"Crossword Puzzle" is a song written by Steve Dean and

Frank J. Myers Frank Joseph Myers (born July 3, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has received multiple awards including a Grammy for "Best Country Song" which he and frequent songwriting partner Gary Baker (forme ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American 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 music artist ...

. It was released in September 1984 as the third single from the album ''

Clean Cut ''Clean Cut'' is the fourteenth solo studio album by American country music artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released in March 1984 on MCA Records and was produced by Tom Collins. It was one of two studio albums Mandrell released in 1984. B ...

''. It reached the top ten 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. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically serv ...

, 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 is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

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 records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

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 advertise ...

country songs Country song may refer to: *National anthem, known as a "country song" in some languages * "Country Song" (Jake Bugg song), a 2011 song by British singer songwriter Jake Bugg * "Country Song" (Pink Floyd song), an untitled song by Pink Floyd from th ...

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 with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

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

''.

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