Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

The perfect Wednesday crossword -- fun theme, some slightly tricky and in some cases LOL clues, who could ask for anything more?  To find out precisely why it deserves all this praise,  you know what to do -- download and listen up! A reminder that these podcasts are easier to follow if you have the solved crossword in hand. If you don't, wander over to xwordinfo.com to see the clues and comp...

Opinions are divided on today's crossword - Jean thought it fine, and tore through it in about 7 minutes, whereas Mike didn't even understand the theme, and only managed to eke out a victory by channeling his deep knowledge of  Cuban dance moves. In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday, so to hear Jean strut her stuff, intellectually speaking, all you need to do is download and listen u...

Adam Aaronson apparently looked within for inspiration, because today's grid is chock-full of answers that start with AA. If we were to grade this puzzle then, we'd definitely have to give it an A ... and then another A ... in short, an AA! 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 ,...

An extra crunchy Sunday crossword, mainly due to a clever theme, recognition of which genuinely helped with the solve. Jean had a little trouble, being a little too HIP when the answer was merely HEP, and Mike struggled at 85D, One hanging around Queen Elizabeth?, trying to fit PRINCECHARLES into an answer that only had room for a solitary PEARL. Still, a goodly Sunday, we give it a 5 squares on t...

A tough Saturday crossword: a stack of 3 15-letter answers at the bottom, and a stack of 9-, 11- and 13-letter answers at the top made for a formidable grid. Jean had issues in the top left, and Mike was temporarily enticed into thinking that 1A, Things you might snap on, nowadays, PHOTOAPPS, was PHONEAPPS -- as the crosses for both the T and O were (to him) unknowns. Very sneaky, Mr. Shortz! Stil...

A festively difficult Christmas Eve crossword -- there was no theme, but a bevy of tricky clues that made this a real challenge. Jean struggled in the top-left, but eventually her NEURALNET helped her figure out 13A, Artificial intelligence system based on the human brain, NEURALNET, as well as the rest of the crossword. Mike got temporarily waylaid in the bottom-right, originally answering 40A, L...

Today's puzzle had a tad less of the verbal trickery that we're accustomed to seeing on Thursdays, but it made up for it with a series of puns of admirably bad (by which we mean good ) quality. It also did educate, as good crosswords are wont to do -- 67A, What cynophobia is the fear of, DOGS, and 26A, Heath genus that's also a woman's name, ERICA -- are just a few of the examp...

For those who like to geek out on planetary science, you will  love today's crossword; and even for those who don't, there's lots to enjoy and discover. We've culled the best clues and answers and included them in the podcast, of course, but on the cutting room floor we left the always dapper-looking 40A, Fist bump, DAP, and the truly great putdown, 50D, "Ridiculous",...

A fine Tuesday crossword and a fun theme in which a certain utensil plays an absolutely pivotal role. Which utensil? And in what sense did it pivot? The answers to those burning questions (as well as others, including many that you never even knew you should ask), may be found in today's installment, just waiting for you to download and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info:...

A slightly crunchier Monday crossword than usual, Jean and Mike didn't come anywhere near the their epic, some might say quixotic, quest to complete the crossword in 5 minutes. Why, you ask? Or, if you speak old English or got the Helga reference, Wyeth, you ask? To find out, you'll need to, as usual,  download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love list...

A sapid Sunday crossword (and if you're unfamiliar with sapid, be sure and check out Friday's episode), Jean ate it up, tearing through it in 32 minutes. Mike, always the fussy eater, took just over twice the time, as he was temporarily naticked at the corner of 35D, Get, slangily, COP and 41A, Stage name of rapper Yasiin Bey, MOSDEF. (Mike thought that 35D might be CAP, short for capees...

Today's crossword pegged the crossword-difficulty-meter (expressed in units of Joe DiPietro's, see our December 10th podcast for the deets). Everywhere you looked in the grid there was a challenge, from the (believe it or not, relatively easy) 37D, Go out of business?, RETIRE, to the quaint 10D, Buffaloed, ATALOSS (how fitting!), and who could forget 39A, Pieces together?, SUITE (yikes)....

