Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Today's crossword had mixed reviews. Jean thought it was relatively straightforward, Mike found it a bit more of a slog, no BIGSURPRISE. They both agree, however, that 30A, Cutesy "I beg your pardon", EXSQUEEZEME, was fun to say, and that 39D, Joint application?, BENGAY, was just funny. It's Fun Fact Friday, and in today's episode Jean and Mike discuss the architect who is...

An unexpectedly gentle Thursday offering, but filed with some joyously LOL answers. Who could not break a smile at 58A, Stand by the pool, maybe, TIKIBAR, 45D, Balls in a pocket, FALAFEL (nice!), and marvel at the epic 12D, Glass elevator?, TOASTER? The author of today's mirthfest, Matt Fuchs, definitely knows how to write an entertaining crossword, hence our JAMCR scale rating of 5 squares,...

Today's crossword was a real EYE opener - with the names of 4 persons whose first named started with, and last name ended with, the letter I. It was ingenious, intriguing and ... tough! Jean ran into some thorns in the bottom-right corner, and Mike had to cope with the intersection of 5D, Cover for the bed of a pickup truck, TONNEAU, and 32A, "Red Cube" sculptor with an eponymous mu...

Today's crossword included the reappearance of 2D, Egyptian king of the Gods, AMNUNRA, whose alternative spellings are so legendary - AMUNRA, AMENRA, AMONRA , to name just three -- that he has earned the unofficial moniker, God of Dubious Spelling.  The rest of the grid was entertaining, focused on the concept of 37A, Portmanteau coinage describing this puzzle's theme, ALLITERNATION. Exa...

Today's crossword was a Monday, but it was a little "crunchier" than usual., with clues that might trip up novice solvers, such as 53D, Thai currency, BAHT,  42A, Official language of Iran, FARSI, and 27D, Feature introduced to the iPhone in 2009, VIDEO). Jean (of course) tore through today's grid, but Mike found a few speed bumps - is it CATE or KATE Blanchett? The former. Is...

A crunchier than usual Sunday crossword, the grid was filled with amusing clues but plenty of pitfalls. Jean had a spot of bother with 77A, Sesh on Reddit, AMA (short for Ask Me Another). Mike, meanwhile, was apparently  unaware of 88D, Ike's domain in W. W. II, ETO, an answer that had appeared in the New York Times crossword a staggering  449 times, even more than the official cookie of the...

A surprisingly straightforward Saturday crossword, with joyfully few RORs (Ridiculously Obscure References™️) to slow down the proceedings. Mike still managed to find a way, however: and to learn exactly how, 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...

Both Jean & Mike found today's crossword to be definitely on the harder side of the spectrum -- with the top-left corner causing particular grief. Both were eventually able to rally, although it was an epic battle. For all the deets, as well as the 411 on the EVZONES that is the basis of today's Fun Fact Friday, hit download now! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We l...

One look at the grid, with a series of 1 letter squares with black on both sides (something that almost *never* happens) was a tipoff that something unusual was happening. Fortunately, the puzzle was written by Timothy Polin, who's usual behavior is to crank out great crosswords, and he is in fine form today, apparently able to create cross-lesswords as well as crosswords. We rate this an awe...

A shocker of a Wednesday, with (wait for it) a rebus! And a very clever rebus at that, one that might drive you coocoo, so to speak. (We won't say more about the theme here, download the podcast  to get the full 411.) The crossword started off strong, with 1A, Animal that's also a plant?, MOLE (nice!), a helpful tip at 16A, Good advice during an emergency, KEEPACOOLHEAD, and possibly tog...

If you felt HEARTBROKEN after doing today's crossword, well, that's probably just a side-effect of the theme - the word HEART, appearing in words with an increasing number of other letters being inserted in between. Otherwise this was a fun crossword, with a few notable clues -- 34D, Communication at Gallaudet Univ, ASL (marking the second time that has appeared in as many days); 46A, St...

Mondays are traditionally the easiest crossword puzzles of the week, designed to gently welcome novice solvers to the fold, and this one definitely succeeds. It has some intriguing clues -- 1D, Handy way of communicating, in brief?, ASL; 56A, 1967 hit by the Tremeloes suggested by the starts of 17-, 27- and 46-Across, HERECOMESMYBABY; and a nod to one of Mike's favorite books, 7D, "_____...

It's hard not to like a puzzle that manages to work in 63A, Final creature encountered in "Dr. Seuss's ABC", ZIZZERZAZZERZUZZ, on its way to working a grand total of 40 (count 'em) Z'S into the grid, a genuine tour de forze, um, we mean force. Jean had trouble in the upper right, in particular with 33A, Jurisdiction of a Catholic Church official, DEANERY crossing with...

