"Nowhere Man"
- BarbaraK
- Posts: 2631
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
- Location: Virginia
I'm curious about the ages of those who had a hard time with this one. Just as Emma's a couple weeks ago skewed millennial and sent boomers like me off to google, this one was solidly in my wheelhouse but I could imagine some younger folks would have to google to get it.
- FrankH
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sat Apr 13, 2019 4:15 am
Early on I found the Beatles songs and noticed 38A and 41A, and decided perhaps it was one of the other musicians that played on the Beatles Band. So I did a search but could not find any that had 12 letters in their name. Why? Because Stu was listed as Stuart, and I never thought to shorten it to Stu.
I am somewhat confused with the word "better" in 72A. While it is needed for 72A answer, I was wondering how put "better" words together would "give some clues to an answer". It seems we just need to put words together to form song titles. So I was going back to that multiple times to see if I missed something.
Any regarding nudge #1, how does the title help to narrow down the choices? I wasn't sure what the title means except perhaps it may be another way to indicate 38A and 41A.
I am somewhat confused with the word "better" in 72A. While it is needed for 72A answer, I was wondering how put "better" words together would "give some clues to an answer". It seems we just need to put words together to form song titles. So I was going back to that multiple times to see if I missed something.
Any regarding nudge #1, how does the title help to narrow down the choices? I wasn't sure what the title means except perhaps it may be another way to indicate 38A and 41A.
- Wendy Walker
- Posts: 1730
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- Location: Unionville, PA
This Boomer thinks that's a very good point, Barbara. Songs from our youth stick in our otherwise-addled brains. Mark is temporarily driving a truck with Sirius XM in it, and on the way home from dinner last night we were listening to "Seventies on Seven": Alone Again Naturally. We Are Family. Maggie May. Beth. I could sing along to EVERY SINGLE SONG without even thinking! Meanwhile, I'm lucky if I remember to buy the very item I go to the supermarket to buy.BarbaraK wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 am I'm curious about the ages of those who had a hard time with this one. Just as Emma's a couple weeks ago skewed millennial and sent boomers like me off to google, this one was solidly in my wheelhouse but I could imagine some younger folks would have to google to get it.
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
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I'm 52 and couldn't remember the names of the other pre famous Beatles, though I knew there were a few. I also never heard of Blackbird but definitely saw all the other songs in the grid.BarbaraK wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 am I'm curious about the ages of those who had a hard time with this one. Just as Emma's a couple weeks ago skewed millennial and sent boomers like me off to google, this one was solidly in my wheelhouse but I could imagine some younger folks would have to google to get it.
- Hector
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Almost Famous does have a character Penny Lane, which was a nice red herring.
"Nowhere Man" is another Beatles song, so it's not merely an echo of Almost Famous.
Great meta.
"Nowhere Man" is another Beatles song, so it's not merely an echo of Almost Famous.
Great meta.
- boharr
- Moderator
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- Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
- Location: Westchester, NY
That's why supermarket items have jingles.Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 12:50 pmThis Boomer thinks that's a very good point, Barbara. Songs from our youth stick in our otherwise-addled brains. Mark is temporarily driving a truck with Sirius XM in it, and on the way home from dinner last night we were listening to "Seventies on Seven": Alone Again Naturally. We Are Family. Maggie May. Beth. I could sing along to EVERY SINGLE SONG without even thinking! Meanwhile, I'm lucky if I remember to buy the very item I go to the supermarket to buy.BarbaraK wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 am I'm curious about the ages of those who had a hard time with this one. Just as Emma's a couple weeks ago skewed millennial and sent boomers like me off to google, this one was solidly in my wheelhouse but I could imagine some younger folks would have to google to get it.
- Wendy Walker
- Posts: 1730
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- Location: Unionville, PA
And Kate Hudson was so charming in that role that I ended up watching the whole movie!
Good luck, fellow Muggles!
