Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Joe Deeney has gotten a reputation, here at JAMDTNYTC HQ, for crafting fun and lively crosswords, and we are pleased to report that his streak remains intact ! While it has often been conjectured that the proof is in the pudding, here it's in the podcast, so we enjoin you to subscribe, download, and check out our "case for the Deeney, er, defense"🙄. Show note imagery: SKYMALL catal...

Erik Agard is a fabulous crossword constructor, so it is a delight to see his name in the marquee, and even more delightful to tackle this crossword . The puzzle is packed with fun and educational clues, and the theme is LOL. Check out today's podcast to see what we mean. In addition to our analysis of today's puzzle, in honor of Tuesday we're running our Triplet Tuesday™️ segment,...

Today's crossword seemed a little crunchier than usual to at least one of our cohosts (hint: their initial is 'M'), due to a confluence of problematic clues in the southwest corner of the grid. Fortunately, thanks to their belief that all good Danish film directors are called LARS, said cohost was able to complete the crossword successfully. Deets within, so have a listen, and, as a...

This was a fun Sunday crossword by John Kugelman, even if 9 out of 10 cardiologists would recommend you eschew most of the foods in the grid. We've seen John's name in the marquee before, had a notion that good things were about to happen, and were not disappointed. Every themed answer made us smile if not lol, and the rest of the grid was filled with crisply-clued answers. Deets inside...

This was a challenging puzzle -- as Saturday crosswords are engineered to be the toughest of the week -- but it also presented some DIVINE clues, including 24D, Places for subs, BENCH (delightful!); 21D, They cover top stories, INSULATIONS (ok, that was unexpected!); 28A, Things put into decks, TAPES (what are those again? 😀); and many, many more. Most of those we cover in today's podcast, a...

While Friday crosswords are traditionally themeless, today's grid was rife with subtle, almost ninja-like Valentine's Day references. That's not to detract from the rest of the grid. We were fans of 51D, One-eyed "Futurama" character, LEELA (oh, please reboot that series!); 53D, One sporting a sporran, maybe, SCOT (okay, maybe we do subscribe to Popular Sporran, what about...

This is Jim Burch's seventh NYTimes crossword. He seems to have taken up residence on the tougher side of the week, with all of his crosswords appearing on Thursday (2), Friday (4) or Saturday (1). This was on the easier side of the spectrum, but still a challenge: as always, YMMV depending on what's in your wheelhouse. Deets inside, as well as the resolution of the Great BELLLAP mystery...

One of our favorite comedians -- Sir Michael PALIN -- is in today's grid , and if you have not heard of him, don't walk, but run to your nearest video source and check out Monty Python , for some absolutely transcendent humor. Then, come back and check out today's podcast for some wry remarks, none of which involve breadstuffs of any kind 🙄 Show. note imagery: The castle of ARGOS,...

Like all good Tuesday crosswords, today's had some clues that might make you pause, like 34A, Assignments, POSTS (ah, those sorts of assignments); 17A, Emoji that means "I'm crazy about you!", HEARTEYES (😍); and the fun to say 50A, Betting setting, RENO. Speaking of which, we'll bet that you'll enjoy today's Triplet Tuesday segment, so without further ado, we wi...

This was an admirable Monday crossword by Emily Rourke, thanks in no small part to an ingenious theme about ... which we will say no more here, as we loathe spoilers as much as you undoubtedly do, dear listeners. However, we do have much to say about the theme in the actual podcast, aka spoiler-central. Show note imagery: TOA Skylark, by Percy Bysshe Shelley (whose middle name is the bane of would...

Some sort of major sporting event was taking place today, but both cohosts (working independently, as is their wont)  still found time to tackle this excellent crossword, and while each fumbled a few times along the way, they both eventually got to the "happy-music" zone, and performed the traditional "we finished the crossword" dance of celebration. Deets inside, and, we promi...

Alina Abidi has crafted a delightful Saturday crossword - tough but fair, with more terrific clues than you can shake a stick at (your mileage may vary depending on your physical prowess and the dimensions of said stick 😀🙄). Among the clues that we were particularly enthralled with were 1A, What may precede a blessing?, ACHOO (nice!); 6A, School whose mascot is Big Al the elephant, informally, B...

