Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Today's crossword was fabulous -- that's the LONGANDSHORTOFIT! A deftly constructed theme and delightlful clues (43A, Snack brand from the Spanish word for "fried", FRITOS; 8D, Hip hop's Madvillian or Mob Deep, DUO; and 69A, Second smallest of seven, EUROPE) make for a great mid-week solve. Deets inside! Show note imagery: A MEADOWLARK, who, fortunately, looks very good in...

A fine Tuesday crossword by Evan Kalish, and as this is his 22nd NYTimes crossword, it would be fair to say that he is  on a roll . It would also be  hilarious to say that he is  on a roll , but to find out why that is the case, you'll want to download today's episode, which also includes Jean in an epic Triplet Tuesday™️ segment. Show note imagery: The crossword, like the depicted outfi...

A clever Monday crossword by Colin Adams, that may (or may not) have been tricker than the usual Monday. Listeners, what say ye? Did you find this puzzle particularly easy, hard, or just your typical Monday? Let us know, either by clicking on the Fan Mail button or dropping us a line! Show note imagery: HORUS, a Falcon-headed Egyptian god. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love...

Sid Sivakumar, known for his exceedingly crunchy Saturday crosswords, goes easy on us (relatively speaking) in this fun Sunday outing . There are oodles of delightful clues, including 29A, Who has successfully juggled 15 balls simultaneously, NOONE (nice!); 103A, Name that sounds like its first two letters reversed, ELLY (oho!); and the magnificent 118A, Tower in a port, TUG (just brilliant!). The...

Blake Slonecker, the virtuoso of  late-in-the-week-really-really-tough-crosswords, has demonstrated why he has earned that monicker in today's puzzle , filled with some treacherously clever clues and just a slight scattering of "gimmes", although even the gimmes were more like "probably's". Deets inside, as well as the surprising winner of this week's JAMCOTWA (J...

A nice Friday crossword by Spencer Leach, both co-hosts found it easier than Thursday's -- a tad unusual, but definitely not unheard of. Today's clues, however, were magnificent, a bevy of LOLers absolutely guaranteed to put a smile on your face or your money cheerfully refunded (eh, we might have to check on that last bit). Beyond the crossword, we have a very apropos Fun Fact Friday se...

This was a scary crossword , because of the theme, or, to be precise, just how difficult it was to figure out the theme (and many of the other clues besides). it was rated as a Thursday crossword, which generally means that it will be on the tough side, but when Sarah Sinclair and Paolo Pasco are the authors, that really should be uber-tough side. Uber-tough but fun, for reasons that we expand upo...

We present for your edification a very nice Halloween-ish themed crossword to get us mentally prepared for the big day tomorrow! We weren't scared, though, as we were in the capable hands of John M. Kauffman, adeptly supervised by Joel Fagliano. Deets within, so have a listen, and let us know what you think! Show note imagery: Any Given Sunday, a 1999 Oliver Stone flick with a small armada of...

The answers to today's themed clues are so much fun to say that you may find yourself reciting them to strangers, which is a great way to break the ice at parties, just ignore any strange looks / raised eyebrows 😀  To find out what those answers are, we cordially invite you to check out today's episode. Also be sure and listen to our Triplet Tuesday segment, this time co-host Mike is in...

There was a lot of water in today's grid - in 4D, Obstacle for a would-be castle attacker, MOAT; 35D, Beverage with a Big Mac, perhaps, LARGECOKE; and in it's purest state, 46D, Bottled water brand, DASANI. Yet in spite of all that,this puzzle was far from wet, in fact, just the opposite: a stellar Monday with multiple LOL clues, a great way to start out the work week. Also, we have a te...

Jeffrey Martinovic and Jeff Chen -- who as far as we know do not call themselves the two Jeffs -- have put together a moonificent Sunday crossword that will put you, well, over the moon. And if all these lunar references have not yet cued you into today's theme, fear not -- we have moony things to say on the subject (and we promise the episode itself is pretty much pun-free). Show note imager...

This is, incredibly, Peter A. Collins' 120th NYTimes crossword . His sweet spot seems to be Wednesdays, but he has published (unsurprisingly, with 120 puzzles in the archives) every day of the week, this is his 8th Saturday. It would not be too much of a spoiler to say that we loved it, but for the deets check out today's podcast to see why. Also, it's Saturday, and for our JAMCOTWA...

