Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

We are back, and what a welcome Trent H. Evans had in store for us - an epically difficulty Saturday crossword, with mind-bending clues in every corner. The phrase "tough but fair" comes to mind, and to find out why that's the case, you know what to do: subscribe, download, listen, and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cr...

As listeners may recall from prior episodes, puzzles by Kameron Austin Collins usually mean a challenge -- and on a Saturday in particular KAC does not hold back, and today's puzzle shows him to be in rare form: wherever you look in the grid, from 1A, Directive for the board, DONTERASE (yikes!) all the way to 65A, Something wonderful, with "the", BEESKNEES(😀), you will find great,...

An excellent Friday crossword by Jem Burch, with great clues and -- whew! -- no secret L's lurking in the grid (check out yesterday's podcast to understand that reference). We have all the deets inside, just waiting for you to download and enjoy. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we're on FaceB...

Most of the time the black squares are just standing guard, allowing clues to not run into one another and trigger an Everything, Everywhere, All At Once moment, but not today. In this puzzle, those black squares, so easy to ignore, are absolutely critical to making sense of the grid. We have the complete 411 in today's episode, so we  strongly encourage you to subscribe (so you'll never...

A great way to celebrate Black History Month, with several famous civil rights leaders  appearing in the grid, with their names  slightly  modified in honor of the DOUBLEV campaign of WWII. We found LOTSA interesting clues throughout the rest of the puzzle, and to find out what those are, you know what to do: subscribe / download / listen up / enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Inf...

A  lovely  Valentine's Day present from the New York Times to the world ... a somewhat challenging (for Mike) Tuesday crossword with a highly amusing theme, a very apt follow-up to yesterday's. We have all the deets inside plus ... the big news, it's our *second* Triplet Tuesday Contest! That's right, if you didn't win last time, now you have a second chance. Listen to the...

A marvelous Monday crossword, and your co-hosts had a rather unique experience solving it. We'd say more, but because today is "No-Spoiler Monday", we will refrain from doing so but rather encourage you to subscribe, download, listen up and enjoy today's episode. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com...

Ooh, a tough Sunday crossword by Christina Iverson and Samuel A. Donaldson, thanks to an ingenious theme and some relatively obscure clues -- 12A, Catchy tunes, informally, BOPS; 49D, Cousin of a weasel, MARTEN; and the very droll 78D, Main antagonist?, PIRATESHIP (woah!). There was a  lot to like in today's grid, and we spell out all the deets in today's episode. Also a reminder, our Tr...

A super Saturday crossword by  the NYTimes Spelling Bee editor, Sam Ezersky, who occasionally wanders over into the crossword section to work his magic. And he did so today, with some nicely worded clues and juicy juxtapositions. We enjoyed the rarely seen 58D, Like swampland, MIRY (if you say so!); 5D and 23A,  both "Ah", follower,  respectively ISEE and CHOO (very twee); 61D, End of a...

Ah, the NYTimes Crossword at its best -- slippery clues, devious double-entendres, all designed to trip up the unwary solver. Both our co-hosts had to dig deeply, and the whole story -- as well as a Fun Fact based on 8D, Annual competition that starts on the first Saturday in March, IDITAROD -- is revealed on today's episode. A reminder that this Tuesday we're running our second Triplet...

The presence of 32D, Symbol of sharp wit, RAPIER, seems appropriate, because this crossword was brimming with the stuff (sharp wit, not RAPIERs), and the theme was also noteworthy. For both our co-hosts, though, the highlight of the crossword had to be 73A, __________ Midas Wolf (Disney's "Three Little Pigs" antagonist), ZEKE. Who knew that the Wolf had a first name? And a middle on...

Chase Dittrich turns in a stellar performance, with a puzzle-full of joyous clues and an ingenious theme, the joie de vivre just bubbles off the page (or screen, as the case may be). Definitely 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and certainly in the running for this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail!...

A charming Tuesday crossword, with a theme that wasn't too difficult to SUSS out, and any grid that manages to work both LOOKSUPTO (2D, Admires) and STANDTALL (36D, Act confidently) into the same grid deserves some sort of HONOR, and we give it here: 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. On a side note, next Tuesday we are going to be hosting our *second* Triplet Tuesday Contest, so for training purp...

