Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

This was a tricky Thursday crossword and a magnificent debut for Kyle Perkins. Jean struggled and Mike strugggggled, to get to the happy music; both eventually persevered, but not before much gnashing of teeth had taken place. We have all the dental records inside, so have a listen (as one will, to dental records 🙄), and enjoy! Show note imagery: Awe inspiring downtown La Paz, Bolivia. We love fe...

The father and daughter duo of Brad Wiegmann and Nicole Wiegmann have teamed up to create a wonderful connect-the-dots-er-squares puzzle-within-a-puzzle . Elizabeth Gorski, an NYTimes contributor with a whopping 219 crosswords to her credit apparently pioneered this approach: and the Wiegmann opus is a fine addition to the oeuvre. Besides the crossword, our investigative team is hot on the trail o...

This is the second Christina Iverson - Scott Hogan collaboration, and the first NYTimes crossword ever to include WORCESTERSHIRE as an answer. It usually takes us several takes before we can pronounce the word, and even more before we can spell it. We enjoyed 52A, Copenhagen's "The Little Mermaid", for one, STATUE (which for all the attention it gets, is surprisingly short); we had...

This was an excellent crossword by a prolific cruciverbalist. It was a Monday, and as far as being fun and appropriate for novice puzzle solvers, a smashing success. We enjoyed the challenge of how to spell 9D, Shrub with bright flowers, AZALEA; the reappearance (for the second time in two days) of a by-gone internet pioneer, AOL; and the opportunity to haul out our faux-pirate accent for 9A, Pira...

If crosswords had moods, we'd classify this one as feisty . It took both cohosts, working independently as always, longer than usual to get to the happy music. But the journey is the reward, as they say, so rather than complain, we prefer to celebrate this, the fourth NYTimes crossword by Amie Walker. Deets inside. Show note imagery: A LORIS, in its native habitat, the crossword grid (no, str...

This was a good Saturday workout : not the hardest Saturday ever, but engaging, with some truly effervescent cluing. We covered the best-of-the-best in today's episode, but we would also like to note 26A, John Coltrane album whose title suggests making major progress, GIANTSTEPS (check it out, an awesome work); 46D, Pussyfoot: SNEAK; and the star of one of our favorite Marvel series, 9D, Eliz...

This was a challenging crossword for both cohosts, as both -- solving independently as is their custom -- ended up in the same area of the grid, temporary waylaid by the crossing of 40A, The Brady household, including Alice, e.g., ENNEAD, and 29D, "The Fall of the House of Usher" actress ___ Miller, TNIA. In the end, though, Jean managed to get through this crossword LIKEABOSS; Mike was...

For you polyglots out there, the NYTimes has written a love letter, cleverly disguised as a crossword -- today's , to be precise, a magnificent opus by Sam Brody. For the rest of us, the crossword was (for reasons that will be come clear once you've heard the podcast and/or seen the completed grid) a lot more challenging, which means, of course, a lot more fun . We adored this, Sam'...

The first author of today's crossword, Chad Hazen, had over 40 rejections before finally getting a crossword published -- but when he did get it published it was in the New York Times, so there is that. He was aided in his efforts by legendary crossword constructor Jeff Chen, an ideal person to have your six when the crossword deities conspire against you. We have all the deets on today'...

This was a debut crossword by Patrick Hayden, and a very nice one, to boot. The theme was sly, and the author has a knack for writing novel clues for common answers. We covered many of them in the podcast, but we admired many more. For instance, we had 58A, What you eat, DIET; 52D, Metaphor for a bad goalie, SIEVE (awesome!); and 61D, Start of a bray, HEE (hee, hee).  Also, we'd be remiss if...

If you fear crosswords with large swathes of white squares, infrequently interrupted by a black square or two (and psychiatrists have a technical name for that: "normal"), you might want to give this crossword a bye. But if you do so, be warned: you'll be missing out on one of the best Sunday crosswords of the year, courtesy of Rafael Musa (adeptly edited, as always, by Will Shortz)...

This was a sweet Saturday crossword by Michael Lieberman, filled with his characteristically witty, and fresh clueing. We've covered the best in the podcast, but we also were enamored with 37D, Atypical, to Antonius, RARA; 24D, Settled a debt reluctantly, PONIEDUP 🐎; and 51D, One direction, EAST 😁. Show note imagery: An AGOUTI, looking for some Brazil nuts to pulverize We love feedback! Sen...

