Hello! This is a puzzle I started like a month ago, but didn't finish cluing until this week. There's some heavy stuff in the next paragraph, skip it if you just want a (hopefully) fun crossword.
As it happens I am severely depressed, and I cannot stop the flow of negative thoughts. I was hoping to finish this puzzle before the election, and say something about how I never worked hard enough, but, fittingly enough, that didn't happen. I'm having something of a crisis. I believe the future is foreclosed to us, that any dream of anything I consider to be good is dead, and that the world is genuinely a hopeless place. Life will now be like those viral videos where a jigsaw puzzle is destroyed as soon as it is finished - needlessly cruel, forever. I believe all of this, and yet - I'm going to fucking
make crosswords??? Really??? This is the problem. But I talked to my dear friend
Joe, who told me that while crosswords may be insignificant, making and solving them has brought me into a community of people that I genuinely like and care about. This community, and the people I love in my life, are going to be the main source of sustenance going forward; in fact, it might be the only one. Art cannot effect change. Maybe it can provide a few moments of peace. So yes, I have no belief in the future but I have decided that, for the time being, I will still try to make and solve crosswords, as small and stupid as that seems. I truly pray that we are allowed to live.
Anyway! This puzzle was based on an extremely dumb observation about a pop song from twenty years ago, as seems to be a recurring theme for me. I hope it brings you joy. Thanks for solving! (And thanks
Norah for testing!)
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Hi, Dan -- Thanks for the puzzle; I enjoyed it! Just want to send a word of encouragement in response to your post. I think most people of good heart are in a time of heavy grief right now. What has helped me is forcing myself into physical activity, doing things that bring joy (a countercultural move!), and reminding myself that lots and lots of good people voted a different way, and there's a basic decency and goodness that still exists and can be relied on. So hang in there!
ReplyDeleteHi Dan - first of all, excellent puzzle! I really enjoy your cluing voice. And I'll echo what Scott says above. Things are undoubtedly bleak, but we can't lose sight of kindness and decency. I agree with Scott about physical activity. I also find music incredibly comforting. I've been trying to get friends and acquaintances to share #songsthatmakemehappy - my first couple of offerings were Little Feat's "Fat Man in the Bathtub" and Lighthouse's "One Fine Morning." (I'm old: your clue for PARENTS definitely doesn't apply to me!) Keep moving forward and RESIST!
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