Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A very distinctive Thursday crossword -- the first row and column are all black squares, with respectively letters A-N and numbers 1-15. Has the author gone 1A, Out of one's gourd, LOCO? Or has he had one 30A, Brunch beverage, MIMOSA, too many? No, it's all part of a 62A, What's spelled out, appropriately, after mapping the coordinates indicated by this puzzle's circled letters...

A nice middle-of-the-week, middle-of-the-road crossword by David Tuffs, who does an amazing job of tying together seemingly disparate movies and television shows. We tie together how he tied things together in today's episode, so for all the deets, download, contemplate, and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud...

Enrique Henestroza Anguiano has crafted a fine Tuesday crossword, with a mixture of the old - 26A, Hit BBC series of 1976, ICLAUDIUS, the very old, 56D, Magna _______, CARTA, and the brand new, 70A , ________ Hendryx, Lady Marmalade singer, NONA (who, unfortunately, did not sing it in 16A, City famous for its French Quarter, familiarly, NOLA).  Beyond our usual cogent analysis of today's grid...

The SOBA and PITABREAD notwithstanding, today's crossword was a tad crunchier than usual, thanks in part to some particularly toothsome clues such as, well, SOBA and PITABREAD. A few other rarities also popped up - MASTODON rarely makes it into the grid, and ANTSINMYPANTS is a debut for the creator of today's fine puzzle, Jill Singer. Definitely 5 well-earned squares on the JAMCR scale!...

Depending on which of our two intrepid cohosts you ask, this was either a typical or terrifically difficult Sunday crossword. Both did agree that the puns were awful (i.e., good), but leavened with enough genuinely funny and educational clues to make it, all-in-all, a good solve.  All the deets are inside, waiting for you to download and enjoy. A heads up: tomorrow we will be doing a segment on &q...

A challenging but fair Saturday crossword, with considerable bite (and we're not just talking about the CRISPS), and considerable payoff for the solver, with a bevy of fun and entertaining clues, including -- 36D, Ochlocracy, MOBRULE (woah!); 26A, _____ Cherry, singer with the 1998 hit "Buffalo Stance", NENEH (another today-we-learned moment); and 4D, Unsalted, perhaps, ICY (definit...

An easy/ludicrously difficult Friday crossword, depending on which of our two cohosts you ask. One of us set what was almost surely a personal best, and the other ... did not. To find out which of the cohosts did which, as well as to savor some great listener mail and a Fun Fact for Fun Fact Friday ™️, we cordially invite you to subscribe / download / listen / enjoy. We love feedback! Send us a te...

Today's crossword featured a tricky theme and some sublime cluing - one would expect no less considering that the constructors were none other than Chase Dittrich and Jeff Chen (the latter responsible for the highly  recommended xwordinfo.com). We give this a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and to find out why, all you need to do is download, listen up, and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a te...

A somewhat crunchier than usual Wednesday crossword by Ethan Zou and Tomas Spiers, at least for  one of our dynamic duo: both were dazzled by a variety of clues that spanned the 13th to the 21st centuries and a grid that was suffused with ERs -- for which we were grateful, not only because of the interesting theme, but also for the excuse to use the word suffuse in a sentence 😀  We love feedback!...

An EPIC Tuesday crossword by Bruce Haight, guaranteed to neither SCARE nor BLANCH nor RILE, even though all 3 may be found in today's grid. For all the deets - as well as to discover how Mike did in the battle of wits that is Triplet Tuesday™️, download, listen, learn, and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.c...

A suitably scary Monday crossword - not because of the difficulty, necessarily, but because of the theme. So, to get in the mood for today's episode, grab your favorite Halloween treats, and then munch, download, learn, and enjoy -- not necessarily in that order! On a related note, the NYTimes Crossword always loves new subscribers - head over to nytimes.com/crosswords for all the deets. We l...

One of the most celebrated computer scientists of all time - you can tell, because Benedict Cumberbatch starred in a movie about him -- shows up in today's grid, and not just as a minor character but really the star of the puzzle, which features an absolutely ingenious theme that the person in question, ALANTURING, would undoubtedly have approved of. For all the deets, we cordially invite you...

