4D. It may surprise you to learn that this “type that leans right?” has no politics: It’s just ITALIC.
12D. If this entry for “Going it alone” — FLYING SOLO — struck some daily solvers as familiar, it may be because there was a similarly themed clue and entry in nearly the same position in last Thursday’s puzzle, in which “Have no co-conspirators” solved to ACT ALONE. (Coincidence? Almost certainly. But I’ll happily entertain any zany theories to the contrary in the comments.)
Constructor Notes
A few years ago, I heard Sisqó’s 2000 hit single “Thong Song” playing at a bar, and I suddenly wondered if “Thong, th-thong, thong, thong” could work as a crossword entry … which is, apparently, the sort of thing I wonder. That didn’t go anywhere, but it did make me think about repeated syllables in songs, which sparked this theme idea. I immediately thought it would be a fun one.
There was a brief moment of disappointment when I found that CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES had made a prior appearance in the Times crossword (a 2014 Jeff Chen/David Benkof collaboration), but thankfully the theme was completely different. So it was off to the races: I had a grid within a day, sent it in and, to my delight, the editors really liked it, too.
It wasn’t until the edited puzzle was being tested months later that a fact checker realized the way I’d spelled the first theme answer — “Lo-lo-lo-lo-Lola” — was in fact wrong, according to the Kinks’s official lyrics and sheet music! To my surprise, and contrary to lots of lyrics pages on the internet, they’re la’s, not lo’s. Therefore, at the last minute, the editing team had to modify a good chunk of the northwest corner of the puzzle. So even more thanks to them than usual this time!
Of course, this wouldn’t have happened if I’d gone with “Yo-yo-yo-yo-Yoda” instead …
I’m really happy with the way it turned out, and I hope you enjoy(ed) solving!
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