Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A marvelous Monday crossword, a CHALLENGE in spots, but pleasingly LIGHT  on pop culture, EYEROLL! Jean and Mike both found it took a wee bit longer than usual for a Monday, but was still eminently doable, and worthy of 5 squares on the still, remarkably, unconstrained-by-supply-chain-shortages JAMCR scale.  We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, c...

A terrific Sunday crossword. Constructors love to plant little easter eggs as rewards for the keen-eyed, but today's easter eggs were especially on the nose because they were ... wait for it ... easter eggs! Rather a lot of them, in fact. Intriguing? Want to know more? The answer lies within, so download and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop...

A grueling  Saturday crossword, the sneaky-clue meter was pegging all over the grid. Jean hit a sticky wicket in the top-left, while Mike's unfamiliarity with vodka -- he knows how to spell it, and has a vague recollection that it is odorless, but that's about it -- left him bereft in the southwest corner.  There were some great clues in today's grid, though, and you can hear all ab...

An eXcellent Friday crossword, with a grid that is just overflowing, almost, with X's, and also features a remarkable dearth of black squares. Jean found today's puzzle to be an  entertaining solve, and Mike found that he didn't know how to spell PYRANEES, um, we mean PYRENEES (whew!). For all the deets, as well as today's Fun-Fact-Friday fact, we  cordially  invite you to down...

An appetizing Thursday puzzler by Ashish Vengsarkar and Narayan Venkatasubramanyan: the clever clues come thick and fast, the theme comes extra crunchy, all in all a delicious mid-week treat. For all the deets, and some fascinating analysis you will, we promise,  not  find anywhere else, download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line...

ROSHAMBO might sound like a cross between a religious holiday and a Sylvester Stallone film, but it is not: rather it is the name of a game that you have likely played many times in your life, but might not have ever heard of by this name. Take a guess, then take a listen, to see if you got it right. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crossword...

ODDS are you'll find today's crossword a good 'un, with a LIGHT, diverting theme, but with multiple OHO moments that hopefully won't have you saying OYVEY when enlightenment does strike. For a full discussion, and to see how Jean fared on Triplet Tuesday, you know the drill! Download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us...

A  slightly crunchier than usual Monday puzzle, and the debut for crossword constructor Rachel Simon.  Both Jean and Mike ran into a few potholes on the road to success, but managed to eke out the win  -- albeit in nowhere near their stretch goal of a 5 minute crossword. Want all the deets? Of course you do, so download now and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love liste...

If you like anagrams, you'll love today's crossword -- an incredible feat of cruciverbal engineering that really has to be seen to be believed. If you've done the crossword, you've already seen it: if not, wander over to xwordinfo.com to see the grid in all its glory. Exciting news on the JAMDTNYTC swag front - we will be giving away a free subscription to the New York Times cr...

Usually, Jean & Mike, solving independently, have a somewhat similar experience when working on the crossword. Today was  not  one of those days. For all the deets, as well as to learn who won the JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award), we cordially invite you to download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cross...

A peg-the-difficulty-meter Friday crossword, Caitlin Reid not only pulls out all the stops, she rips them to shreds and then buries them where  nobody  can find them! But we went spelunking, and META with some success, so to hear what we discovered, 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&apo...

A fun Thursday crossword, because Lucy Howard and Ross Trudeau don't know how to write any other, and for that we are truly grateful. Need proof? We've got it in spades, just download and listen up for all the deets! 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...

A fun Wednesday crossword by Damon Gulczynski, who is undoubtedly a stickler when it comes to punctuation. To see why we make that bold assertion, and to enjoy a light hearted conversation in which we guarantee that every punctuation mark is exactly where it should be, just download and, listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpo...

It is a little known fact that any crossword with HOLDMYBEER in the grid automatically earns 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and so it is with great pride and only a tinge of wry humor that we announce that today's crossword has earned that rare honor! We have much more to say about today's crossword, to find out what that is (and to enjoy Mike's struggles during Triplet Tuesday™️), d...

A straightforward Monday for those schooled in the spelling of dinosaur names; a slightly more arduous task for those who were not. Regardless, it's the journey that counts, and to hear how ours went, all you need to do is click / tap download to get the full travelog. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, w...

We are back after a brief unexpected hiatus due to some logistical problems. And what a crossword to come back to! Jean persevered, Mike went, like 7A, "... and it flopped", PFFT, as his usually near-eidetic memory when it comes to mid-20th century naturalists failed him ... the name was ADAMSON, not ALAMSON.  For all the gory details, we highly recommend you download, and listen up. We...

In today's war between velar nasal and alveolar nasal, good ol' al was the victor, as many g's were sacrificed in the making of today's pun-riddled grid. Some of the clues were quite fresh:  19A, Preserve, as ashes, INURN, and 22D, Philosopher Zeno's birthplace, ELEA -- were definitely new to our dynamic duo, but those PUNS? Oh, YEAH! We love feedback! Send us a text... Co...

Today's crossword is right down to business, and while the more pedantic might argue that it is, technically speaking, right  across to business, we not only stand by our statement but maintain that it might be the germ of a future crossword theme. In the meantime,  this crossword also had a theme, which you'll surely want to make your business: so download, listen up and, as usual, enjo...

A fairly straightforward Monday: Jean came tantalizingly close to breaking the 5-minute barrier, while Mike ... did not. For the deets, as in who knew what when, and who thought that CANON should be spelled with 2 N's, we cordially invite you to subscribe / download / enjoy. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. A...

We're back! After a week on the French Riviera (or possibly Green Bay, they are easily confused). Speaking of confused, today's crossword was a doozie, with a Pyramid, a Pharaoh, and much, much, more. We've got all the analysis you've been craving inside, so download and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpod...

Saturdays are generally regarded as the toughest crosswords of the week, and today's is an exemplar: but like the best of the Saturdays, it does not flood the grid with cultural references, but just uses witty cluing. Who cannot but applaud clues such as 20D, Something often seen with trunks, BARECHEST? Or 37A, Came out of the blue?, CHEEREDUP? Those are just a few of a bevy of brilliant clue...

Today's crossword was a toughie. Both Jean & Mike flailed about in the northwest corner, where some deliciously EVIL (and we say that in the best possible sense of the word, and also because EVIL happened to be one of the answers!) cluing made for a hard slog. The rest of the grid was no cakewalk either, but still, we like a challenge, and doff our hats to the constructors, and would rate...

A highly satisfactory Thursday offering, with a brilliant theme, and the sort of terrifically crisp cluing that suggests Jeff Chen is involved. This is definitely a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and to find out what it takes to get into that rarefied echelon, download / subscribe / enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@iclo...

Today's crossword was just ducky! And not that we're trying to SHIRK our responsibility, but in order to AVOID any spoiler alerts, and DODGE controversy, we will eschew any further references to a theme that is guaranteed to quack you up! 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...

A fun Tuesday crossword, with a witty theme. Jean tore through the crossword in 10:10, Mike, naticked by 55A, Gymnast Aly with three Olympic gold medals, RAISMAN, intersecting 52D, Christine of "The Blacklist", LAHTI, fared ... well, not well, but he's done (waaaaaaaaay) worse. For all the deets, as well as the outcome of today's Triplet Tuesday, download/subscribe/enjoy. We lo...