Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

For those of you unfamiliar with Canadian politics, JUSTINTRUDEAU ruled Canada from 2015-2025, when he stepped aside in favor of Mark Carney, the current PM. The entire political saga will probably be a hit on AppleTV+ in a few years; it certainly has all the plot elements! In other news, we've moved our JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) to Monday, so that each winner wil...

A rebus -- for those of you new to the crossword-solving realm -- is a square containing more than one letter. Rebuses come in several varieties; in today's crossword we have two words per square, one intended to be read horizontally, the other vertically.  Spotting rebuses is a bit of an art. Usually the tip-off is when the answer that you know, absolutely, positively , is correct ... but it...

This is Katie Hoody's fourth NYTimes Saturday crossword, and it is apparent that she has mastered the genre. The clues are devious, to be sure; and diabolical, also true; but you likely know the answers, if you can just maneuver through the maze to get to them. For example, 42D, Demand upon reaching an "enemy border", KINGME (ah, that kind of enemy border!); 27D, What's wrong?,...

This was a tough Friday crossword , following a couple of crunchier than usual Wednesday and Thursday offerings. Extrapolating, we are therefore quaking in our metaphorical shoes awaiting Saturday's puzzle to drop. Will it be impossible ? Or merely very, very nearly impossible? 😉 Only time will tell (but then we'll tell you , in tomorrow's episode). Also in today's show ... we...

Adam Wagner has a reputation for making tough, high-quality crosswords, which explains ... today's, tough, high-quality crossword . Even after grokking the theme, the rest of the clues required no little effort to unravel. We have the whole story inside, so do have a listen and then let us know: how did you find today's puzzle? Show note imagery: The Earl and Countess of Wessex We love f...

The remarkable xwordinfo.com has compiled a list of the maximum number of times each letter has appeared in a crossword. Up until today, K had appeared a total of 18 times, but now -- thanks to Jackson Matz -- that record stands at 24 , all in the aid of a good cause, aka "the theme".  Both cohosts found this to be a slightly crunchier than usual Wednesday, and Jean in particular had to...

This was an excellent debut crossword by Jonathan Daly; we were dazzled by the theme, and found gems in the rest of the grid as well. We enjoyed 71A, Floppy part of a beagle, EAR; 49D, Owl's question?, WHO; and of course we are absolutely infatuated with 11D, A shopper, not a buyer, informally, LOOKIELOO. In addition, we have our traditional Triplet Tuesday™️ segment, and today Jean's in...

This was a fine Monday crossword courtesy of the very talented Matthew Stock and Michael Lieberman. The latter, based on both this puzzle and his xwordinfo.com photo , is apparently a baseball fan; so, using that metaphor, we'd definitely categorize this crossword as a home run. Show note imagery: Behold, the mighty PEGASUS (and they're accepting pre-orders now !) We love feedback! Send...

In August we had a fabulous crossword honoring "the Man of 1000 Voices", Mel Blanc, and ... he's back , this time in the grid, and in celebration of what might be the greatest animated toon duo of all time, starring in gags that never get old. Deets inside, as well as our latest JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Do The New York Times Crossword) winner. Enjoy! Show note imagery: GINZA, in al...

This was definitely a Saturday-caliber crossword, where Will & company pull out pretty much all the stops. On no other day of the week will you see entertaining, educational, and definitely challenging clues like 16A, Italian pianist who composed the scores for "Nomadland" and "The Father", LUDOVICOEINAUDI (yikes!); or 40A, Origin of "The Tale of Genji," considere...

This was a very nice Friday crossword -- not soul-crushingly difficult, but with enough razzle-dazzle (see yesterday's episode 😀) to really lift the spirits. We have the deets inside, as well as a fascinating Fun Fact Friday™️ examination of one of history's most famous eggs. Show note imagery: PIMA cotton, accept no substitutes! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love...

This was a fun crossword by Gia Bosko, with a theme that Jean immediately sussed out, and Mike only discovered after he finished the crossword. That remarkable and dare we say it (yes, we do!) amusing story is just one of several you'll hear in today's episode; so, please, hit download / subscribe / play, and then ... enjoy! Show note imagery: An old fashioned WALKIETALKIE, which became...

