Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Tuesday, March 30, 2021, Alex Rosen and Brad Wilber

Today's theme is very well put together. Four singers known to the world by one name only (thus MONONYM), hidden inside of phrases. In each case, the name crosses over the words of the phrase. I chuckled aloud at the final one, where Eminem is hidden inside MINEMINEMINE. That's a great find.

The four singers in question are Bono, previously Paul David Hewson; Pink, also known as Alecia Beth Moore; Enya, whose full name is Enya Patricia Brennan, and Eminem, who took his name from his initials (Marshall Bruce Mathers III). Is it a requirement to have three listed names like this? I was surprised to come across it via Wikipedia.

Other singers known by a single name? Why, I'm glad you asked. I came up with Sting and Cher, each of whom would be very difficult to fit into this theme pattern. Others that come to mind are Madonna and Prince. I would in general be loath to accept individuals who simply are known by their first name, like Elvis or Beyoncé. Yes, they are super celebrities, but it's a little like saying that RAFA is a mononym.

Anyway, I enjoyed working through the theme answers to discover the hidden gems. Once again, I'll note that it would have been better without the circled letters, but that's a losing battle.

OTTER

I like how 4D (SITBACK (and relax)) is symmetric to BADMOVE! Doesn't it make you feel like there's a story going on here? Somehow, the last several words in the SE imply a danger NEARS, as we VEER, or somebody ERRS.

Too much?

Perhaps. So let's end with my favorite Tuscan city, SIENA. I highly recommend visiting.

- Colum

2 comments:

  1. Oh I was definitely expecting to find "cher" (not that I was thinking whether it was embeddable in a longer answer or anything like that).

    As for 53 down, it made me think of a T shirt my dad has which reads "my anger management class PISSES ME OFF!"

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  2. I thought of Elvis right away once I got the [BONO] answer entered, but there you go. And I also love SIENA, but got a ticket there because I erroneously drove up to a restricted (to autos) area while searching for our villa, which wasn't even close. 11:27

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