At first blush, today's grid looks absolutely daunting, with vast swathes of white squares and what appears to be a frowning face in the center; but both our cohosts found today's crossword to be eminently doable (Jean more than Mike, as is oft the case). That is not to detract, because the clues were uniformly excellent, funny, enlightening, everything you want an NYTimes crossword to b...

If you don't like rebuses, back away slowly from the crossword - today's grid is packed with them, and to make sense of the theme you have to read some of them  twice . The theme is, as you will discover, absolutely ingenious, so have a listen and, as usual, let us know what you think - crosswordspodcast@icloud.com We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail!...

It is entirely possible that Will Shortz is training us for halloween, because some of the crosswords this week have been scarily difficult. Exhibit A is today's. Jean got stuck in the bottom-center, Mike was temporarily ATSEA in the top left, but it's hard to stay mad at a crossword that's this good - 5 squares on the JAMCR scale!! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info:...

Today's constructor definitely hit a HOLEINONE, and based on the grid, it is clear that he is a MASTERSTRATEGIST, producing a theme, and a grid, that is guaranteed to AMUSE. We liked it -- a lot -- and to find out why it's now in the running for the prestigious JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award), download now! Also, while you're doing so, if you like what you hear,...

A delightful Tuesday crossword by Ashleigh Silveira and Nick Shephard, with an uplifting and entertaining theme - deets within. Jean was temporarily naticked due to her unfamiliarity with 33A, ____ Culbertson, member of the contract bridge hall of fame, ELY; and Mike was delighted to see his favorite tech company make an appearance in the grid, 37A, Mac maker, APPLE. It's also Tuesday, which...

A surprising Monday crossword - most notably because of ... well, if we told you  here  it wouldn't be a surprise - but we will tell you that it almost made us SWOON, that's how surprising it was. So for all the deets, you will have to do what countless others have done before you, to wit, download, listen up, and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener...

Another brilliant Sunday crossword, with an ingenious theme from Daniel Bodily and Jeff Chen, and while Daniel Bodily may not be quite as familiar a name, Jeff Chen is a hero in the crosswording community (he of xwordinfo.com fame), and this crossword is a testament to why he deserves those accolades. We have all the deets inside, so download, listen up, enjoy, and once you've done that feel...

While both Jean and Mike agreed that today's crossword was tough, only one had the comically long solve time to prove it - hint: it wasn't Jean. The southwest was almost Mike's undoing, but a tremendous amount of luck (or, more likely, very clever plotting on the part of the crossword constructor abetted by the esteemed Will Shortz) made it possible for him to, eventually , and not...

A debut crossword by Rafael Musa, who breaks into the elite group of NYTimes crossword constructors on one of the most difficult days of the week, aka Friday, and he does so in style. The grid is amazing - virtually no pop culture names at all, plus some lengthy (but eminently recognizable)  phrases made for a smooth solve. We loved it, 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. In other news, it's Fun Fa...

Today's puzzle was a shear, excuse us, sheer delight, with a clever theme that definitely helped speed up the solve. Jean's favorite clues were 56D, Cousin of a carp, CHUB - simply because CHUB is so much fun to say, and 18A, "Here's what we should do", IVEGOTAPLAN, because it's so reassuring; Mike's favorite was 32D, OUZO, for reasons that remain a mystery, even...

A terrific Wednesday crossword, with a theme guaranteed to bring a smile to your lips - and if that doesn't work, we double-guarantee that listening to the musician in 35D, Genre for Luther Vandross, SOUL, will do the trick. In short, the EQ (Entertainment Quotient) in today's crossword was high, and to hear precisely how high (hint: we measure it in metrical feet), gather 'round yo...

A subtly themed Tuesday crossword - the theme didn't really help in the solve, but was fun to admire after the fact. There were a few potentially til (today I learned) answers in the grid, including 25A, Irish laddie (BOYO), 27A, 1953 title role for John Wayne, HONDO, and, if not a til, at least a tiwro (today I was reminded of) answer, 8D, Played a couple of sets at a jazz club, say, GIGGED....

An LOL theme to start off the week, both amusing and nostalgic (although most of the characters mentioned here are, in one form or another, still appearing in new series). There were a few quasi-mysterious clues, most notably 44A, Response to a relatable meme, in internet slang, ITME and 45A. South and Central American mammal related to the raccoon, COATI. We could REGALE you with more, but we&apo...