Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A fun Monday crossword by Desirée Penner and Jeff Sinnock, who are about as persistent a crossword constructing duo as you'll ever meet: their first crossword (this is their second) took 123 tries before they got it published in the NYTimes. Talk about grit! Today's crossword is quite colorful, and, once you solve the crossword, we mean that literally : the themed answers get redrawn in...

The puns fly thick-and-fast in a grid that is filled with panache, pizzazz, and other classy words that start with the letter p. Just consider 99D, School name that sounds like a Canadian territory, UCONN (brilliant!!); or 77D, What might lead to a bridge?, VERSE (bravo!); and 44A, Anatomical stabilizer, TOE (bodacious!). We've got all the deets in today's exciting episode, so download,...

A delightful Saturday crossword by Carolyn Davies Lynch and Jeff Chen - edited adroitly, as always, by Will Shortz. Your intrepid cohosts had vastly different experiences solving today's puzzle, but they both agreed that it contained a cornucopia of clever clues. Deets inside, as well as the winner of this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award™️). Show note imagery:...

Today's crossword , a debut by Ryan Judge, was a major challenge. There was no theme, just a slew of diabolically deceiving clues, leading to a remarkably enjoyable solving experience. Beyond that, it's Friday, and we have a fascinating fact for Fun Fact Friday, and listener mail! So have a listen, and as always, let us know what you think - crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Show note imagery...

An astonishing Thursday crossword by Simeon Seigel, with a mind-boggling theme that's almost impossible to describe, and absolutely impossible to forget, in a grid that is RIFE with NOB-scratching posers. In short, we loved it, and the author, Simeon Seigel, should take a bow.  Show note imagery: Adolph OCHS, who purchased the New York Times in 1896 and promptly lowered the price from 3 cents...

Although we strive mightily to provide a fair,  impartial review of each and every crossword, that goes right out the window when our favorite cartoon bear, BOOBOO, graces the grid. Fortunately, for the sake of our reviewing reputations , that does not happen  often: BOOBOO has shown up a total of 12 times in the NYTimes crossword, and only one of those explicitly references Yogi's pal and st...

An intriguing Tuesday crossword, with, as usual, an unusual theme - this one revolving around tanks. Beyond that, we had a few standout clues, including 32D, High-flying metaphor for independence, LONEEAGLE, dovetailing nicely with 34D, _______ high, SKY; and the very punny 45A, Woman with a habit, NUN. In short, a nice piece of work by Freddie Cheng, his 15th for the NYTimes. Today's crosswo...

Both cohosts found today's crossword to be a tad tougher than usual, a small sacrifice to be made for the greater good, that being an ingenious  theme, brilliantly deployed in today's grid. The dynamic duo who constructed today's opus, Garrett Chalfin and Andrew Kingsley, have published 6 and 21 NYTimes crosswords, respectively, and that experience shines through today. Definitely w...

Today's crossword was a SMASHINGSUCCESS, and although we don't want to overly HEROIZE the author, Nathan Hasegawa was clearly   ATTHETOP of his game when he put this together. The vocabulary level was definitely trending upward -- see for example 13A, Like "t", "k", and "p", in phonetics, PLOSIVE, to 49A, Tremble, PALPITATE (wasn't that a Star Wars empe...

It's Warrington & Warrington - not a law firm, but a daughter-father team responsible for this fine bit of Saturday cruciverbalism . Jean found it to be quite straightforward. Mike latched on to the little-known (because it doesn't exist) DANCER insect -- not to be confused with the correct answer to 36D, _______ bug (long-limbed predatory insect), DAMSEL*. *although Argia vivid, the...

Sarah Sinclair and Rafael Musa have turned in a festive Friday crossword, with that joy coming from all quadrants of the grid. We appreciated 24D, Pandemic health worker, UNSUNGHERO (sadly, quite true); 4D, Starts off-key?, HOTWIRES (😀); and the nicely deceiving 44D, Gave a hoot, YELLED.  In other news, today's episode has both Fun Fact Friday and Oh, That's How You Pronounce It! segmen...

Sam Ezersky, he of Spelling Bee fame,  is at the helm (under the fine leadership of Admiral Shortz), and he has turned in a fine bit o' work. He had us at 1A, Three-point letter you won't find in Scrabble?, PSI, and never let go, with a fusillade of great and occasionally groan-inducing clues/answers. We've got full coverage inside, so have a listen, and while you're doing so,...

