"Crossword Puzzle" is a song written by Steve Dean and Frank J. Myers, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American retired country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful mus ...

. It was released in September 1984 as the third single from the album '' Clean Cut''. It reached the top twenty of the American country songs chart.

Background and recording

In the 1980s, Barbara Mandrell had a series of number one and top ten country singles. With a collaboration from producer

Tom Collins The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. This "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically served in a Collins glass over ice with a cherry garnish. A non-alcoholic "Collins mix" drink mi ...

, Mandrell had her biggest success as a country music artist during this period. One of the singles she cut during this period was 1984's "Crossword Puzzle". It was written by Steve Dean and Frank J. Myers. Collins produced the track's recording session in January 1984 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Release and chart performance

"Crossword Puzzle" was released as a single on MCA Records in September 1984. It was backed on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

by the song "If It's Not One Thing It's Another". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single spent 20 weeks on America's ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country songs chart, peaking at number 11 by December 1984. In Canada, the single climbed to into the top ten of the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' country chart. The song was spawned from Mandrell's 1984 studio album titled '' Clean Cut''.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "Crossword Puzzle" – 3:32 * "If It's Not One Thing It's Another" – 3:46

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1984 singles 1984 songs Barbara Mandrell songs Songs written by Steve Dean Songs written by Frank J. Myers Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer) MCA Records singles