Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A deftly constructed crossword by Paolo Pasco, with a theme that has to be seen to be believed (and arguably to be able to figure out the crossword). Fortunately Jean was able to do both, and to find out exactly what that theme was, and how it helped, we cordially invite you to download, listen, and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cro...

A tough Saturday crossword, the kind that tests one's mettle, and tries one's soul, among other idioms. The clues and answers were as crisp as they come - 41A, Lickspittle, YESMAN; 38D, Coming down hard?, HAILING; and 2D, "Ain't it so?", AMIRITE  are 3 of the clues that didn't make it into today's episode, yes, even the also-rans were sparkling. Five squares on t...

A David Steinberg crossword, and the maestro of cruciverbalism does not disappoint, with a stellar grid and inspired cluing. We doff our hats to you, and cannot wait until your next puzzle! Five squares on the JAMCR scale, each one of them well-earned! 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...

A tricky Thursday crossword (for one of us: for the other, a piece of gateau), with numerous til (today I learned) moments. For example, both Jean and Mike were bemused to discover the answer to 46A, Congress-created media giant, NPR (a media giant? Really?). Mike was amazed to discover the spelling of 39A, "... about up to here", YEAHIGH, to say nothing of 16A, Serve as a go-between, LI...

A fine midweek puzzle, Jean aced it, Mike ... jokered it, temporarily hung up in the top center of the grid by a combination of hubris and poor spelling, a dangerous mixture. Besides the theme (deets inside), there were numerous other fun clues - 2D, Foofaraws (which is just a delight to say), ADOS; 36D, Name hidden in paleontology, LEON (an undoubted disappointment to all the forgotten TOLOs of t...

A debut Tuesday crossword by the youngest person ever to get published in the NYTimes, so congrats to Ailee Yoshida, who turns in a splendid Tuesday (regardless of age!). There were a few clues that might've been more familiar to a younger generation (e.g., 58A, Chucked forcefully, in modern lingo, YEETED), but that was offset (and arguably dominated) by clues like 25A, One who's "H...

There was a lot of food lurking in today's grid - some PASTA, some PARM, we spotted a SPUD, an HERB, and to wash it all down, some CHEAPWINE. Definitely something a FOODIE could enjoy, but we did too! Five forks, er, we mean 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 Fac...

The husband-and-wife team of Jessie and Ross Trudeau have created a super Sunday crossword - not too difficult, and with a great, great, theme. We'd tell you more here, but they say that a certain amount of suspense is good for the heart, so we will refrain and instead  strongly  encourage you to subscribe / download / listen / leave us a 5 star (or even a 6 star) rating wherever you happen t...

There are Saturday crosswords, and there are Saturday crosswords - this is definitely one of the latter -- not because the letters are all in bold, but because it was very, very difficult in spots. Our intrepid cohosts managed to muscle their way through it (metaphorically speaking, of course - for the most part the majority of their muscles were pretty much slack, and that includes those in the j...

When Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen team up for a crossword, you know it's going to be fun ... and the duo does not disappoint, with a majorly challenging Friday crossword, at least for one of us (hint: not Jean). The clues were deliciously deceptive, and the end result was yummy! Five squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us...

After Wednesday's absolutely brilliant crossword, it was hard to believe that they NYTimes could improve ... but then comes Simeon Seigel's oeuvre, another masterclass in crossword construction. You have to see it to believe it, and if you can't see, we've got the next best thing - this episode! Download, listen, and enjoy! [Oh, and don't forget to subscribe!!] We love fee...

A wonderful, joyous Wednesday creation by Jason Reich, the grid just sparkles, the clues are magnificent and often very amusing, we cannot say enough about today's puzzle -- but that didn't stop us from trying, so hit that big ol' download button, listen, and enjoy! As always, we love feedback - crosswordpodcast@icloud.com!  We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love...

A subtle and ingenious theme, eclipsed only slightly by the appearance of PHILIPPIC in the grid, a word that has appeared three times in the NYTimes Crossword - in 1956, 1959 and ... 2022! So, welcome back, PHILIPPIC, we've missed you as a word (although not as an event: a PHILIPPIC is, as observed in 9D, Damning verbal attack, not something to be sought after). In other news, it's Tripl...