A thoroughly pleasurable Saturday crossword. Jean got through it fairly expeditiously, never thinking that she'd hit a brick wall anywhere in the grid. Mike flailed around for a time in the lower left corner before MNEMOSYNE heard his prayers and reminded him that, among other things, there never was and never will be any such game as CORNDART. A fine crossword, we give it a happy 5 squares o...

A fun Friday crossword, tough but fair, with just a few potential natick sites -- all of which Mike managed to find, and details in this week's episode. Today's Fun Fact (it is, of course, Fun Fact Friday) was about ambigrams , those wonderful works of art that look the same after being rotated / reflected. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us...

A very sound Thursday crossword -- and sounds are at its heart, with a number of clues that require you mash sounds together to get an answer. Jean's favorite was 26A, [Lightsaber] + [Impatient fingers] = Boring, HUMDRUM, while Mike was partial to 48A, [Cow] + [Thunder] = Snake eyes, e.g., LOWROLL, not only for the humor but because that was where he cottoned on to the gimmick. A fun solve, w...

It's always a good sign when Alex Eaton-Salners' name is on the puzzle, and he does not disappoint today, with a puzzle built to AMUSE. There are multiple answers that when deprived of the circled letter in their midst become their opposite, e.g., 13A, Stay in power, RESIGN (with the S circled), becomes REIGN; and 23A, Hold on to, HEAVE (with the E circled), becomes HAVE. Very cute! Ther...

A geometrically themed crossword, with various ANGLEs making an appearance, at, as one might expect, an angle. Jean solved the crossword in almost record time, but Mike, alas, fixated on the name DEBDUBOIS for considerably longer than he ought to have before finding the correct answer to 7D, Co-founder of the NAACP and author of "The Souls of Black Folk", WEBDUBOIS. A few other noteworth...

A fun Monday, with a droll theme, revolving around 61A, Guaranteed ... or where you can find the ends to 17A (POLEVAULT), 23A (PENNANDTELLER), 37A (DAYLIGHTSAVINGS), and 50A (BOTTLEDEPOSIT), INTHEBANK. One of the more interesting clues was 51D, River of forgetfulness, in myth, LETHE, interesting because just two days ago we had a reference to the Greek goddess of memory, MNEMOSYNE. Coincidence? Ha...

Most crossword answers are black-and-white - but today's grid had a slew of them in gray, as part of an intricate theme involving cut classes (listen to Jean's stellar explanation for all the deets). There seemed to be a plethora of people populating the grid, such as 117A, Michael _______ of "Ugly Betty", URIE, 125A, "Spy Kids" actress Hatcher, TERI, 115D, Children&a...

If spelling is not your forte, then perhaps you might want to brace yourself before trying today's crossword. Between 33A, Site of the impact of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, CHICXULUBCRATER,  18A, Greek goddess of memory, MNEMOSYNE, and 33D, Mexican dish named after a small boat, CHALUPA, there were a lot of serious spelling challenges. Jean had issues all over...

A gentle Friday, Jean did it in slightly less time than usual, whereas Mike cleaved off 3h5m (if only we were kidding!) from his cataclysmically bad Thursday time.  Jean started off slowly and picked up steam as she went along; Mike found most of the puzzle firmly planted in his wheelhouse, with the exception of the top-right corner (with 16A, Lustrous shell compound, NACRE, and 10D, What genes do...

An ingenious Thursday delight by Simeon Seigel, with an awe inspiring theme that surely deserves a place in the pantheon of great crosswords. It involves personal identifiable information (PII), embedded in black squares, that emerges when the puzzle is solved. If you haven't seen the solution, hop over to xwordinfo.com to admire Mr. Seigel's opus. In other news, we have listener mail, s...

Jean solved today's crossword so quickly that several laws of physics may have been broken in the process, or at least bent. There were several  related answer pairs in the grid, in particular 9D, Dweller west of the North Atlantic, AMERICAN, and 40D, Dweller east of the North Atlantic, EUROPEAN.  A case could also be made for 17A, Much of Roy Lichtenstein's work?, DOTCOMICS, and 51A, &q...

A fun Tuesday crossword, with some legal puns (are there any other kind?) to spice things up. Jean tore through the crossword in under 12 minutes, while Mike, convinced that 10D, Brand of caramel candy, WERTHERS, should be spelled WORTHERS, spent an absurdly long amount of time before realizing that the cross, 16A, British pop singer Lewis, was in fact LEONA, and not her lesser known rival, LOONA...