Wilco frontman and self-described crossword addict Jeff Tweedy has written the New York Times' monthly bonus crossword for May, proving that if you can write a song about being a jar of wine, you can also write a puzzle about the NATO alphabet. The grid's theme is “My Life Was Saved by Rock ’N’ Roll,” with answers referencing songs by Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground, and several other CBGB icons. Tweedy even snuck in a callback to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with a clue about the NATO alphabet - a Times crossword staple that probably has fewer fans than the band's album.
“I’m a pretty massive crossword puzzle nut, and I have been for a very very long time,” Tweedy wrote on his Substack newsletter, Starship Casual. “As an addict, you have to remind yourself that you’re still an addict, even when you aren’t doing things that are terrible for you. Crossword puzzles are a pretty benign outlet for an addictive tendency, in my opinion.” Because nothing says rock 'n' roll like a grid of 15 by 15 squares and a clue for 4-Down: “Like a popular suiting fabric” (6 letters).
In a video interview with Times puzzle editor Christina Iverson, Tweedy compared songwriting to solving a crossword: “I think that putting a song together and finding the right word to express what you want to say succinctly, or with clarity - that can feel like putting a puzzle together sometimes. But the difference, obviously, is that there’s no right answer for a song, really, and there definitely is one for a crossword puzzle.” So if you ever wondered why your Wilco lyrics have a definitive solution, now you know.
This week, the Times also tapped Carole King, Diane Warren, and the Magnetic Fields’ Merritt - all of whom appear on their new list of “The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters” - to each write a five-by-five mini crossword. Tweedy didn’t make the list, but he did vote for himself on his ballot. And deservedly so - because if you can't write a song that makes the cut, at least you can write a puzzle that does.