FORMULAIC might've been in the grid, but this Friday crossword was anything but, with 6 debut answers and a lot of decidedly non-conventional cluing throughout the puzzle. Besides those mentioned in the podcast, we enjoyed 16A, Material that goes on a foundation, POWDER, and the delicious 17A, What's holding up dessert?, CONE. In honor of Fun Fact Friday, we have a segment on a cartoon c...

This was a fine Thursday crossword by Aidan Deshong and Jacob Reed, most notable for its novel theme. In most Thursday crosswords, something unexpected happens in the grid -- maybe letters are doubled up, displaced, hidden in black squares, etc. But today it is the clues that are camouflaged: the answer is straightforward once you've decoded said clue. We have all the deets inside, so have a...

Jean found today's crossword to be a bit on the crunchy side for a Wednesday, but Mike was able to tap into a vein of esoterica that made his solve much smoother. Both agreed that the theme was unique and witty, and there were no duds in the surrounding fill. In short, this crossword is definitely worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Show note imagery: All hail the WAFFLEFRY, yum! We love feed...

This was a fun, fun crossword , due in large part to a theme that just radiates joy -- not enough that the EPA had to get involved, but enough that you'll definitely want to tackle the crossword, and then check out this podcast -- in that order! Show note imagery: Me and My Gal, a movie in which JAKE gets used a surprising number of times to denote the concept of something that's OK/fine...

This was a fine Monday crossword by Jack Scherban, and we're not just saying that because it referenced our phonetically favorite pirate, 60A, Captain Hook's right-hand man, SMEE, nor our favorite dessert, 37D, Black-and-white dessert that's sliced, OREOPIE. Rather, it was the theme, which brought back nostalgic memories (as well as a short-lived and, come to think of it, largely im...

This was an extraordinary Sunday crossword, thanks to one of those "oh, I can't believe they did that!" themes that makes crossword solving such an utter delight. This delight came to us courtesy of Derrick Niederman (edited, as always, by Will Shortz), and we will be savoring it for a loooong time to come. To find out exactly why, and possibly how long is loooong, download today&ap...

This was a relatively straightforward Saturday: Jean got through it in record time, and posited that it was too straightforward. Mike knew better than to tempt fate, and so just nodded, noncommittally, on the diagonal -- neither yes, nor no.  Besides the crossword, we are pleased to announce our latest JAMCOTWA -- Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award -- winner, and that would be ... easily di...

Today's crossword had another one of those patented "NYTimes Clever Themes" this one courtesy of Joe Marquez. Jean latched onto it straight off, Mike took an order of magnitude longer before the light, belatedly, dawned. Still, better latte than Nespresso, as they say at Starbucks 🙄 Show note imagery: A FATCAT We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail!...

This is the last NYTimes crossword of the month, and we're going out on a high note , thanks to Adrian Johnson, who has crafted such an awesome crossword that if we had to pick the best clue we'd be sorely tempted to respond with "all of them". To hear why, check out today's podcast, where we go over some of our favorites. We also have a spot of equally awesome listener ma...

This was a tricky Wednesday , thanks mainly to its clever theme (created by Sophia Maymudes, adroitly edited by Will Shortz). We have nothing but good things to say about it, although we are now on tenterhooks wondering what Thursday will bring. Just a reminder that our show notes always include a link to the wonderful website xwordinfo.com, where you can find a completed version of the day's...

This was an intriguing Tuesday crossword by Dan Margolis -- his 5th in the NYTimes. The theme was delicious (literally), and indeed the grid was rife with food for thought, including 3D, Cookie with its name on it, OREO; 52D, _______ ghanouj, BABA; and 58D, _______ slaw, COLE. Yum! Also, today being Tuesday, we have another Triplet Tuesday™ segment, and this time Mike's in the hotseat. To fin...

This was a clever Monday crossword from a clever constructor, Alexander Liebeskind, who seems to excel at Mondays. Both cohosts found today's puzzle a bit crunchier (tougher) than usual, but the entertainment value was higher than usual, so it's a wash. Deets inside, including a fascinating attempt to decode SMH that was, TBH, waaaaay off.  Show note imagery: a SWISSROLL -- the Little De...

Today's crossword was a rarity -- its themed clues had pictures 🖼️ that had to be interpreted 🧐, as they were part of a rebus. By "rebus", we don't mean the "multiple letters scrunched in one square" variety, encountered frequently on Thursdays. Rather, we mean the more traditional definition: a puzzle in which pictures and typography are used to sound out an answer....