Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Tuesday's child is full of grace ... as is this,  Tuesday's crossword . The reasons for that will become clear as soon as you check out today's episode, so have it! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we're on FaceBook , so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!

Much hilarity ensues in today's grid , undoubtedly inspired by the day (April 1st). It did make for a tricky Monday, however, and, at least for Mike, a much slower time than average. Still, a worthy attempt, definitely worth 4 squares on the JAMCR sale. Show note imagery; There's just something about this mountain ... We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mai...

Another one of those sprawling Sunday grids that we all know and love, 21x21 squares chock-full of delicious puzzlement, along with a heaping side of puns --  because what would a Sunday crossword be without them? This was Spencer Leach's 4th NYTimes crossword , and his first Sunday. When he's not constructing crosswords, Spencer is studying mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, and i...

Years from now, people will sing lusty songs of praise, and recall fondly where they were, when they heard this crossword's happy music, it was  that tough .  Blake Slonecker made solvers work for just about every answer, and your cohosts found it a major slog (fun slog, but still ... a slog). We have all the deets inside, as well as the winner of this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Cros...

A tough Friday workout for the little gray cells, thanks to a debut by Jake Bunch with some nice diversions, obfuscation, and plumes of humor. We were delighted to see 40D, Computer acronym since the 1960s, ASCII; 48D, Fancy, WANT (of course!); 33A, Solving puzzles, e.g., PASTIME (still amazed that only has 1 T ...); and 43A, One of the Minecraft protagonists, STEVE (hi, STEVE!).  It is Friday, wh...

For those of you who haven't played with POTATO HEAD for a while, today's puzzle gives you a perfect opportunity to revisit an old friend, thanks to this fine work by Dominic Grillo. The theme was blatantly obvious -- the giant potato in the middle of the grid being a huge tipoff 😀 -- but that made it no less fun. There were oodles of 3 letter answers in today's grid, that being th...

Rich Katz is on a roll - this is his 5th NYTimes crossword in just over a year, and it is a beaut. The theme is ingenious, and the cluing amusing. Cases in point: 37D, Less green, maybe, OLDER; 51D, It might be used while boxing, TWINE (😀); 52D, Did zippo, IDLED; and 53A, Stick used for breaking, CUE (aha!). All great, and we approve, 5 squares on the ye olde JAMCR scale. Show note imagery: The I...

We are back after a brief hiatus, and welcoming us back is this fine crossword by Laura Dershowitz and Katherine Baicker (edited by Joel Fagliano). The theme was a little on the high-brow side and a lot on the punny side, just what one would expect from a good Tuesday NYTimes crossword.  We have all the deets inside, so please, subscribe, download, listen up, and, as always, let us know what you t...

This is Lynn Lempel's 102nd NYTimes Crossword (no, that was not a typo). We don't know how she does it, but we are soooo glad that she does. Check out today's episode for all the reasons (as well as our latest Triplet Tuesday segment). For logistical reasons we need to take a break this week, but we will be back next Tuesday ... in the meantime, keep doing those crosswords! Show not...

A fine Monday crossword by Trent H. Evans -- his tenth in the NYTimes -- and it has a number of fine clues honoring  A-listers, including  59A, Artist who co-authored a book about his mustache, DALI; 38A, Game show icon Trebek, ALEX; and 42A, Queen of the Nile, informally, CLEO.   Show note imagery: Dali's Mustache 😀  We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! D...

This marks Simeon Siegel's 12th NYTimes crossword, and it is a masterpiece! There's no telling how long it took to make, but no matter how long, it was worth the wait, one of those "I can remember where I was when I solved it" puzzles that makes you glad to be alive. Deets inside, so check it out, and, as usual, let us know what you think! Show note  imagery: NIAGARAFALLS on ic...

After Friday's mental melee, today's crossword was  slightly easier, but still not a walk in the park, not by a long stretch. It was a Saturday, designed to confuse and confound, and it did so in spades. We have all the details, as well as our JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) winner, plus some awesome listener mail, so for all that, and more, we encourage you to subsc...

Today is Pi Day - 3/14 - and the NYTimes is celebrating in grand style (ok, perhaps not the entire newspaper , but certainly the crossword section).  To see what happens when the gray lady lets down her hair, so to speak, be sure and check out today's podcast! Show note imagery: A helpful chart for anyone hoping to try their hand at chiromancy 🙄 We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact In...

