Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A pleasing Monday crossword by Michael Lieberman and Andrea Carla Michaels - a little crunchier than most Mondays, but a pleasant solve nonetheless, with an amusing hunk-related theme  -- deets inside. Also, we have a winner in our Triplet Tuesday Contest!! That lucky person will shortly have a virtual cornucopia of Wisconsin swag heading their way, to eat / wear / enjoy (and hopefully it will be...

If you like donuts, you'll  love today's crossword, as the grid is teeming with them. Beyond those, there were a number of novel clues -- a lucky 13 (!), in fact, were making their debut in the NYTimes Crossword, making for an exceptionally "fresh" crossword (to use the terminology of our favorite cruciverbially-related website, xwordinfo.com). We have much to say about today&a...

Today's crossword is a rare bird - a Saturday crossword with a theme. The theme is not particularly difficult (nothing like Thursday's missing OP pairs, for example), but it turned out to be instrumental (for at least one of our cohosts) as they flailed about trying to metaphorically reach 55D, Shangri-La, EDEN, i.e., to solve the puzzle. The deets are, as usual, inside, so please subscr...

Today's crossword was a cruciverbial masterpiece, with a stream of LOL answers that seemed to go ONANDON. Beyond those delightful gems that we cover in today's episode, we'd like to note a few other highlights -- 27D, Paramount requirement?, SCREENTEST 😀 ; the curious 33D, World capital where it's illegal to display the Soviet hammer and sickle, RIGA; and 23D and 35D,  Junkyar...

A tough Thursday crossword, both cohosts had to really dig deeply to get through this one. The theme was tricky, the clues absolutely diabolical ( we mean this in the best possible way), but we were WOWED, when we weren't yelling OYS! as we were making our way through it. Deets inside, and remember there are just a few more days left to enter this week's Triplet Tuesday (check out Tuesda...

We are presuming that Miranda Kany has an appreciation of CAJUN cooking, based on its key role in today's delicious theme. Beyond that there were other intriguing elements to this crossword, including 20A, Gets old, say, STALES (which is, at least for us, a very new answer); the sly crossing of 24A, Output of the Rolling Stones, appropriately, ROCKMUSIC, and 3D, Current choice, ACDC (which ju...

A fine Tuesday crossword by Nate Cardin, with a great theme, some novel answers (5 debuts, in fact, including 4 out of the 6 themed answers), and just a lot of crisp cluing throughout the grid. In addition, today's episode features our Triplet Tuesday Contest!! The rules are in the episode, and we want to encourage everyone to throw your metaphorical hat in the ring (or a real hat, if you are...

A straightforward Monday crossword by Zachary David Levy -- his 5th NYTimes crossword, but who's counting? -- including some debut answers - 17A, Vast South American watershed, AMAZONBASIN, and 37A, Kitchen gadget, APPLEPEELER - as well as some rarely seen Monday answers, such as 52A, Nietzsche's superior man of the future, UBERMENSCH, and an answer that was born to be punned, 26A, Hand...

This is Sid Sivakumar's 16th crossword , and practice makes perfect, because this puzzle is spot-on, with a brilliant theme and a vast array of awe-inspiring clues. We've got all the deets inside, so check out today's episode and don't forget ... our Triplet Tuesday Contest is coming right up, just a scant 2 days from today, which definitely warrants another woo-hoo! We love fe...

A challenging Saturday crossword by Alex Vratsanos, who would appear to have a PhD in obfuscation, based on such fabulous clues as 44A, One who's served admirally?, NAVYVET; 38D, Like "Duck Soup", it's said, among all Marx brothers films, ZANIEST; and 18A, Swing state?, MOOD 😀. There's more (much more) to explore, so grab your explorer's hat, compass, and, of course,...

A relatively gentle Friday crossword from veteran crossword constructors Zhouqin Burnikel and Tom Pepper, who between them have had 94 crosswords published in the NYTimes (!) -- so the "veteran" is well earned (esp. for Zhouqin, who has a total of 78 crosswords, including at least one -- this one -- with a collaborator). The clues were sharp, like 52A, Expert with tips: ADVICEGURU (not a...

Turns out the upside down is not just for characters on Stranger Things, it is also a key element of today's crossword, where many of the clues are topsy-turvy. Daniel Bodily is responsible for this fine bit of work, his 6th crossword in the NYTimes. Beyond the theme, there was a nice blend of clever and educational clues, definitely a possibility for our JAMCOTWA - Jean & Mike Crossword...