Not to namedrop ancient Greeks and their deities, but one of our Achilles heels' is our infatuation with the Apollo program, just one of the reasons why we found this to be such a great crossword. The theme is ingenious, the clues a tad crunchier than usual -- in particular 9D, Ancient tool for hunters or warriors, SPEARTHROWER, and 23A, Dogs with curly tails, AKITAS -- and we are not complai...

If you're into movies, you'll love today's crossword, a punny homage to the Oscars, with a theme that Jean loved , and Mike ... is still trying to wrap his head around. There were some excellent (non-theme-related) clues in the grid, such as 33D, Historic builders of rope bridges, INCAS (huh!); 79D, Things pandas have 20 of, TOES (yikes!!); and  Jean & Mike's personal favor...

A marvelous Saturday crossword by Kate Hawkins, with tough, fair, and entertaining clues everywhere you look in the grid. Among our favorites, 8D, Didn't go fast?, ATE (heh, heh); 40A, Floors, AWES (awwww... 😀); and the twin clues 2D and 12D, Booty, the answers to which were respectively, HAUL and SEAT (nice!).  Since today's Saturday, that  means it's time for JAMCOTWA -- the Jean...

A delightful Friday crossword by Barbara Lin, with a bevy of very twee clues. Jean's favorite was 1A, Finishing-line cry?, BINGO, and Mike's was 47D, Edges of a diamond?, DEES: but both found gems -- and not just SARD* -- throughout the grid. *as discussed in yesterday and today's episodes! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cros...

Today's crossword is a victory for STEM education, as the NYTimes crossword managed to get millions (?) of its solvers thinking about the problem of DARKMATTER. There were a few notable clues, the most prominent of which is the aforementioned 51A, Orangish-brown gem, SARD. That almost sounds like a debut, but in fact it has appeared a whopping 154 times in the NYTimes crossword, albeit the la...

A very TWEE theme in today's crossword, involving TRACTORBEAMS. Both Jean and Mike were primed to see ENTERPRISE in the grid, but the constructor of today's fine piece, Dan Caprera, had other ideas and designs, so there were absolutely no United Federation of Planet vessels anywhere in the grid (unless, of course, they had deployed a cloaking device , hmmm...). What our cohosts did see i...

A fabulous Tuesday crossword, which we knew it would be as soon as we saw the constructor's name - Erik Agard. The theme was fine, and of particular benefit to MARIAHCAREY fans. But even if you weren't thoroughly acquainted with her back catalog, the clues and crosses made this not just doable, but a treat (and not just because of the literal one, a debut entry, 16A, Crushed ice dessert...

This was, as cruciverbalists like to say, a slightly crunchier than usual Monday crossword, but an entertaining one just the same, with an amusing theme was hard to miss - in fact, it will probably hit you RIGHTBETWEENTHEEEYES. Deets are inside (including a discussion of deets!), so download, listen up, and enjoy! Remember, if you like this podcast, please spread the word, and we love all those 5...

An excellent Sunday crossword, and a debut to boot, for Rich Katz. He has a dozen, yes, a dozen, amazing and amusing clues guaranteed to bring a smile to your lips. He even managed to get a reference to the QB for the KC Chiefs (playing on the same day in a semifinal): now  that's  attention to detail! Definitely 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and to find out why, download now. We love feedbac...

A great Saturday crossword by Kevin Christian, with some absolutely terrific clues, such as 24A, Something that isn't assumed, REALNAME (aah); 47D, Square things, ATONE (ooh); and 13D, His 2016 debut album unseated "Thriller" for the most weeks spent in the top 10 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hot chart (77), POSTMALONE (huh!). And the latter might not be the longest NYTimes cross...

It was one of those Friday crosswords - easy if you're in the right demographic, a bit more of a struggle if you are not. Both co-hosts had to dig in places, and Mike was particularly hard pressed because of his ignorance of anything that occurred more recently than 1815. So, the key question: did  our intrepid co-hosts succeed? The answer is as close as this podcast, so for enlightenment jus...

Once again we must doff our hats to the constructors of today's masterpiece, Dan Ziring and Quiara Vasquez, for having bestowed upon us a brilliant puzzle, with clues so sharp you could slice bread with them, and a theme so brilliant that it glows in the dark. OK, perhaps we are guilty of a bit of hyperbole, but not much - and if you need proof, just listen up to today's episode! We love...