Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A great crossword, peppered with lines from one of our favorite poets, Ogden NASH. We give this a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and to find out why -- as well as whether Mike can triumph on Triplet Tuesday -- just download and hit the big blue (?) green (?) whatever-colored play button! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud...

A good start to the crossword solving week, with a grid that features a quartet of great singers and a really, really great idea for General Mills. To find out what all that means, download and (we hope!) 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 dr...

It isn't clear if the New York Times was trying to scrimp on ink by printing a crossword with very few black squares, but they did  so, and in the process delivered a very tough, but very enjoyable crossword by a man who's reputation for very tough but very enjoyable crosswords precedes him, Sid Sivakumar. He definitely lives up to his reputation, and for all the deets, just download and...

What do you get when you put Brooke Husic and Will Nediger together and tell them, "no limits"? You get exactly this sort of Saturday crossword -- tough, but not soul crushing, with some clues so well crafted that you will have to fight the natural instinct to stand up and yell bravo, encore! To hear precisely why these sentiments would be apropos, you know what to do ... download and th...

Fine Friday fare from ... well, it would've completed this intro nicely if the author was Fred Flinstone or Farrah Fawcett, but we certainly won't complain about Jeff Greenbaum, whose crossword was a perfect Friday construct, and packed with useful advice, like MAKELOVENOTWAR and DONTOVERTHINKIT. For more on today's oeuvre, download and savor today's episode. We love feedback!...

A challenging Thursday crossword by David Steinberg, with multiple instances of Jean's bane, the rebus! Did she solve it? Or did she get horribly mired in the grid? To find out ... download today's episode and hit the big play button! 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 fee...

A splendid Wednesday crossword, almost right at 50% on the crossword difficulty scale (expressed in FBPM, Furrowed Brows Per Minute). The theme was intriguing, it had the word IMAGINEER in the grid (Mike's aspirational career choice), and it had the word "Jackpotting" among the clues. To find out what  that  means, and much, much more, hit the ol' download button to your left(?...

A nice Tuesday crossword, with an. overarching theme, and -- spoiler alert -- that remark will seem hilarious once you've listened to today's podcast. In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday, and to see if Jean was able to live up to her stellar reputation, all you have to do is download today's episode and hit that magical play button. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact I...

After the fireworks caused by Sunday's crossword, today's crossword is relatively uncontroversial, as convention dictates that Monday crosswords ought to be. It had a gentle enough theme, and the contractually obligated appearance of the OREO. To learn what  else  was unique about today's crossword, just tune in to today's podcast. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact In...

Today's crossword, by the incredible Alex Eaton-Salners, was awesome on so many levels that we just don't have the space to describe it here. So, other than pointing out the fact that 7D, "Battlestar Galactica" robots, CYLONS, meant that Mike got his Netflix-viewing MARCHINGORDERS and is preparing to binge-watch as we speak, we will merely direct you to download today's po...

What's all the HULLABALOO about? It's in honor of this very COOL crossword by Michael Hawkins, who TRACKEDDOWN the finest clues from all over -- it must've taken him EONS, extracting them from their various HIDEOUTS -- and brought them together in one grid for your enjoyment. We know we did, and to hear precisely why, just download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text......

Today's crossword was a very smooth solve for both Jean & Mike - which means that, according to the (entirely fictitious) law of conservation of crossword difficulty, tomorrow's crossword will probably be impossible.  Among the clues  not discussed in today's crossword were 23D, River in Picardy, SOMME, and a clue that, in this modern age is now mystifying, 65A, Lewis Carroll ch...

It's a scary Thursday crossword ... but that's due to the theme, not the difficulty level. The cluing was crisp and amusing, and, in addition to many examples discussed on today's podcast, we did enjoy 5D, On the ___ (frequently, in slang), REG, yet more evidence of the remarkable fluidity of the English language. For more deets, download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a t...

Live from Northeast Wisconsin, it's ... Jean and Mike Do The New York Times Crossword! Perhaps that's not quite as memorable as 38A, Classic opening line from an NBC sketch show, LIVEFROMNEWYORK, but it's the best we can do. And to hear *more* of the best that we can do, download and listen up to today's episode . We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listen...

