A Weird Al "Playlist"
The Ubercross Weird Al starts to shape up.
I’m tweaking the Journal now in correspondence with its contributors, and today we’re gearing up to spend some time in New York City! So I thought I’d share a quick progress report on the Ubercross Weird Al project.
The first or second phase of most crossword design is to determine the key words for the grid—in a themed crossword, these would be the theme entries; in an unthemed one, they’d be the starting points of the design. I’ve come up with this basic list, using the names of all Weird Al’s songs and albums plus a few other key terms—his wife Suzanne and daughter Nina, Daniel Radcliffe (who played him in Weird, his mockumentary “biopic”), and vegetarianism. A few comments below.
Aardvark
Accordion
AchyBreakySong
AComplicatedSong
AddictedtoSpuds
AirlineAmy
Alapalooza
Albuquerque
Alimony
Alligator
Alpocalypse
AmishParadise
Amoeba
AngryWhiteBoyPolka
AnotherOneRidestheBus
AnotherTattoo
AttackoftheRadioactiveHamstersfromaPlanetnearMars
BadHairDay
BedrockAnthem
BeverlyHillbillies
BiteMe
Bob
BohemianPolka
BuckinghamBlues
BuyMeaCondo
CableTV
CallininSick
CanadianIdiot
CaptainUnderpants
CavitySearch
ChristmasatGroundZero
ClosebutNoCigar
CNR
Cockroaches
ConfessionsPartIII
CouchPotato
Craigslist
CurlyHair
DanielRadcliffe
DaretoBeStupid
DogEatDog
DoICreepYouOut
DontDownloadThisSong
DontWearThoseShoes
DrDemento
EatIt
eBay
EvenWorse
EverythingYouKnowIsWrong
Fat
Finale
FoodParodies
FranksTwoThousandTV
FunZone
GandhiII
GenericBlues
GeniusinFrance
GeorgeoftheJungle
Germs
GirlsJustWantToHaveLunch
GoodEnoughForNow
GoodOldDays
GottaBoogie
Grammys
GrapefruitDiet
Gump
HappyBirthday
HardwareStore
HarveytheWonderHamster
Hawaiian shirts
HeadlineNews
HeresJohnny
HomerandMarge
HookedonPolkas
Hummingbirds
ICantWatchThis
IfThatIsntLove
Iguana
IllBeMellowWhenImDead
IllSueYa
ILostonJeopardy
ILoveRockyRoad
ImSoSickofYou
InThreeD
Introduction
IRememberLarry
IsleThing
IThinkImaCloneNow
ItsAllAboutthePentiums
IWantaNewDuck
IWasOnlyKidding
JerrySpringer
JurassicPark
KingofSuede
Lasagna
LetMeBeYourHog
LikeaSurgeon
LivingwithaHernia
LivinintheFridge
MandatoryFun
MediumRarities
Melanie
MidnightStar
MrFrumpintheIronLung
MrPopeil
MyBabysInLovewithEddieVedder
MyBologna
NatureTrailtoHell
Nina
NowYouKnow
OdetoaSuperhero
OfftheDeepEnd
OneMoreMinute
OneofThoseDays
Pancreas
Parody
PartyattheLeperColony
PartyintheCIA
PerformThisWay
PeterandtheWolf
PhonyCalls
Pigeons
PolkaFace
PolkaMedley
Polkamon
PolkaParty
PolkaPower
Polkarama
PolkasonFortyFive
PolkaYourEyesOut
Poodle
PoodleHat
PrettyFlyforaRabbi
Ricky
Ringtone
RunningwithScissors
ScarifBeachParty
Shark
SheDrivesLikeCrazy
SheNeverToldMeSheWasaMime
SinceYouveBeenGone
SixWordsLong
SkipperDan
SlimeCreaturesfromOuterSpace
SmellsLikeNirvana
Snails
SportsSong
Spam
SpatulaCity
StopDragginMyCarAround
StopForwardingThatCraptoMe
StraightOuttaLynwood
StuckinaClosetwithVannaWhite
SuchaGroovyGuy
Suzanne
SyndicatedInc
TacoGrande
TalkSoup
ThatBoyCouldDance
TheAlternativePolka
TheBiggestBallofTwineinMinnesota
TheBradyBunch
TheChecksintheMail
TheHamiltonPolka
TheHotRocksPolka
ThemefromRockyXIII
TheNightSantaWentCrazy
ThePlumbingSong
TheRyeortheKaiser
TheSagaBegins
TheWeirdAlShowTheme
TheWhiteStuff
ThisIstheLife
TMZ
ToothlessPeople
TrafficJam
TrappedintheDriveThru
TrashDay
TriggerHappy
TruckDrivinSong
Twister
UHF
Unicorn
Vegetarianism
VelvetElvis
VirusAlert
Vulture
WaffleKing
WannaBUrLovr
WeaselStompingDay
Weird
WeirdAlYankovic
WhateverYouLike
WhenIWasYourAge
WhiteandNerdy
WhosGonnaStopMe
WhyDoesThisAlwaysHappentoMe
Yoda
YouDontLoveMeAnymore
YouMakeMe
YoungDumbandUgly
YourHoroscopeforToday
First impression: Not all Weird Al songs are created equal, and while a few of his overlooked works are a lot of fun to talk about, putting all 203 of the entries in here would be too much trivia even for Weird Al fans.
Second impression: Weird Al song titles might be a bit longer, statistically, than most, and even an Ubercross design can only fit in so many longer entries. HAMILTON is probably a better answer (with the clue “Broadway play Al polka-ized”) than the longer THE HAMILTON POLKA. But there’s no way I’m not including ATTACK OF THE RADIOACTIVE HAMSTERS FROM A PLANET NEAR MARS, Al’s longest title by a long chalk.
Third impression: I’ll need to watch out for thematic duplication—if HAMILTON goes into the word list, then THE HAMILTON POLKA has to go out.
Fourth impression: Time to consult some of my Weird Al-loving friends to tell me what this word list is missing. (Or Janice’s Weird Al-loving friends? Well, many of them are our friends now.)
Have a good day, wherever you are! Talk to you soon.
Don't know where you draw the line between "too much trivia" and an acceptable level, but it seems to me that anyone who's willing to spend a few days solving a Weird Al Ubercross is more likely to *appreciate* an awful lot of trivia than to be turned off by it. Also, you forgot ALTV and COMPLEATAL (two other Weird Al projects), as well as the great (but unreleased) CHICKENPOTPIE parody of McCartney's "Live and Let Die" (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI8faYcWf8U for a live excerpt, and https://weirdal.fandom.com/wiki/Chicken_Pot_Pie for the backstory). Also also: the list could be extended further if, like you point out about "Hamilton", you include some of the original songs that have been mocked (e.g. LOLA, a cross-reference for YODA) or the bands that created them (e.g. DEVO, spoofed in "Polkas on 45"). Also also also: a lot of fill entries could become themers if you throw in *more* trivia, such as: MAD, clued as "Magazine that Al once guest-edited", or BEN (Folds) for whose song "Time" Al sang backup, or (Lisa) LOEB who costarred with Yankovic in the viral "Star Wars Cantina Band Auditions" video, or BONET, a "Huxtable portrayer referenced in 'Bob'", or RIVER, a Hanson video that Al directed, or just about any fill-in-the-blank lyric like "Matching __-and-pepper shakers" from "Hardware Store." By the way, put me down for test solver if you ever need one!