XWord Muggles Forum

Please see below for the latest puzzle PCC#26 - "Encore! Encore!"

[Level 2] Meta prompt: The answer to the meta is a one-named pop diva that is 7 letters long

Many thanks to FrankieHeck and Abide for test-solving! (Clue writing credit to Abide for 29-Down)

Note: the level is the intended difficulty I had in mind when I designed the puzzle, but may play differently since every solver has their own area of expertise... what one person may find easy, another may find difficult.

Have fun and keep in mind if you're ever lost at sea, google is your best friend (actually, I don't know if you'd get internet service in the middle of the ocean)
-Phil

Links courtesy of Joe Ross (thank you as always for the tech support!)
crosshare
PUZ
PDF
spreadsheet




Nudges below:

Hint #1: Artists sometimes collaborate

Hint #2: In the unlikely event that the artists in the four long entries collaborate, we might get mash-ups like "Hot Stuff Everyday," "I Have Nothing No One," "Sweet but Psycho Chain of Fools," and "Bad Blood Vampire"

Hint #3: Encore! Encore! Don't you just love these pop divas so much you want to hear them again?

Hint #4: Summer Grande = take the D from Donna Summer (who sang "Hot Stuff") and the A from Ariana Grande (who sang "Everyday")... repeat the two letters = DADA

Hint #5: you'll end up with a 4-letter repeated bigram when you extract the first letter from the relevant clues but this doesn't fit the 7-letter answer criterion... the 4-letter name you found is an alternative answer for the clue at 59-Down

Solution below - SPOILER ALERT:

Answer explanation: Answer explanation: The four long Across answers contain two pop divas... SUMMERGRANDE = Donna Summer + Ariana Grande, HOUSTONKEYS = Whitney Houston + Alicia Keys, MAXFRANKLIN = Ava Max + Aretha Franklin, SWIFTRODRIGO = Taylor Swift + Olivia Rodrigo... Extracting their first initials gives us DA | WA | AA | TO which doesn't amount to much... but taking the hint from the title "Encore! Encore!" we shall repeat these initials: DADA | WAWA | AAAA | TOTO... the first letters of the clues to these grid entries = RIRI, which is Rihanna's nickname (and sometimes appears in crossword puzzles as "[popular Rihanna song]" singer, to fans"), making RIHANNA our meta answer.

Constructor Notes: Easter eggs are planted in the grid such as the 2011 Grammy performance referenced in 59D. I included a few red herrings of other 7-lettered one-named pop divas to throw you off the scent.

Happy Birthday to Rihanna on February 20!

Solved. Thanks for the puzzle, Phil!

Guessed the answer (4 tries.) I know some names but not really up on my pop diva queens. Missed the mechanism until I accessed the nudges/explanation, but now that I understand, I quite like the puzzle -- thanks, Phil!

Perfectly concluded conundrum!

No nudges, Discording, or PMs needed. Which feels good. (I’ve been needing a lot help lately.)

Thanks, Phil!

Turned the corner, tho I needed interwebbing help here and there. Lovely construction - thanks, Phil!

Solved, with one minor quibble that slowed me down slightly.

Late start. Which is too bad as it was a delightful and uplifting puzzle.

Forgot to post earlier, but Turned The Corner! Very much not my wheelhouse, needed nudges to identify some of the names, but a delightful puzzle all the same.

…bringing up the rear here but finally got to it. Phun and intricate puzzle, Phil!