Among the clues that we  didn't get around to discussing in today's podcast was 41A, Treble symbols, GCLEFS, and the rather new-is 18A, Looks for web content about oneself, EGOSURF. But we talked about a  whole lot of the puzzle, as well as had another exciting round of Triplet Tuesday -- so for all the deets, download, and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We...

Today's crossword wasn't quite EASYPEASY: Mike in particular had a few LAPSES that pushed his THYME to the breaking point. 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. Also, we're on FaceBook , so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!

Today's crossword was titled "Sports Nuts", and that pretty much sums up the theme - a series of answers that involved some aspect of sports, as suggested by a punny clue. For example, 22A, Your ex's new date whom you just can't stand?, OFFENSIVEREBOUND. Beyond the sporting motif, there were some interesting clues. For example: the startlingly difficult to pronounce 30A, T...

Saturday is traditionally the toughest crossword of the week, doubly so when Sam Ezersky's the constructor. Both Jean & Mike (solving independently, as is their wont), struggled in the bottom right corner, where a trio of potentially ego-crushing clues awaited --  42D, Charge for some truckers, CARTAGE (not, as Mike surmised, CARRAGE),  43D, Drawing of the body without its skin, from the...

This was a relatively easy Friday puzzle, but it was filled with sparkling cluing that made it a delight to tackle. As exhibit A, we present 16A, Digital color presentation?, NAILPOLISH, 20D, Dining with one's child?, EATINGFORTWO, and 33A, What may be found between  X and Z?, GENERATIONGAP. There were also some nice juxtapositions, EFT and AFT on the same row; and OOZE intersecting OUZO. Kud...

A fun Thursday crossword from Michael Lieberman, with a clever theme - a series of vertical answers, each two words - and they make sense only if you observe that the word on the bottom is under the word on top. For instance, 24D, Give a sworn statement in court, is OATHTESTIFY, and reading this (vertically), the phrase is, literally, TESTIFY under OATH.  We also had 3D, Clueless about current tre...

Today's crossword was a big BESO from the constructor, David W. Tuffs, with an interesting theme revolving around comparisons. Both Jean & Mike were taken in by 23A,  One, in Berlin, EINS (they both thought it would be EINE), and while Jean immediately knew that was incorrect because of the cross, 15D, Root beer brand, DADS, it took Mike about 17 minutes longer to figure that out... A fin...

Ross Trudeau steps up to the plate, swings, and it's a hit -- because Ross Trudeaus' crosswords are always a hit. This is a more high-brow crossword than is typical for the New York Times, as there were 3 clues that tied in to 28D, Literary trio found in the answers to this puzzle's starred clues, THEBRONTES. Those clues -- 6D, Chain known for its soft pretzels, AUNTIEANNES; 25D, Pr...

Freddie Cheng has provided a very ARTistic start to the crossword week, with a series of clues that include multiple spellings of the word ART, e.g., 17A, Athlete who rarely gets sacked or has a pass intercepted, S TAR QU ART ERBACK. Both Jean and Mike had a skosh of difficulty with this puzzle, because, even though solving independently, they were both taken in by 50A, Woman's name derived f...

A splendid Sunday crossword from the pen of Jeff Chen, who overlays the main grid with 5 diagonal answers - it has to be seen to be believed. Fortuitously, you can indeed see that by going over to Jeff Chen's web site - xwordinfo.com - tell 'em Jean & Mike sent you. Beyond the diagonal clues, the rest of the grid was a master class in crossword construction, as you would expect from...

A well crafted crossword from Caitlin Reid and Erik Agard, not too soul-crushingly difficult, and not too fall-off-a-log easy, either. There was only one pop culture reference -- 17A, Pop music nickname, RIRI -- but it has been in the grid multiple times in recent months. Some other clues worth highlighting -- 6D, Check for bugs, INSECTREPELLENT (the old verb-for-noun. switcheroo), 55A, Having tro...