Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

An absolutely thrilling crossword: it is no coincidence that it is the winner of our weekly JAMCATWA (Jean & Mike Crossword of the Week Award). To find out precisely why it deserves this great honor,  download and listen up to today's episode. 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 challenging Friday crossword, with lots of "crunchy clues" to keep life interesting. Both Jean & Mike had to dig deeply into their respective mind palaces on this one -- and to find out whether or not they succeeded, all you have to do is download and listen up. For an explanation of fly x hoist, check this out . We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener ma...

A challenging Thursday, with lots of crunchy clues, novel answers, and a nicely done theme - definitely a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and certainly eligible for the JAMCOTWA (Jean & Mike's Crossword of the Week Award). To hear all the deets, download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also,...

A pun-powered crossword, taking full advantage of the many homophones that involve the sound AIR / ERR / HEIR / EYRE. Beyond that, and beyond those discussed in today's episode, we would be remiss if we didn't pay homage to 12D, One of three in the foreground of "American Gothic", TINE. Nice! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a lin...

A splendid Tuesday crossword, with an interesting theme, lots of fun and educational clues, this might be the first winner of what we are inventing at this very moment, the well known (ha!) and very prestigious JAMCOTWA (that's the Jean & Mike Crossword of the Week Award). We'll let you know for sure on Sunday! It's also Triplet Tuesday™️, so be sure to listen in and see how Jea...

Traditionally, Mondays are the easiest crosswords of the week, designed to appeal to novice solvers, and today's puzzle certainly lives up to the tradition. It included a lot of old favorites, --  40A, Degs. for entrepreneurs, MBAS;  18A, Taj Mahal locale, AGRA; and 63A, Nintendo competitor, SEGA. It also had, once again, a clue that Mike fell for (insert analogy with Charlie Brown, Lucy, and...

A gentle Sunday crossword, for one of the dynamic duo (no prize if you  guess which one): the other had one teensy-weensy mistake that, well, if you want to hear the whole edda-esque saga, 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, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we're on FaceBook , so feel free to...

Beyond the clues dissected in today's episode, there were a few surprising answers lurking in the grid: 41A, People credited with discovering mechanoluminescence, using quartz crystals to generate light, UTE (but still no word as who discovered how to  spell  it); 22A, Big gun, you might say, BICEP (not, as Mike originally hoped, GIANTSPACELASER); and the at first blush perplexing 4D, Schedul...

A Goldilocks of a Friday crossword - not too easy, not too hard, but just right - thanks to the talents of crossword constructor Kate Hawkins, aided and abetted, no doubt, by editor Will Shortz. Any grid that can include 50A, _______ Yaga (folklore villain),  BABA. deserves our respect, and we give it - 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. In other news, it's Fun Fact Friday, and for a refresher on...

True or false: this was a tricky crossword. True! And false! In fact the grid was littered with true and false answers, an ingenious gimmick courtesy of Chase Dittrich. To get the full 411, just hit the ol' download button and enjoy. On a side note, without giving away the entire store, here's a page that may help with today's crossword: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/crosswords...

A crunchier than usual Wednesday puzzle, both Jean & Mike had trouble in the north central and southeast parts of the grid. Jean was particularly stymied by her nemesis, the rebus, while Mike was almost done in by his fixation on ELO. For the details of this epic struggle, and how it turned out, download and listen up to today's episode! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: W...

Eric Bornstein simultaneously cashes in his chips and hits one out of the ballpark, with a financially-themed crossword with a baseball sub-theme (if two clues constitute a sub-theme, and we say yes). It's also Triplet Tuesday, so to find out if Mike got a single, double, triple, or just fouled out, you'll have to click on the ol' download button and the even ol'er play button....

A fine introduction to the problem solving week, Stella Zawistowski turns in a puzzle with some gentle cluing, and a cute theme, a great puzzle for those new to the New York Times crossword scene -- and if that's you, welcome!!  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 d...

A gem of a Sunday crossword, one of the finest we've seen in many a moon. A great theme, to be sure, but the rest of the grid was absolutely grade A as well. To hear the rest of the story, you know what to do -- download, and listen up! Just a reminder, the New York Times Crossword folks would love to have you as a subscriber - just go to nytimes.com/crosswords and tell 'em "Jean &a...

An epic Saturday crossword, but with Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen at the controls how could it be anything but? The clues were like the answer to 1A, FRESH, and the result definitely deserves a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. To hear the blow-by-blow discussion of today's opus, you know what to do ... download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener ma...

A gentle Friday crossword by John Hawksley, punctuated by one of the greatest (IMHO, that's In Mike's Humble Opinion) clues of the year. And for the answer to the burning question, what would that clue be? -- as well as the rest of our usual SOI-DISANT insightful analysis, download and listen up to today's episode! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener m...

A very witty Thursday crossword by Ori Brian, with a theme that deserves a standing ovation, and a grid that is filled with amusing puns, misdirects, and a shoutout to one of the greatest soul singers of all time. What's not to like? For all the deets, download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com....

Today's crossword is a bit of a stretch, literally, and deserves to be bookmarked  (figuratively, if you're solving online) because it includes a myriad of YOGAPOSES that might be worth knowing about, lest they crop up in a future puzzle. So, for more info on that, as well as how Jean & Mike almost managed to turn in mirror times (ss:tt for Jean, tt:ss for Mike, no points for guessin...

Although the episode title might look somewhat random at first, there is method to our titling madness: and to find out exactly what that is, you know what to do - download today's episode and hit the big blue play button! We love feedback! Just drop us a line at crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodc...

Twas a slightly sticky Monday New York Times crossword. Oh, it started off promising to be easy, but the bloom was off the rose by about the third row. Still, you have to love a crossword that includes ROCKMEAMADEUS and HELPMERHONDA ... and indeed we do! For all the deets, download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodc...

A very enjoyable Sunday crossword, with a very cool theme. One gem that didn't make it into the podcast, 127A, "Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap Director", ICET, is directly above 131A, Unilever tea brand, TAZO. Very clever, Aimee Lucido and Ella Dershowitz (authors of today's crossword), we salute you and rate this puzzle a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale! We love feedback!...

A fine Saturday crossword, with lots of entertaining cluing, and while the pop culture reference meter was in the orange, both Jean & (the especially pop-culture reference-challenged) Mike were able to emerge undefeated. OLEOLE! 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 dr...

Jean found solving today's crossword to be a true GEST, while Mike can AVER that it wasn't as bad as yesterday's! We can state uncategorically that any crossword that manages to abut 11D, Zero reaction, BRR, and 12D. Hotel hummer, ICEMACHINE, deserves 5 squares, so that's what this one earned on the ol' JAMCR scale. For all the deets, download and listen up! We love feedba...

A tough Thursday oeuvre by Mark MacLachlan that left us panting and gasping after we'd finished it -- or did it finish us? To find out, you know what to do - download and then hit the big play button to enjoy today's episode. 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...

If you need to wet your whistle, then this is the crossword you need -- and to find out exactly why, you know what to do -- download, hit that big play button, 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 FaceBook , so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!