Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

This is Robert Corridan's debut crossword, and a fine debut it is, one that  may induce you to sing, perhaps something along the lines of LA, LA, LA, in which case you will be in a very good place to start solving this crossword! Deets (and the decryption of that cryptic last sentence) are within, so have a listen, and, as per usual, let us know what you think. Show note imagery: a POMELO, a...

Aimee Lucido is both a children's author -- check out "Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta" - and cruciverbalist - check out today's excellent example . This crossword was not hugely difficult, but it was hugely entertaining, as we explain, in detail, in today's episode. Show note imagery: HIGHFIDELITY, by Nick Hornby We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener...

A tough Saturday crossword (of course!) by Christina Iverson, with the northwest corner being particularly tough. But the clues were fair and fun, making for an enjoyable solve. Deets inside, so we encourage you to download, listen up, and ... enjoy! Show note imagery: A Phillie PHANATIC, limbering up before the big game We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop...

Today's crossword was a debut for Boaz Moser, and it was a fine one - challenging but VALID, including familiar clues like 15D, Beverage steeped in bright daylight, SUNTEA, lesser known ones, such as 13D, Bit of foam, perhaps, PEANUT, and hilarious ones, such as 4D, One doing the lord's work, VASSAL (😀). We found this to be a very satisfying solve, and eagerly await Boaz's second c...

A historic first, "BRAT" used in the sense of 52D, 2024 Charli XCX album with a lime green color -- as opposed to all the 179 previous times, when it was a reference to an annoying small child. The rest of the crossword, by Parker Higgins, was similarly entertaining, as evidenced by clues such as 69A, Nose-in-the-air-type?, PLANE; 52D, Give in on Christmas Eve, say, PEEK; and 10D, One of...

A decidedly crunchy Wednesday crossword, Jean managed to chew through it expeditiously, Mike broke a tooth 😉. The theme took a while for both cohosts to grok, after which solving the puzzle became  much easier. Deets inside, you are cordially invited to download, listen up, and ... enjoy! Show note imagery: The ARROYOS Natural Area, where we really,  really  hope they have some ARROYOS! We love f...

Today's theme was about as NYTimes-esque as they come, just a fun exploration of attributes of the English language, and something that almost surely could not have been constructed without a computer to do the heavy lifting. Without spoiling anything out here in the show notes, let's just say that the theme involved finding three answers that met certain criteria, and those answers were...

Tim D'Alfonso has constructed an excellent Monday crossword -- his debut! -- with a smile-inducing theme and some fun cluing, including 42D, Your of yore, THY; 43D, Start of a donkey's bray, HEE; and the nostalgia-inducing 25D, ________ Sketch (classic toy), ETCHA. This was a great puzzle and likely a confidence-builder for those just starting to do the NYTimes crosswords, we approve: 5...

Occasionally at JAMDTNYTC HQ, the cohosts opinions are so divergent that one might be inclined to think they are talking about different puzzles: but they most definitely were talking about one puzzle today, that of 9/8/2024, which Jean found to be a piece o' cake, and Mike found to be ... not that. Deets inside, so have a listen, and, as always, we welcome listener feedback! Show note imager...

After last Saturday's killer crossword we were hoping that Joel might give us a break, but nooooooo, he still had the pedal to the floor, cruciverbially speaking. There were almost no gimmes in the grid , but a plethora of head scratchers, characteristic of David P. Williams, who has written 5 NYTimes crosswords -- 1 Friday, and the rest -- Saturdays. Definitely tough, definitely worth 5 squa...

A challenging Friday crossword, more so in the top-left, less so in the bottom-right. There were a plethora of awesome clues in today's puzzle, including 5A, They often have multiple horns, SKABANDS (what, not TRICERATOPS?); 62A, Competition with many missions, SPACERACE (nice!); and the outstanding 11D, Chicken or mashed potato, DANCE (ha!) Show note imagery: A Rembrandt, by ... Rembrandt! W...

We had an exceptional Thursday crossword -- no rebuses (rebusae(?)), but an inspired theme from the most brilliant Joe Deeney. We cover it in detail in today's episode, and you can see Joe's oeuvre at xwordinfo.com as well. Show note imagery: Look, ma, it's a ZEDONK! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com....

