Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A fine Friday crossword by Kate Hawkins - her 12th in the NYTimes - and it hits the sweet spot - not too easy, not too hard, but juuuuust right. We approve, 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. 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!

A (surprising) crossword by Simeon Siegel, most noteworthy for a profusion of parentheses in the grid, all part of an intricate theme that we delve into in today's episode. We covered quite a few clues in the podcast, but alas, did not quite have room for 36A, Shrunken snack item, PRUNE; 15A, Like 80% of the Arabian Peninsula, SAUDI; and the (for Mike, at least) relatively obscure 43A, Dried...

A slightly crunchier-than-usual Wednesday, but a wry theme and memorable clues made it all worth while. Beyond those noted in the podcast, we'd like to give a shoutout to 3 answers that are just fun to contemplate and say -- 2D, Enthusiastic response to a bro, MYMAN; 46A, Replica, informally, DUPE; and a word that's as calming to say as the item is to wear, 65D, Comfy shoe, informally, M...

As the episode title almost surely gave away -- it was a bit of a ttttttteaser, one might say -- today's theme involved the 20th letter of the alphabet (as well a supporting cast of the other 25). Beyond the theme there were several other amusing clues, such as 20A, Torus shaped treat, DONUT; 49A, One of 5 in a Shakespeare play, ACT (confirming, definitively, our strong suspicion expressed ea...

Today's crossword was crunchy - the clues were just a tad more difficult than usual, a consequence, perhaps, of a particularly demanding theme (deets inside) - and timely, in the sense that there were numerous references to time in today's grid, from 6D, "Anytime", WHENEVER, to 52A, Back in time, AGO, to 61A, Ages, AEONS. And, of course, we should not forget that all of these w...

Jean ACED today's crossword, but Mike just DIDOK, although if it is true that you learn from your mistakes, he is now officially a super genius thanks in no small part to Rich Katz, author of today's fine puzzle (his third for the NYTimes). We have all the deets inside, so please download, listen up, and ... enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail!...

A  just-the-right-level-of-almost-impossible crossword to wrap up our crossword solving week, one of those where the solving rate seems to follow an S curve -- tough and slow-going at the beginning and at the end, but with a glorious middle section where the clues come relatively rapidly. We liked this crossword so much that we awarded it this week's JAMCOTWA -- Jean And Mike Crossword Of The...

Robyn Weintraub's puzzles are legendary, and today's effort shows just why: the clues are awesome, the crosswordese is non-existent, and the difficulty level is juuuuuust right. We approve, whole-heartedly, 5 squares on the JAMCR scale! Deets inside, so download, listen up, and enjoy right now! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cross...

Today's crossword featured a h--hly entert--ng th--e, and if you can't suss out what it was from what we just wrote, then download today's episode, where all will be revealed!  A reminder to check out xwordinfo.com, a fabulous resource for crossword aficionados, with the solution and meta information on the day's crossword. Highly recommended! We love feedback! Send us a text.....

A nice Wednesday crossword and a debut (yay!) by Steve Weyer, with an inspired theme, some very funny clues, and as a bonus a reference to a fascinating 16th century algebra text, ARSMAGNA (The Great Art). The theme is covered in the episode; some of the more intriguing clues not mentioned there include 51D, Bunyan's ox or Hoggett's pig, BABE 🐷; 57D, Swear to mend things, DARN 😀 ; Mani...

A scary Tuesday crossword , thanks to a slash of scary movie titles in the grid. Neither cohost had seen any of them, but fortunately the answers were either almost gimmes (17A, Horror film franchise named after a holiday, HALLOWEEN (BOXINGDAY wouldn't fit 😀)) or easy to guess with some judicious help from the crosses (60A, 2011 dark comedy slasher film that takes place during a family reuni...

Put on your sunglasses before attempting this crossword, because it's based on a BRIGHTIDEA -- literally! There were a few other answers that glowed, in a manner of speaking: 14A, What magma becomes when it's erupted, LAVA; 35A, Light on a nightstand, LAMP; and 52A, "Suns" of some breakfasts, EGGYOLKS.  Just a reminder that we  love  5 star reviews, so please leave us one where...

Today's crossword featured a number of rare-ish answers, making this a bit crunchier than usual for a Sunday. Notable examples include 60A, Brooklyn art school, PRATT; 100D, Country that's more than 2,600 miles long, CHILE; 70A, Latin "Behold!", ECCE; and 20A, Character who lives on the "tippy-top floor" of the Plaza Hotel, ELOISE; and there's more, which you can...