Today's crossword was the ideal middle-of-the-week puzzle; a fun but accessible theme, a smattering of debut answers and a host of intriguing clues. We have -- of course! -- all the deets inside, so do have a listen, and, as usual, let us know what you think! Show notes imagery: OSLO, showing just a few of its 40 islands and 350 lakes We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love...

Andrew Kingsley and Garret Chalfin have teamed up to produce a fine Tuesday crossword , with some good clues, some great clues, and some awesome clues. In the latter category we have 35D, Show stoppers?, ADS 😀; 51A, Liquid-ATE, MELT 🙄; and 50D, Anonymous creator of a painting sold at auction that subsequently shredded itself, BANKSY 😀 😀 . An admirable  crossword, we hereby declare it to be wor...

Today's crossword is by award winning (!) crossword constructor Rebecca Goldstein and Rachel Fabi, and the two have constructed a wonderful puzzle that is sure to whet your appetite for more of their work. The theme -- which will also whet your appetite -- is fine, but there were some other clues worth cheering. Allow us to point out, for example, 30A, One nickname for Elizabeth, ELLY; 9D, Ge...

Enrique Henestroza Anguiano and Matthew Stock have teamed up to rack 'em up, with a  clever Scrabble-based theme. It briefly looked like today might been a four leaf clover of a crossword, a Sunday puzzle with a rebus: but in this case, the trick was to construct the rebus mentally, while writing only a single letter in the grid itself. It's complicated, but we've got the 411 on all...

A fine Saturday crossword by John Guzzetta -- and if that name seems familiar, that's perhaps because he has had 40 NYTimes crosswords published since 2012. Of those, 50% of them were Friday or Saturday puzzles, so he's definitely in his element here.  Though themeless (as is tradition for a Saturday NYTimes crossword), there were of course many fine clues, which we dive into in today&ap...

There were challenges galore in today's crossword , with the rockiest of rocky shoals cropping up in the southwest portion of the grid. There were so many great clues that it would take, oh, a 15x15 grid to list all of them, but here are a few (that didn't make it into the podcast): 13D, Butt of a joke?, WHOOPEECUSHION (ha!); 9D, Like the homes of roughly one in six Americans, rural (huh...

This is Joe O'Neill's very first NYTimes crossword , and it's a doozie, with the theme revolving around one of Robert Frost's most famous poems . Now "famous" is relative: while Jean had a casual acquaintance with the poem, Mike was, as usual, clueless -- and therefore answerless -- so he had to rely exclusively on the not -always-easy crosses, and serendipity, to see...

Brad Wiegmann has produced a fabulous Wednesday crossword, and for those keeping track this is the second crossword this week where the theme was on the subtle and cerebral side. We loved it for a number of reasons, detailed inside -- as well as some exciting listener mail that will be of special interest to residents of PARAMUS, NJ. Deets within, so dive in (as long as it's been at least an...

Today's crossword was by veteran crossword constructor Christina Iverson, who has a knack for writing absolutely effervescent puzzles. Just consider a few of the clues in today's grid: 51A, Queen's pawn?, ANT (nice once, CI); 42D, Swift to fill a concert hall?, TAYLOR (who else?); and 24A, Like a tightrope, ideally, TAUT (we tought, er, thought so too 😉). Show note imagery: David A...

This is Samantha Podos Novak's debut NYTimes crossword, and it is a delicious treat, thanks to a tasty theme and a generous sprinkling of cromulent  clues throughout the grid. And if you're sensing a food theme, you are correct! For all the deets -- including which food, and how many calories it has -- you are heartily encouraged to download, listen up, and, of course, enjoy today's...

You can always count on Hoang-Kim Vu to produce a splendid crossword, and today you can also count on him to ... count, because that's the theme: countdown, to be specific, is the title of the crossword as well as a large hint as to what you have to be able to do to solve said crossword. We have all the deets inside, so have a listen, and let us know what you think. Show note imagery: PARAMUS...

Natan Last has constructed 39 crosswords for the NYTimes, and this latest one shows exactly why the NYTimes keeps coming back for more - the clues are simply inspired, dancing on that  fine line between uber-challenging and cruel, but always landing on the right side.  So, without doubt, this crossword should be in the running for our JAMCOTWA - Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award™️). Did it...