Bands of Brothers - October 2023

[kurtalert]

Turns out I wasn't exactly wrong. I solved the puzzle on the Washington Post page and printed my solved puzzle. It clearly states the meta is a famous singer. (I'd post a picture of my puzzle but don't know how). Anyway, someone mentioned the meta was a famous band. What?! I looked at the Washington Post site and it seems to have been corrected since I printed. Never thought I should double check with the PMX site. Put a little damper on my solve, but still happy to get it.

Can you send a photo to Pete? He might give you credit since you figured it out, and he’d want to know about the WaPo issue in case others have the same problem

So sorry about this!

The error has been corrected.

Please do email me if the WaPo prompt prevented you from getting the solution…

Oh, damn... probably too late, but yeah, I'd been searching futilely for a specific person/artist, not a band.

[kurtalert]

Well- on a second look, knowing I'm going for bands... I've got the answer now.

[IzBee]

I'm definitely a little stuck on this one. Some small nudges in the right direction would be much appreciated!

[HoldThatThought]

Not to be the Ghost of Crossword Puzzles Past, but the deadline for this puzzle has passed, and, in fact, Matt Gaffney posted his traditional monthly write-up and review on the Diary of a Crossword Fiend site, yesterday evening.

You can find that analysis here: https://crosswordfiend.com/2023/10/08/m ... ore-153920

There are lots of generous contributors, here among the Muggles crew, but I would remind solvers in struggle to double check the puzzle's official deadline, and reach out, here, with reasonable time to spare.

Best of luck for the November MMMMMMMMM (or however many Ms that is)!

[clonefitz]

My tale of woe for this meta: I had my mind set from the beginning that the answer was going to be OASIS. When I figured out the mechanism and started working through the details, the first letter I got was the final S, then I got the A and the I. Since I was focused on OASIS, I never realized I was only looking at five of the themers instead of all six. When the first and third letter didn’t turn out to be O and S, but D and V, I began wracking my brain for a band that had DAVIS brothers. A Google search led me to the Spencer Davis group, which featured Steve Winwood and his brother. Didn’t seem like a great answer, but maybe this connection was more well known than I’d realized so I submitted it. Then when I did not appear on the list of correct solvers, I went back and triple checked to see if OASIS wasn’t somehow correct. That’s when I finally realized I had missed the themer for the Avett Brothers, which would have given the E that I needed for DAVIES, which would have led me to the correct answer. Like math teachers always say, “Gotta check your work!”

[Dawnkey]

I was completely at sea for this one, but I'm kicking myself because I love the Avett Brothers. Just saw them live in July. Also wanted to note that I loved this Kindred Souls video.

[kurtalert]

My tale of woe for this meta: I had my mind set from the beginning that the answer was going to be OASIS. When I figured out the mechanism and started working through the details, the first letter I got was the final S, then I got the A and the I. Since I was focused on OASIS, I never realized I was only looking at five of the themers instead of all six. When the first and third letter didn’t turn out to be O and S, but D and V, I began wracking my brain for a band that had DAVIS brothers. A Google search led me to the Spencer Davis group, which featured Steve Winwood and his brother. Didn’t seem like a great answer, but maybe this connection was more well known than I’d realized so I submitted it. Then when I did not appear on the list of correct solvers, I went back and triple checked to see if OASIS wasn’t somehow correct. That’s when I finally realized I had missed the themer for the Avett Brothers, which would have given the E that I needed for DAVIES, which would have led me to the correct answer. Like math teachers always say, “Gotta check your work!”

Yep- my first rabbit hole on this one was me CONVINCED that I should get Sly & the Family Stone from the top clue, and Obie Award turning into O-A-sis. Fortunately, Jon Batiste had me thinking Jonas Brothers, and I got on a more useful track from there.

[MMe]

Isley Brothers coincidentally and unfortunately in the news. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/arts ... -dead.html