Ryan McCarty does not hold back (much) in today's uber-challenging Saturday crossword , pegging both the difficulty and deceptivity meters multiple times. We have full coverage inside, so have a listen for that -- as well as the announcement of this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). Enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail!...

A fine Friday crossword by Adrian Johnson, his 5th NYTimes Crossword contribution. Considering that 39A, Pub ________, TRIVIA, was one of the answers, it should not be surprising that quite a few factoids made their way into the grid. For example ... 19A, Novelist whose "Little Fires Everywhere" became a #1 best seller, CELESTENG (parsed as Celeste Ng, with the "Ng" being prono...

A fine Thursday crossword and a debut for John Donegan. That's why we didn't recognize the name, but we did recognize the tight quality control common to all NYTimes crosswords. Just take a look at a few awesome touches: 6A, Character who nails a doubloon to the Pequod's mast, AHAB, sitting right above 15A, Surfer's wish, WAVE (perfect!); and 17A, First name in cosmetics, ESTEE...

Aimee Lucido has crafted an excellent Wednesday crossword, with a catchy theme and a plethora of superb clues, a truly outstanding work. Need proof? Have a listen to today's podcast and we are  sure  that you will agree, or, if not, your money will cheerfully be refunded 😀  We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. A...

Today we are presented with an amusing and well-timed Tuesday crossword by Daniel Grinberg (ably edited, as always, by Will Shortz, may his beard, if he has one, grow ever longer). It manages to STAYCLASSY and never has us thinking its TIMEFORACHANGE, for a variety of reasons outlined in today's grid. Beyond those, we'd like to give a shoutout to a few other fine clues, including 60D, Mu...

Today's crossword was the epitome of a marvelous Monday crossword - a cute theme,  and some fine clues. We particularly liked the juxtaposition of 1A, Handle difficult matters satisfactorily, COPE, and 1D, Club in a Barry Manilow hit, informally, COPA We take our usual deep dive through the grid in  today's episode, so please subscribe / download / listen up / enjoy! We love feedback! Se...

A fine Sunday crossword, Robert Ryan's third in the NYTimes, with a punny theme surrounded by a fine supporting cast of clues, including 85D, Fox coverage?, FUR; 82A, Object with one hole or two, depending on who you ask, TUBE 😀 ; 68A, Head for business?, CEO 😀 😀; 64D, Shares ones bunk?, LIES 😀 😀 😀 ; and the list goes on, and on. To see that list in its entirety, checkout xwordinfo.com...

A fine debut crossword by Kelly Morenus, which our cohosts solved in (choose one)  a) comically different amounts of time  b) exactly the same time c) trick question: they got stuck, because neither knew how to spell IDOMENEO The correct answer is ... ah, that would be telling! To find out, download today's episode, have a listen, and as usual, tell others about us on social media. We love fe...

A very nice Friday crossword by Jacob McDermott, with some awesome clues, and no crosswordese in sight. A few sample works, 15D, Oh, the humanities!, LIBERALARTS 😀;; 27D, "Heck, yeah!", DARNTOOTIN 😀 😀 ; and 32D, Rocky road ingredient, PEAGRAVEL 😀 😀 😀. In short, a great crossword, most definitely worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: W...

A challenging Thursday crossword , thanks to the unexpected appearance of a boatload of rebuses (or, as we Latin scholars like to call them, rebusae ).  For themed crosswords, especially towards the end of the week, we can group our puzzle solving experience into two eras: PGTT (Pre-Grokking The Theme), and AGTT (After-Grokking The Theme). For the record, things were proceeding slowly, and indeed...

An absolutely magical crossword, thanks to (possibly) aspiring  magician, and (most definitely) adept cruciverbalist Joseph Gangi. Most of the grid was straightforward, but there were definitely some notable clues/answers, such as 54A, Not as well, ILLER (wow!); 55A, Pepper and others, SGTS (cute!); and 61A, Modern initialism when skipping text, TLDR (which is hopefully not your reaction to these...

A DDDelightful Tuesday crossword by Dominic Grillo, who managed to inject a whole slew of D's into the grid, and remove virtually all "crosswordese", in a tautly written puzzle with a highly amusing theme. DDDDDeets inside, so DDDDDo have a listen, and, as usual, let us know what you think! Just a reminder that the NYTimes Crossword is a great way to hone your wits, vanquish ennui,...