A delightfully frothy Monday crossword courtesy of debut NYTimes crossword constructor Sarah Sinclair, with such bubbly clues as 44D, Person being used by another, CATSPAW, 37D, Playthings in bathtubs, TOYBOATS (try answering that 5 times fast!), and the mysterious (to Mike, at any rate), 49D, Common eyeliner shape, WING. We also should give a shoutout to 41D, Beaver's job, DAMMING, and the i...

A nice Goldilox Sunday puzzle by Kathy Bloomer - not too hard, not too easy, but juuuust right (although, as always, YMMV depending on a number of factors -- how much experience you have solving crosswords, your knowledge of pop culture and assorted arcana, and, occasionally, how much luck you happen to have about your person).  In today's episode, Jean explores the theme, Mike explains his m...

There are many great reasons for doing the NYTimes Crossword - one is their ability to shine a light on a great talent that you otherwise might not have heard of. Such is the case today, when OCEANVUONG makes their way into the grid (a debut for the crossword constructor, Natan Last) -- so if you get a chance, check out their poetry, it is really  amazing . Beyond that, we have our usual color com...

A possibly  easier than usual Friday crossword -- which according to the Law of Conservation of Crossword Difficulty™️ means that tomorrow's could be brutal! But we could not possibly complain about a grid that had so much ... ECLAT. And so, as today's podcast will attest, we did not. Five squares on the JAMCR scale, for a job well done! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info:...

Another terrific Thursday puzzle from Jeremy Newton, who has published a total of 23 crosswords in the NYTimes, and it shows: a brilliant theme, razor sharp cluing, and an LOL revealer. The JAMCR scale goes up to 5 squares, and he's pegged it! For all the deets, download, listen up, and be prepared to be amused and educated . We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener...

A slightly crunchy Wednesday, both Jean and Mike fell into the "how-do-you-spell-ALFREDNEUMAN" trap, spelling it (as you might suspect) ALFREDNEWMAN. Jean figured it out relatively quickly, Mike had to MULL it over for half a TIC, er, TICK, before he finally saw the light (and heard the music!). We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cros...

A dodecad of themed answers in today's crossword -- something you don't see every day, and a reason for celebration as it made for a very interesting puzzle as well as the opportunity to use dodecad in a sentence! What's a dodecad, you ask? And (once you've got that sussed out), what would be a reasonable theme that involves a dodecad? To answer those burning questions, as well...

A good middle-of-the-road Monday crossword by Margaret Seikel, which included  rewards for regular solvers -- 51D, Faces a pitcher, BATS, which had just appeared yesterday; and a highly memorable but challenging- to-pronounce-3-times-quickly hyphenated-phrase that first appeared in a clue last month, 37A, Male equivalent of a she-shed , MANCAVE. Nicely done, we give this a full 5 squares on the JA...

A definitely harder-than-usual Sunday crossword, it took both intrepid co-hosts a considerable amount of time just to get a toehold in the grid. There were a few easy clues in the puzzle, but for every 37A, Laura of "Big Little Lies", DERN, and ... oops, sorry, that's the only easy clue we could find! There were, however, scores of clues such as 41A, Bird Watcher's Org, once, N...

Jean got through today's crossword in a blistering pace, Mike ... just got blisters, slightly singed as he was in the bottom-left corner by such fiery clues as 34D, Super ___________, TUESDAY,  33D, Tip of a geographic horn, SOMALIA, and 40A, Painter Modigliani, AMEDEO. However, Phoenix that he is, Mike hopes to shortly emerge from the ashes ready to tackle tomorrow's crossword. In other...

For longtime crossword solvers, the name Erik Agard can spark a frisson of excitement and/or dread, usually both 😀 And in today's grid Erik is in fine form, with some awesome clues that make you want to stand up and applaud. Beyond the very best (covered, of course, in the podcast), we have others that are still ... among the very best, such as 31D, Bit of whistle-blowing, maybe, LEAK (😀),...

A great debut crossword by Helen Chen, with 6 debut answers - that's a lot of debuting (which spellcheck assures us is a real word). Apart from the clues covered in today's podcast, we cannot help but marvel at the elegance of clues whose answers may make you pause for a moment before the connection becomes apparent:  38D, Picture, IMAGINE, 44D, It's a stretch, EXPANSE, and 52A, Suf...