A worthy middle-of-the-week crossword , with all the requisite elements that  we would expect, but a few that we did not . For example, we did not expect 46D, Siberian sled dog, SAMOYED; nor did we expect 67A, Logical operators that output "true" only if both inputs are true, ANDS; and finally, into that same category of "color us surprised" we would need to throw in 8D, Italia...

A classy Tuesday crossword and a debut by Patrick Maher, with an LOL theme and edutaining clues all 'round. For example, 34D, Greek letter shaped like a pitchfork, PSI (true, true); 49D, Camelid sometimes used to guard sheep, LLAMA (that's a new one -- camelid, not LLAMA); and the uproarious 26D, Bad match on tinder, ARSON (😀). In short, a fine crossword, and surely worth 5 squares on t...

Just how many crossword themes are possible? We'd argue for infinite, and while we have no proof, thanks to today's crossword we have even more empirical evidence: a unique and ebullient addition to the pantheon. See (or rather hear ) for yourself: download, and be prepared to be uplifted , by Jake Halperin's fine opus. Show note imagery: Hess, a toy truck that has absolutely no rel...

Today's crossword is entitled "Funny  Business", and it definitely lives up to its name. The themed clues were a stitch, and there were lots of intriguing clues, which we had a lot of fun with as well. So, for a guaranteed laugh a minute (or at least a chortle or two), we heartily encourage you to subscribe/follow (so you never miss an episode!), download, listen up, and ... enjoy!...

Caitlin Reid and Matthew Stock have produced a breezy Saturday crossword -- with a slew of educational and entertaining  clues such as 52A, Bad drawing?, SHORTSTRAW; 30D, Greek who originated the expression, "Leave no stone unturned", EURIPIDES (huh!);  50A, It's on the house, EAVE (ha!); and 41A, Signature items?, PENS (uh-huh). There were more, to be sure, and you can hear all abo...

Today's crossword was a delight -- not soul-crushingly difficult, as Friday crosswords sometimes are, but just a joy to behold and to solve. We give numerous examples in today's podcast, but we'd also like to celebrate 2D, "Well, well, well!", LOOKIEHERE(😀); 39D, Got hitched?, HITASNAG(😀 😀); and the fascinating 23A, Grand _______, town in Nova Scotia that's a World...

We'd like to say that the Michnovicz brothers have done it again, but since this is their debut NYTimes crossword all we can say is that they've done it! -- written a thought provoking puzzle that will test your spelling props like they've never been tested before (or at least since  yesterday's puzzle). We cover most of the hot shot clues inside, but one we missed was 34D, Hot...

A fine Wednesday crossword by Morton J. Mendelson, and to answer the question raised in the grid, yes, ITISART: artfully designed, wittily clued, and with an astonishing number of themed clues. We were also delighted to see echoes of yesterday's stellar crossword crop up today - Tuesday revolved around ONEL, while today we had 59D, Top-notch, AONE. Tuesday involved the letter L, while today&a...

Every now and then the NYTimes publishes a crossword for the ages, and today is one of those days, because this work of art , by Marshall Hermann, is sublime, stunning, stupendous, and a slew of other words that start with the letter S -- ironic, considering that the theme  ... nope, we are *not* going to spoil it here: check out today's episode and then, as always, let us know what you think...

A crossword that's bound to tickle your fancy , a statement that will appear quite droll once you've heard the podcast / soused out the theme. Beyond the clues already mentioned on the podcast, we'd like to highlight 45D, Pain relief brand with an oxymoronic name, ICYHOT; the appearance of yet another French word in the grid (62D, the S of RSVP, SIL), a trend which at least one of u...

John Kugelman, cybersecurity expert and crossword constructor extraordinaire, has outdone himself  with an extremely punny Sunday opus . INAILEDIT shows up in the grid, and may also have reflected his feelings when he got the last answer to slip into the grid. We liked this crossword a lot, for all the reasons covered in today's podcast. Enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info...

An easier than usual Saturday crossword (for at least one of our cohosts, no prizes for guessing who!), which means that -- according to the Law of Conservation of Crossword Difficulty -- Sunday is going to be a toughie! This puzzle did have some fine moments, though, including 13D, Caped crusader?, TORERO; 14D, First garment, perhaps, ONESIE; and one of the finer "bail out" excuses of r...

A lively Friday crossword by Hemant Mehta, with a fusillade of clever and/or educational clues guaranteed to delight the diligent solver. We cover most of them in today's episode, along with a fascinating fact for Fun Fact Friday, plus a bonus: listener mail! For all that and more, download, listen up, and ... enjoy! Show notes imagery: Where's Waldo?, mentioned in today's puzzle as...