A witty Wednesday crossword by Kareem Ayas, his fourth for the NYTimes since 2023, so he is on a roll! The theme was surprising, especially for a Wednesday, and we'll just let that sentence hang in the air rather than go into the deets here -- but rest assured that the podcast does just that. Besides our in-depth dive through the grid, we also have a spot of listener mail, so to get in on all...

This is Alex Eaton-Salner's 70th NYTimes crosswor d, and it got to be their 70th, in part*, because of an ingenious theme, and in part because of the superstition that to turn down a crossword with BORIC in the grid (8D, Kind of acid used to make Silly Putty) is exceptionally unlucky** Show note imagery: PEI, in its place *we suspect: editor Joel Fagliano plays his cards pretty close to the v...

Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas have collaborated on a fine Monday crossword , with a theme that we won't spoil in the show notes -- but most definitely will in the podcast -- other than to say that we are spoiled ... by the consistently high quality of the NYTime's crosswords. Shownote imagery: For the record, the stars of Vanderpump Rules are not dressed like your typical restaurant wor...

Today's crossword was clearly a labor of love and mathematics, for reasons that will become clear as soon as you either check out the crossword, or today's episode. It did seem to have a rather large number of, well, 96A, Brief glimpse of stars, say, CAMEOS -- except in this case the CAMEOS were from a vast array of fields, from art, 81D, Surrealist James, ENSOR; to cinema, 54A, Oscar-wi...

Sam Ezersky is well known for writing exceptionally cryptic crosswords, and today he's cranked it up to 11. From clues like 1A, Liquid found in some pens, VAPEJUICE, to 14A, The old man?, CROMAGNON, to 64A, It's pressed for time, STOPWATCH, Sam did not give an inch. Of course, this was a Saturday, so we would expect no less! Show note imagery: YASQUEEN, modern words of encouragement We l...

A fine Friday crossword and the second by Colin Adams (just half a year after his first, on February 16th), so kudos! The clues were very well written, making for an intriguing and entertaining solve. We approve! Show note imagery: DEIRDRE of the Sorrows, a heroine of Irish mythology We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.co...

Opinions were divided as to the difficulty of today's crossword - Jean found it to be a pleasant Thursday, Mike found it to be more suited for the heretofore undiscovered Impossiday™️,  a day that lies between Saturday and Sunday, one suited only for the most insanely challenging of crosswords ... like, for example, today's (to reiterate, according to Mike), as well as barbecues in which...

A delightfully complex theme by Jesse Goldberg , cleverly finessing the rule that the answer to a clue should not appear in the clue. Highly original and entertaining, we approve and thereby bestow a full 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Deets inside. Remember when listening to this podcast, if you have not solved the puzzle yourself, it is easier to follow along with xwordinfo.com, where you can fin...

A clever Tuesday crosswor d by Julia Hoepner, with a theme that was as good as it was bad, which we promise will make sense once you've listened to the podcast! It's also Tuesday, time for Triplet Tuesday, and this time Jean's in the hot seat. To hear how she fared, we most sincerely and earnestly beseech you to a) download, b) listen up, and c) enjoy! Show note imagery: the MANDLEB...

It is hard to find fault with a crossword that has LULU Lemon in the grid, so we will not even try, rather we will simply TOUT it for being what it is, a FUNFUNFUN puzzle, which we really did LUV 😍 Show note imagery: The Isle of CAPRI ... where the pants come from? We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we'r...

A very nicely done crossword by John Kugelman, his 5th for the NYTimes. Jean tore through it, Mike took ... only slightly less time than it took Ichthyostega to suss out how to walk on land, owing to ... oops, no spoilers! Download today's podcast, to figure out a) why this was such a fine puzzle, and b) the source of Mike's brief (no, scratch that, not-so-brief) cruciverbial crisis. Sho...

This is Ryan McCarty's 28th NYTimes crossword, almost all of which (23, to be precise) have appeared on this very day -- Saturday. The clues were quite nice -- include a few gems, like  the placement of 30A, "Pleeeeeeease?", CANTI adjacent to 31A, Spiteful, as a comment, CATTY;  41A, Bus. driver, CEO (oh, very nice!);   43A, Hardly open, CAGEY (clever, clever!), and finally  5D, Str...

A nice Friday crossword by Taylor Johnson and Rafael Musa, not too difficult, but not a walk in the park, either. We have our cutting edge analysis, as usual, here for your edification, amusement, and hopefully not bemusement, so have a listen, and let us know what you think! Show note imagery: Opening notes and lyrics of Tik Tok, by KE$HA We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love...