While Wednesday's child might be full of woe, we prefer our Wednesday clues to be full of woah! 😀 And that's exactly what we got in today's crossword : a sizable number of clues whose answers did not immediately leap to mind. They did, eventually, thanks to serendipity and some gentler crosses. Kudos and thanks to today's debut cruciverbalists, Cole Vandenberg and Hadith Ragun...

This crossword quickly skyrocketed from "nice cluing, not bad" to "unbelievably awesome!!", thanks to one vital clue. We'll leave you in suspense as to what that clue is -- until you listen to the episode, of course -- but we feel quite certain that you'll agree with our assessment. [Either way, let us know via the usual channels.] Show note imagery: The extraordinary...

Monday's are engineered to entice and intrigue newer solvers, and today's crossword , by Margaret Seikel, does so admirably. There were a few clues that gave us pause: 47D, Attaches, ADDSON (not ADHERES, which, among other problems, would not fit); 43D, Georgia politico Stacey _______, ABRAMS, eventually came to mind (she has definitely not been prominent in the news as of late); and we...

It is not always the case that a theme gives us the case of the giggles, but Derrick Niederman's crossword provided us with a plethora of LOL moments. It is definitely in the running for next week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword of The Week Award). This week's JAMCOTWA was a slam dunk; check out today's episode to see if our pick was also your favorite. Finally, we have a s...

The difficulty level's been dialed up to 11, so if you did not get through today's puzzle ... it's not you, it's Kunal Nagar (abetted in this criminally awesome crossword by Will Shortz). Every single clue had something to commend it, and pretty much every single answer required your cohosts, working independently as always, to work for it. This is definitely worth a joyous 5 s...

This was an awesome debut by Bryan Cheong, who is, astonishingly, only 14 years old. You would not know it from the crossword, though: the clues are sharp and the fill as crisp as can be. Definitely 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and we are on the edge of our seats waiting for Bryan's second crossword. In honor of the day (Friday), we also have a Fun Fact Friday™️ segment, about Phoebe Ann Mos...

This was a delightfully intriguing and decidedly crunchy Thursday crossword , penned by Colin Ernst and adroitly edited by Will Shortz. It took both cohosts, working independently as is their wont, no little time to figure out what was happening, theme-wise: but both eventually did, and appreciated the mental gymnastics. Deets inside, so have a listen, and please let us know what you think. The NY...

This was a fun crossword by Michael B. Berg, his second for the NYTimes. The theme was terrific, revolving around a word that neither cohost had heard before, ZHUZH. Fortunately, the crosses were fairly forgiving (except when they weren't: we're looking at you, KATZ).  All in all an excellent middle-of-the-week crossword, we hereby bestow upon it with 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Show n...

In keeping with the nursery rhyme, we would argue that today's crossword was full of grace ... or at least some very cool clues. Mike's favorite was 10D, Certain parent overseeing a child's career, in showbiz lingo, MOMAGER; Jean's was 66A, "This decision is hard!", IMTORN. Both agreed that they would love to do a podcast from 37A, Caribbean hot spot, ARUBA.  Besides...

Today's crossword marks Lynn Lempel's 103rd for the NYTimes, and was a great way to usher in September. While there were no debut answers, quite a few of the clues caught our fancy, including 64A, Flexible Flyer, for one, SLED; the almost onomatopoetic 4D, Smooth-talking, GLIB; and what sounds like it ought to be delicious (and surely is), 21D, Russian pancake, BLINI.  Bravo, Lynn! Show...

Michael Lieberman was definitely playing against type when he dreamed up this crossword, because he spends his days at his law firm fighting corporate mergers, but his nights -- apparently -- trying to encourage them. You'll see what we mean when you have a listen to today's episode, or wander over to (warning: it's spoiler city if you click that link!) the solution at xwordinfo.com...

The fifth NYTimes crossword by Ryan Judge  made for a very nice Saturday; not a walk in the park, by any stretch, but more straightforward than last Saturday's "let's scale Mt Everest barefoot" uber-challenge.  There were some great clues in today's grid. Jean in particular was fond of 35A, Drew Carey once called it "crossword puzzle cheese" on "Whose Line I...

Our cohosts were surprised and delighted to learn, thanks to today's crossword , that there are four countries whose national anthems have no lyrics, and so people instead hum, or sing something along the lines of "na, na, na". The four countries in question are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, San Marino, and Spain. One of those appears in today's grid, and to preserve an air o...