-
- Posts: 490
- Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm
For the record, this millennial got this one. I wouldn't say I was a Beatles' "stan" (look it up), but I think if you've never heard of "Yellow Submarine" or "Penny Lane," the problem is probably not that you're a millennial but that you've been living under a rock. Ironically, the only song I didn't recognize immediately as a Beatles' hit was "Nowhere Man." Additionally, if you've solved enough crosswords, you've inevitably run into Mr. Sutcliffe. STU is too convenient a letter combination and people are always looking for new ways to clue it, so I wasn't surprised to see him as the answer.BarbaraK wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 am I'm curious about the ages of those who had a hard time with this one. Just as Emma's a couple weeks ago skewed millennial and sent boomers like me off to google, this one was solidly in my wheelhouse but I could imagine some younger folks would have to google to get it.
I thought this one was pretty impressive because there's so much meta content squeezed into it. Six song titles = 12 entries, plus ALMOST FAMOUS, means 14 themes entries/more than 70 total theme letters! (I think it's more than 70, if you count ALMOST FAMOUS. I counted in my head while I was listening to a podcast and that's never a good idea for me.) Would not have thought it was possible to pull that off with Beatles' songs. Very nicely done!
- Richard B.
- Posts: 547
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- Location: upper west side, NYC
I also went down the “Almost Famous” rabbit hole for a while.Wendy Walker wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:26 am Oh geez! I didn't get the meta but while trying to do so I certainly learned a lot about the movie "Almost Famous." None of which, sadly, had anything to do with the Beatles. Terrific puzzle!
- Meg
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
- Location: St. Petersburg, FL
I was so excited to find Penny Lane. And then silence in the realm.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
-
- Posts: 1708
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I saw Penny Lane, Yellow Submarine and Hey Jude. Those put me in the right direction.
I never heard of (but possibly heard, not knowing the name) the other songs. Never heard of Stu Sutcliffe either.
Google came to my aid - I couldn't have solved the meta without it.
I mark it down as a learning experience, there's a lot I just don't know.
I never heard of (but possibly heard, not knowing the name) the other songs. Never heard of Stu Sutcliffe either.
Google came to my aid - I couldn't have solved the meta without it.
I mark it down as a learning experience, there's a lot I just don't know.
- MikeM000
- Posts: 579
- Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:31 am
- Location: Metro Detroit
This was a great puzzle. My own personal biases threw me off a fair amount...
-I don't know who was the lead writer on Yellow submarine as Ringo signs it, but the other 5 are all Paul-sung compositions. Hopefully anyone who knows the Beatles at all saw almost all of those right off the bat. (Get Back was harder to see likely due to word length.)
-I googled "Almost famous" and discovered Paul McCartney released a live CD/DVD by that name about a decade ago.
-After he mentioned Almost Famous and "bass" in the nudges my mind turned to Mark Kozelek, a maybekindasortawellknown musician who played the bassist in that movie. He's also facing some ugly metoo-ish accusations these days, which puts his name back toward the front of my mind.
But yeah...once the creator put me on the path I got it very quickly and I'm all DUH! Of course that's who it is....
-I don't know who was the lead writer on Yellow submarine as Ringo signs it, but the other 5 are all Paul-sung compositions. Hopefully anyone who knows the Beatles at all saw almost all of those right off the bat. (Get Back was harder to see likely due to word length.)
-I googled "Almost famous" and discovered Paul McCartney released a live CD/DVD by that name about a decade ago.
-After he mentioned Almost Famous and "bass" in the nudges my mind turned to Mark Kozelek, a maybekindasortawellknown musician who played the bassist in that movie. He's also facing some ugly metoo-ish accusations these days, which puts his name back toward the front of my mind.
But yeah...once the creator put me on the path I got it very quickly and I'm all DUH! Of course that's who it is....
- TMart
- Posts: 820
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:13 am
- Location: Malvern, PA
That’s all “better” was - it had to properly clue the grid entry first, and then double as a hint to put grid words together
“Nowhere Man” is a fairly well-known Beatles song. This was meant to indicate that the musician was somehow connected to the Beatles.