A surprise Wednesday crossword, thanks to the totally unexpected appearance of something that might be cause for either a) celebration or b) gnashing of teeth, depending on your view of these things,  rebuses!! Yes, it's Rebus Wednesday, and, at least at JAMDTNYTC HQ there was both celebration and gnashing, for reasons that we lay out, at length and with much hilarity, in today's episode...

A surprisingly slithery Tuesday, thanks to the arrival, in the grid, of a den of members of the order squamata , aka snakes. Both Jean and Mike found the crossword to be a bit crunchier than usual for a Tuesday, possibly a side effect of having to get all those squamata into the right squares. All in all, though, it was an impressive feat of cruciverbial legerdemain,  and as such worthy of a full...

Argos, you may recall, if you happen to be particularly long lived and/or well read, was a giant, Hera's servant, and a particularly good watcher, thanks to a surplus of eyes, at least 100. This crossword doesn't have  quite that many, but as you'll hear in today's podcast, Alexandria Mason, the constructor of today's fine puzzle, managed to work in a surprising number. In...

An award winning Sunday crossword, with movies that -- even if you don't go to movies -- you will (almost) surely know. But you probably don't know them in their present form, and it is a delight to see in just how many ways a movie title can be punned / rebussed  -- Jeffrey Lease seems to know all of them. More deets inside, so please ... subscribe / download / listen / laugh / learn. W...

A challenging Saturday crossword, Jean in particular had to take a stroll through her vast mind palace in order to get through today's puzzle, whereas Mike had to rely on what is, alas, not so much a mind palace as a mind broom closet in order to seize victory from the jaws of cruciverbial defeat.  We liked this crossword a lot , and for that reason unreservedly award it our highest rating, ...

A delightful Friday crossword by Malaika Handa, with some familiar clues, but not many , as befits a Friday. Some of our favorites include the most excellent 12A, Illegal product that's still made?, MOONSHINE (ha!); the mysterious 22D, Go into one's "phone voice", say, CODESWITCH (huh!); and the rarely seen (at least in crosswords!) 27D, Form of protest for tenants, RENTSTRIKE...

Once again the NYTimes crossword typesetters are pushing the envelope, today by working musical staffs into the clues. They did a great job (er, except on the iPhone, where the staffs appeared as black rectangles 😱), and all in a good cause, the theme. We don't want to give away too much -- check out today's episode for the full deets -- but we will say that this crossword is definitely...

It is reasonable to assume that any crossword that works NOAMCHOMSKY into the grid and the theme is going to be deep , and we're talking Mariana Trench complexity here, thanks to a splendid work by Scott Koenig. Deets inside, as well as some insightful listener mail about Lyme, CT and why you should visit -- so have a listen, and, as usual, let us know what you think! We love feedback! Send u...

For those of you who have been hoarding tech terms like they're going out of style (which being tech terms, they will), now's your chance to haul them out, and for a good cause: to solve a great puzzle by Shannon Rapp (her debut!) and Rebecca Goldstein (her 10th, or in binary, 1010!).  A fine Tuesday, clearly worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact...

It's not clear if the phrase "Queen of Mondays" has ever been applied to Lynn Lempel, but having written 73 crosswords for the first day of the work week (out of a whopping 101 of hers that have been published in the NYTimes), it is an apt one. To see why the NYTimes has seen fit to publish so many of her crosswords, all you have to do is check out this one , which we do -- and we i...

Today's crossword, by Joel Fagliano and Christina Iverson, is either, depending on your perspective, a magnificent collection of brilliant puns, or ... a magnificent collection of brilliant puns, there is no other way to interpret what is, as previously noted, a magnificent collection of brilliant puns. 🙄 Can you tell that we liked this crossword? To find out exactly why that is so, have a l...

A challenging Saturday crossword, at least for one of our dynamic duo, thanks in part to his confidence that McTwist was a delectable McDonald's treat. Ah, but today's crossword disabused him of that notion (eventually): to hear all the deets, and see what else is lurking in the grid, have a listen and, as always, let us know what you think! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact In...

An excellent Friday crossword - not particularly difficult, but filled with some delightful clues. For example, 38A, Country described in "One can't impose unity out of the blue on a country that has 265 different kinds of cheese", France (delicious!); or 10D, Givers of priceless gifts, ORGANDONORS (in retrospect, of course!); and 41A, Bear necessities, DENS (😀 🐻‍❄️). In short, a...