The June MMMM challenged solvers to find a “Jimmy Buffett song that would complete this puzzle’s theme entries.” Here are the six theme entries, in order:

COMMODORES
REMIND ME
MIMI FARINA
SO LAST YEAR
PLATINUM
I DO WHAT I DO

As can be seen in the colored squares in the grid to the left, each theme entry contains two adjacent consecutive scale notes. Every possible pair (DO-RE, RE-MI, MI-FA, FA-SO, SO-LA, LA-TI, and TI-DO) is used, with the exception of FA-SO. So, we’re looking for a Jimmy Buffett song that contains those letters in order. Things get a little tricky, as the letters are spread over three consecutive words in the song title that is this month’s meta answer: Son of a Son of a Sailor.

A total of 161 people answered correctly. Six solvers sent in “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” which contains LA-TI, but unfortunately that combination is already used in the grid. Solvers expressed varying familiarity with the Buffett oeuvre, as typified by the first two comments below.

Selected User Comments:

Jessie Lansner   I aDORE this song; I just wish I could find a REMIx of it! Of course, I have to ignore the harM I FAce for having such a strong view oF A SOng, but I can take SOLAce in the companionship of other Parrot Heads. Listening to songs like “Changes in LATItudes” is the anTIDOte to whatever ails you!

Shawn P   A little harder than usual, mainly because nobody that I know (aside from Google) has a knowledge of Jimmy Buffett beyond Margaritaville.

cyn   The answer song contains the missing “double.”   “Son of a” appears twice in the song title. I didn’t realize that when I came up with the puzzle title – bonus!

postrander   The meta was not as hard as the grid. Thanks for the puzzle. (Burghman and a few others said something similar.)

Clues That Could Have Been Musical:

fheaney suggests [Tenpole ___ (“Swords of a Thousand Men” band)] for TUDOR.

Redhead64 suggets [Rock band whose album “The Great Radio Controversy” went double platinum] for TESLA.

Pete Mitchell suggests [Something Sam Cooke don’t know much about] for ALGEBRA.

Qatsi points out that “When In ROME” is also the name of a one-hit wonder band that had a hit in 1988 with “The Promise.”  And mmurphy protested that I referred to “ELI’s Coming” as a song by Three Dog Night instead of the original artist, Laura Nyro.

Groaners:

Gwinns   So fa, so good.

kaymook   Had the aha moment at the last minute. I was just about to give up, get drunk, and screw it.   Only Jimmy Buffett could get away with “Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw?” as a chorus hook. 

Evan   Never heard of it. But I know it’s nobody’s fault.   

RS   DOgmatists REally MIslike FAding SOngwriters LAnguishing TIpsily DOwnhill.

Howard B   Wastin’ away again in Megametaville.

Here’s my rendition of this month’s meta song:

The average rating for the puzzle was 4.2 stars out of 5, the highest of the year so far. The average difficulty rating was 3.19 out of 5, also the highest of the year so far. This month’s randomly chosen winner of an MMMM coffee mug is Debbie Keller from Rochester Hills, MI. Thanks to Matt Gaffney for blogging the puzzle at Crossword Fiend, where you can rate the puzzle (thanks!) and/or leave a comment.

Thanks for playing and see you in a month!