- C=64
- Posts: 692
- Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:29 pm
- Location: PDX
The real-life Penny Lane (she spells it Pennie, btw) lives on the outskirts of Portland and we rented a house from her over the past couple of years until May. Regarding the movie, she said "I didn't take quite that many drugs; I spit out a lot of pills in the toilet." Also, Paul McCartney texted her this past Valentine's Day just to say hi. I am not making this up.
- SusieG
- Posts: 431
- Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:20 pm
- Location: Arkansas
I really liked this puzzle, but I missed the "click" -- I just guessed it must be Stu S. based on the songs. I was not a sophisticated enough solver to see your secret code. Very nice!
Almost Famous threw me for a loop - thought it may also be Larry Fellows (fake musician who played the bass) or Todd Rundgren.
Almost Famous threw me for a loop - thought it may also be Larry Fellows (fake musician who played the bass) or Todd Rundgren.
- DrTom
- Posts: 3818
- Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2019 6:46 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Well I did not solve, funny because at one point I thought - hmmm, there was the one guy who left before they got famous, I wonder? But then I got off in the Beatles tangent and never got the real mechanism. I got part 1 of a two part answer.
IMPRESSIVE construction because it is difficult to do that.
TB
IMPRESSIVE construction because it is difficult to do that.
TB
NUDGES!I am always willing to give nudges where needed; metas should be about fun, not frustration. Send me what you have done so far because often you are closer than you think!
- Bird Lives
- Posts: 2721
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Pete Best, a drummer, wasn't it?DrTom wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:37 pm Well I did not solve, funny because at one point I thought - hmmm, there was the one guy who left before they got famous, I wonder? But then I got off in the Beatles tangent and never got the real mechanism. I got part 1 of a two part answer.
IMPRESSIVE construction because it is difficult to do that.
TB
I kept thinking that the Beatles songs were the red herring and that the answer lay in Almost Famous, a movie I saw (IIRC) when it came out and rewatched a few minutes of on TV not long ago. I went to the Internet and found what Susie G found: "Jerry Cantrell was Crowe's first choice for the role of Stillwater bass player LARRY FELLOWS. Twelve letters.
Jay
- Bird Lives
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I am, technically, not a boomer, and I drifted away from rock music in the 70s except for things that were so huge as to be unavoidable (e.g., Saturday Night Fever), and by the 80s I was a rock 'n' roll illiterate. I was at a Yankees game a few years ago, and during one inning break, they played some song, probably a golden oldie from the 80s or 90s, and people got up and danced in place. I looked at the people on the JumboTron, I looked at the people around me, and I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the Stadium who was not singing along. (Now of course if it had been Fenway and Sweet Caroline. . . ..)BarbaraK wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 am I'm curious about the ages of those who had a hard time with this one. Just as Emma's a couple weeks ago skewed millennial and sent boomers like me off to google, this one was solidly in my wheelhouse but I could imagine some younger folks would have to google to get it.
Jay
- whimsy
- Posts: 2808
- Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2020 9:51 am
- Location: Hopkinton MA
I was Beatles all the way (I'm a boomer with a husband who's always been a big fan) with most of the 7 songs, but I was stuck between Stu S. and George Martin. I was veering toward GM since he played a bigger part in all those tunes and was "the fifth Beatle." I was practically positive when I saw that he'd worked with Elton John on Candle in the Wind, and there was Diana at 54D! But then came that last nudge with "bass," so I begrudgingly shifted over to SS, figuring that as talented as GM was, that instrument wasn't in his repertoire.
Didn't matter since I never found the initialism of the clues route and couldn't justify either of them!
Didn't matter since I never found the initialism of the clues route and couldn't justify either of them!
- Al Sisti
- Posts: 2069
- Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
- Location: Whitesboro NY
My brother and cousin opened for Pete Best's band a few years ago, and said he sounded kinda bitter. Ya think!?Bird Lives wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 5:22 pmPete Best, a drummer, wasn't it?DrTom wrote: ↑Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:37 pm Well I did not solve, funny because at one point I thought - hmmm, there was the one guy who left before they got famous, I wonder? But then I got off in the Beatles tangent and never got the real mechanism. I got part 1 of a two part answer.
IMPRESSIVE construction because it is difficult to do that.
TB