As we sidle up to the most challenging crossword of the week, aka Saturday, we expect the opening act -- Friday -- to help get us in the right frame of mind. Friday does not disappoint, as there were oodles of tricky (theme-free) clues to contend with. For instance, 34D, A smartphone has many of these, USES (ah, not APPS, got it!); 38D, The U.A.E. is in it, OPEC (rather than ASIA, fine); and the i...

If you needed to be reminded that the scariest day of the year is coming up tomorrow; and if yesterday's crossword didn't drive the stake (er, point) home, then today's surely will. Between the OREOS, bat(omorph)s and witches in the grid, and the suspiciously large number of pumpkins one is likely to encounter in the street, it is clear that Halloween is drawing nigh. What is also c...

This was the perfect Halloween Eve's Eve crossword, suitably spooky and eminently entertaining. The theme was a stitch, and the supporting cast of clues was, well, quite supportive. We've covered the highlights in today's podcast; but as usual we link to the completely filled-in crossword, from xword.info, right here .  Show note imagery: A delectable trio of cereal pancakes from IH...

Jean found today's crossword to be a tad more difficult than usual; Mike found it almost, but not quite, impossible, thanks to the high density of pop-culture references in the bottom-left corner. We have the deets inside. In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday and -- how shall we put this charitably? -- Mike gave it the ol' college try. Show note imagery: The digits, in  Spanish -- ve...

This was Tarun Krishnamurthy's third NYTimes crossword : he now has two Mondays and a Tuesday under his belt. Today's opus had an endearing theme and provided us with an opportunity to dive into the FLIER v. FLYER debate. Based on extensive research, we can now conclude, unequivocally, that it should neither be spelled PHLIER (as that is a chemist who tells falsehoods about acidity) nor...

The last few crosswords have been rather on the challenging side and while Will and co. (co, in this case, being  collaborators Gary Larson and Doug Peterson) definitely did ease up a bit today , it was still not a walk in the park -- more of a jog uphill. As far as the slope of that hill, Jean would rate it about 2%, Mike estimated it was more like 50%, possibly higher, thanks to several severe s...

Byron Walden has had 110 crosswords published in the NYTimes, of which 71 were Saturdays. If you are wondering why, then take a gander at today's grid, and peek at the podcast; Byron has served up a master class in how to write delectable, diabolically deceptive clues. Deets inside. Show note imagery: PHILO Farnsworth, the "Father of Television" and an expert 31D, Improviser at a wo...

It is hard to believe that today's crossword was a debut, but ... believe it! By turns elegant, hilarious, engaging and definitely taxing, both cohost were decidedly enamored with today's work. We have all the many reasons why inside, so have a listen, and let us know if you concur. In other news, in honor of the day, we have another Fun Fact Friday segment, and we guarantee that, like t...

This were a lot of jewels in today's grid , including, well, JOULES (56A, Units equal to roughly a quarter of a calorie). We also were glad to learn the last name of 60A, Lou ___, "Mambo No. 5" singer, BEGA; and the full name of 45A, Star of NBC's "The Blacklist", JAMESSPADER. We confess, we haven't see The Blacklist, and wanted to plead "lack of time"...

This was a gem of a Wednesday crossword . The theme was, as you might expect, unexpected: the rest of the grid, as you might also expect, excellent. We covered most of our favorites in today's episode, but we would also like to direct your attention to 11D, Whirling visual effects in video games, PORTALS; 39A, Bubbly bar, SOAP; and 5D, Electroreception for sharks, SENSE.  Show note imagery: L...

Spencer Leach's crosswords have appeared most frequently on Saturday*, meaning he likes to make 'em tough. Todays is his first Tuesday outing, and it is quite good.  We'd say more, but since our footnote has mysteriously become almost as long as our usual show note, we'll wrap it up here and remind you to check out today's episode for the full 411 on the puzzle -- as well...

This was a nice Monday crossword, the 17th by Adam Aaronson, who is more partial to Saturday but we're glad to see him wander over to this half of the week. Jean tore through the puzzle so quickly her iPad caught fire, whereas Mike's was never at risk. The clues were mainly Monday fare, but we did have the fabulous 2D, End of some sentences, PAROLE (walked right into that one!); the high...

This was a truly epic Sunday crossword by Daniel Grinberg, one with a theme guaranteed to put a smile on your face and/or cause your jaw to drop in amazement at the artistry and effort that clearly went into today's puzzle. We have much more to say about this magnificent opus, so pull up a chair, go for a jog, whatever it is that you do while listening to this podcast, and enjoy! Show note im...