined the "57 varieties" slogan in 1896 after being inspired by an ad for a shoe store which offered "21 styles." At that time, Heinz was already selling 65 different products. Some historians say 5 and 7 were the "lucky numbers" of Heinz and his wife. Other historians say Heinz picked the number 57 because he liked the sound of it and it would look good on a label. Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is named for Henry Heinz.
Iain Padley's crossword includes
First obstacle in a 1967 R&B hit: MOUNTAINHIGH
Second obstacle: VALLEYLOW
Third obstacle: RIVERWIDE
Objective in the 1967 R&B hit: GETTINGTOYOU
The song is Tina Turner's River Deep, Mountain High, written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. The single, produced by Spector, reached #3 in the UK but it certainly was not an "R&B hit" in the United States. The song failed to make the R&B chart and stalled at #88 on the pop chart. The single was credited to Ike & Tina Turner, even though Ike did not sing on the recording. Among the musicians were Glen Campbell and Leon Russell. In 1969, a year after the Animals and Deep Purple recorded versions of the song, the Tina Turner original was re-released and this time it didn't even make the top 100. The song, with Spector's famous "Wall Of Sound" production, is now considered a classic.
The Universal crossword includes TWOHANDED, TWOSTROKEENGINE, TWOYEARWARRANTY and ONEAFTERANOTHER. That latter phrase doesn't quite fit the theme and the phrase isn't even logical. How can "one" come after "another"? "One" comes first and "another" comes after one. The phrase should be "another after one." Once I can convince everyone to start saying "another after one," I will start trying to get people to say "forth and back" instead of "back and forth." You have to go forth before you can come back, right?
Right?
