The satirical accordion-playing mastermind behind pastiches such as "White and Nerdy," "Another One Rides the Bus," and "Smells like Nirvana" has officially graced the pages of the Gray Lady with his wordplay. "Weird Al" Yankovic made his crossword debut in The New York Times on Wednesday with a "cheese" themed puzzle ... of course.
People were still, well, confused!
"Back in early December I got it into my head that Al would make an ideal addition to the celebrity/constructor pairings that The New York Times has been featuring on its crossword page," wrote Yankovic's co-author, crossword-making veteran Eric Berlin. He added: "Al, to my delight, leapt at the idea, and all of a sudden I found myself in a weeklong many-e-mails-a-day correspondence with one of my childhood — and heck, adult — idols."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Apparently an early idea for a theme was "the (blank) film festival," to which Yankovic replied "with a long list of cheese/movie puns." Berlin explains: "My very first attempt at the grid included one of my favorites from his list, QUESOBLANCA." Subscribers can take a whack at the puzzle here.
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