This was a debut crossword by Alex Murphy, and a fine debut it was - with a large-ish number of challenging clues, exactly what you'd expect and hope for in a Friday NYTimes puzzle. Beyond those covered in today's puzzle, we would like to give a shoutout to 16A, Cello parts are written in it, BASSCLEF (not, as we first suspected, CRAYONS); 9D, Indy label, STP (ah, that Indy); and 8D, Fla...

A fun Thursday crossword by Ella Dershowitz, with a theme that will grow on you (or, since it involves NE, perhaps we should say glow on you🙄😀). All puns aside, this was a great crossword that has led us to bestow on Ella the title of GGOAT -- Greatest Genius Of All Time. Show note imagery: Staying in shape doing TOETAPS We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Dr...

This was a lovely Wednesday crossword by veteran cruiciverbalists Matthew Stock and Brooke Husic, with a theme guaranteed to warm the cockles of academics everywhere, and inspire everybody else to Google "cockles" 😀. Deets inside. Show note imagery: Nothing runs like a DEERE We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud....

This is Barbara Lin's 14th NYTimes crossword since 2020, and to see why she keeps getting them published, just take a look at today's puzzle. We did, and are glad of it. Deets inside, as well as Jean's epic struggle to win at Triplet Tuesday™, so have a listen, and let us know what you think! Show note imagery: A RUBE Goldberg contraption We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact...

This was a straightforward crossword, as Monday's are wont to be, although one of our number had several mistakes that they had to ferret out before getting to the happy music. In the interests of heightening  suspense, we will not tell you which one of our cohosts was involved, nor where their mistakes lay: but instead refer you to today's podcast for all the deets. Show note imagery: E...

EGAD this was a fine crossword , it deserves some sort of AWARD for its EPIC themed clues and answers. There was NOTABIT of crosswordese in the grid, just ALOT of great cruciverbial magic. In short, we are ALLIN when it comes to this, the fourth NYTimes crossword by Jerry Miccolis. Show note imagery: Just one of many reasons to visit Los Cabos, Mexico, aka CABO  We love feedback! Send us a text......

Today's crossword was filled with amusing and tricky clues, like 46D, "Charms strike the sight, but _______ wins the soul": Alexander Pope, MERIT; and a nice combo, 7D, Branching point, NODE, and 8D, Branching point?, TREE (ha!). But these are just a few of the stellar clues in today's crossword, even better ones lie within, so download today's podcast for even more  enlig...

This is Jesse Cohn's second NYTimes crossword , and it is an absolute delight. You'll be giving so many standing ovations for his fabulous cluing that you'll probably close your rings before you solve the crossword, it's that good. Want proof? Download today's podcast and allow us to make our case. Show note imagery: Something about this image is incorrect ... and to find...

August Lee-Kovach has made a fine Thursday crossword for our edification. The theme would've been an easy sell to editors, since it was all about ... editing! Other fine clues (not mentioned in the podcast) include 2D, What is to be done?, AGENDA (of course!); 5D, What Alexander Graham Bell suggested as the standard telephone-answering greeting, AHOY (awesome!!); and like this crossword, 35D,...

The title of today's episode is a  very subtle hint to today's theme, a nice bit of work by Hanh Huynh, his third NYTimes crossword in a year. Beyond those clues covered in the podcast, we'd also like to laud 42D, "Alrighty, then. As I was saying ...", ANYHOO, and 58D, The appearance of a butterfly in a home, for some, OMEN (hopefully a good one!). Good stuff all around, t...

Today's crossword , a debut by Lindsay Rosenblum, did not feel like a debut at all, more like a major work by a seasoned constructor. Beyond those clues mentioned in the podcast, we'd also like to point out 52D, Medieval tales of daring adventure, GESTS (and no, we would not jest about GESTS 😉); 43D, Bond film between "Skyfall" and "No Time to Die", SPECTRE (spelled...

Just when you thought it was  surely impossible for  anyone , anywhere , to come up with a new theme, someone, somewhere, does. And that someone is Dana Edwards, the somewhere is here, today, and the results are delectable. Deets inside, so have a listen, and please tell others about us on social media. Show note imagery: One of just 4 people to have scored a QUADRUPLEDOUBLE, the incredibly talent...

We're starting these show notes with a pun (see title, above,  if you dare), to get you in the proper state of mind for today's crossword. You'll see what we mean when you tackle said crossword, or check it out (as you always can) at xwordinfo.com : puns here, puns there, puns  everywhere . Well, not quite everywhere, but definitely in the themed answers. Deets and amusing banter wi...