A decidedly vocabulary-stretching Friday crossword, with a dollop of food and pop culture references to  amp up the difficulty level. We loved it -- giving it an enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Besides that, it's Fun Fact Friday, so hit the ol' download button, followed by the ol' play button, and enjoy our dr'oll commentary on today's puzzle. We love feedback!...

A fine, some might even say mind-bogglingly spectacular, Thursday crossword from Trenton Charlson, aided and abetted by the clever programmers who run the New York Times crossword site. We don't want to give anything away, so to find out just what makes this crossword such an excellent example of the genre, all you have to do is download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Cont...

Jessie Bullock and Ross Trudeau are at the helm, so you know we're in for a good time (or, in case you didn't know it, they are veteran primo crossword writers). Beyond the clues covered in today's podcast, we would like to acknowledge 21D, Shortest month of the year, MAY 😀,  and 54D, Volume of Horace, ODES (not as Mike originally thought, SEXTARIUS , which, its name notwithstandin...

SCANDINAVIA consists of 6 countries, and crossword constructor Tao Platt managed to squeeze 4 of them into today's grid -- but since they are the size of, well, countries,  that's no mean feat! And there was even enough room left over to slip in some subtler references to northern climes, 22D, Home with a northern exposure, IGLOO (cute), and 58D + 57D, PINETREE.  On a parenthetical note,...

A fine debut crossword by Tomas Spiers, built around the concept of fire safety, i.e., STOPDROPANDROLL. Jean tore through this crossword in almost record time, whereas Mike, betrayed by his (completely fictional) upbringing in a London suburb, couldn't quite wrap his head around RAILROADSTATIONS: it's a long story*, but if you want to hear the deets (definitely worth it, we promise!), ju...

A great Sunday crossword by Daniel Okulitch and Doug Peterson, an amusing theme, a relatively low pop-culture rating, and we'll always let slide references to "A Confederacy of Dunces". In short, a perfect puzzle. We also announced the JAMCOTWA (Jean & Mike Crossword of The Week Award), so to find out what that was, and what made today's theme so amusing, just hit that big...

Relative to Friday's morass, today's crossword was easy-peasy, although it still had enough "bite" to make it interesting. Some of the clues were quite good, and the one for the official cookie of the New York Times crossword (aka OREO) was particularly well done. To find out what that was, as well as the 411 on the rest of the puzzle, download and enjoy! We love feedback! Send...

An absolutely vicious Saturday crossword that somehow got published on Friday, one of the toughest we've seen in years. With clues ranging from a soul crushing 48A, Japanese dish of raw fish and vegetables over rice, CHIRASHI, to an  equally jaw-dropping 10A, Cheek-related, MALAR, Joe DiPietro showed no mercy. Normally we'd say this should've run on a Saturday, but we think it would...

A great crossword - cool theme, educational clues, and (at least for one of us, and no prize if you guess which one) a bit of a challenge, especially in the center of the grid. We go deep in today's cutting-edge analysis, so grab some popcorn, your favorite beverage, and be prepared to be entertained! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cro...

Another fine crossword -- the New York Times Crossword Quality Assurance people have definitely been on the ball these last few weeks. Who would not benefit from knowing 6D, Rioja, for one, WINE? Who could not but marvel at 46D, Long time, ERA, paired with 29D, Long time, EON? And who would not wish they could unread 2D, Marsupial with distinctive cube-shaped droppings, WOMBAT? 😀 Overall a great...

A fun Tuesday crossword, with a theme that's hinted at by the title of today's episode. There were some great clues in today's puzzle , as well as one that people in la belle France may be growling about for weeks. Which one, you ask? To find out, you know what to do -- download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, c...

Today's crossword was a little zestier than most Mondays -- with a few clues that made you think ... huh!, or, if you're on the other side of the pond, ISAY! Either way, it made for an entertaining solve, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Want to know more? Of course you do, so download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop...

Today's crossword was by Chase Dittrich and one of the stalwarts of the crosswording community, Jeff Chen, responsible for xwordinfo.com. If you're unfamiliar with that site, head to it right now (well, not *right* now, listen to the podcast first!), because it contains a wealth of information and archives crosswords from waaaaay back. Highly recommended! We love feedback! Send us a text...