Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Today's crossword creator was on fire -- or at least thinking about fire, witness the three themed answers, MATCHBOX, TINDERPROFILE and FLINTMICHIGAN. Those three looooong answers made this a more strenuous Monday than usual, but that's why crosswords come with crosses.  Speaking of fire, COALS (18D, Classic eyes for Frosty) also made an appearance, although the pluralization of what is...

Sunday is punday, at least as far as this crossword is concerned -- with plenty of groaners to make (or break, but probably make) your day. Exempli gratia, 23A, Nod off at a self-serve restaurant, SLEEPINTHEBUFFET, and 88A, "We should stall",  LETSMAKEADELAY -- very droll. Jean learned a slew of new words today, including 56D, Piece with a title like "10 Best Places to ...", LI...

Today's crossword was not quite as difficult as yesterday's -- what is? -- but it still had some tough spots. The author set the tone right out of the gate with 1A, Muhammad Ali was one, famously, TRASHTALKER (not, as both Jean & Mike independently guessed, DRAFTDODGER).  Right beneath it was another poser, 15A, Animal that produces eggs once a year, EASTERBUNNY (nice one!). And Mike...

A Saturday-level crossword has lost its way, and accidentally wandered into Friday territory. That's the only explanation for this epic challenge by Kameron Austin Collins, with lots of "crunchy" entries throughout the entire grid. Jean had a spot of bother with 14A, "This has gotta be a trick, but ...", OKAYILLBITE, initially writing OKIWILLBITE. Mike discovered that BURK...

A one-for-the-ages crossword -- everyone's going to remember where they were when they solved it (or broke their computer/iPad/iPhone out of frustration because the "solved" crossword wouldn't indicate that they'd succeeded). The revealer was 3 stepped answers -- MUCHADO    ABOUT       NOTHING The crossword had a series of circled squares, forming circles or ovals: those c...

There seems to be a lot of men hanging around in today's puzzle: 43D, 1967 hit that starts "Well, my pad is very messy and there's whiskers on my chin", IMAMAN; 40A, Only United Nations member whose name starts with "O", OMAN; 46A, Heaven-sent food, MANNA; and 46D, Salvador Dali contemporary, MANRAY.  There were also some very clever themed clues, such as 17A, If you...

An errific crossword for an uesday, with an interesting heme that revolved around ICEDTEA. Both Jean and Mike found the hardest of the 4 themed answers to be 51A, Lumberjacks in unsafe working conditions, AXDODGERS; both initially and independently thought it to be AXDANGERS, mistakingly answering 44D, ________ touch, as IPAD, rather than IPOD, and stumbling over 49D, Strong aversions, writing ONI...

Have you ever looked  really closely at the MEXICANFLAG? If not, no worries, because Philip K. Chow got there first, and took notes -- it turns out to have a GOLDENEAGLE, a PRICKLYPEAR, and a RATTLESNAKE. Several other Mexican-themed clues/answers make an appearance - 21A, Hombre, is MAN, and 26D, They get smashed at parties, PINATAS, to name two.  Other than that, listen on for some interesting d...

Happy Pi Day! Today's crossword was not as easy as that, though -- there were quite a few tricky clues, and the theme -- 101A, Satirical cartoonist, born 3/13/1921, known for dreaming up ridiculous inventions ... or are they?, ALJAFFEEOFMADMAGAZINE -- really didn't help with any of the related themed answers (although it was certainly interesting to learn all the inventions that the grea...

A solid Saturday by veteran crossword constructor John Guzzetta, with a particularly knotty nattick at the junction of 25D, Is lachrymose, and 40A, "Young Man With a Skull" painter. The answers were WEEPS and HALS, although for those unfamiliar with the artist and wobbly when it comes to grammar, WEEPY and HALY are perfectly understandable. As your registered gramma might've said, g...

YKNOW, today's crossword was ABLAZE with  intriguing clues and new(ish) answers: witness 38D, Emphatic agreement in Latin America, SISISI; 17A, Frozen food brand famously lampooned by comedian Jim Gaffigan, HOTPOCKETS; and 51A, Get smart?, DOLLUP. Even old answers were clued AFRESH: consider 48A, One with a solo in Brahm's Symphony No. 1, OBOE, and 10A, It carries an added tax in Philade...

Today's puzzle was a toughie -- you might need to BURNTHEONEAMOIL in order to solve it. The top-left corner was a particular quagmire -- 4A, Drink served hot or cold, SAKE, 3D, Added assessments, SURTAXES, and 1A, Kerfuffle, FUSS all caused, well, a kerfuffle. Mike also had to battle demons in the bottom left corner, unwisely answering 44A, Abbr. in many an urban address, as AVE, leading to t...

TOOMANYCOOKS ... clearly was not a problem with this crossword -- there were TWO cooks, and they've served up a delicious Wednesday crossword for your enjoyment. The theme was the beginning of three adages -- truncating them right where the word SPOIL appeared, e.g., 45A, Start of a saying about parental discipline, SPARETHEROD. Very clever, Nancy Stark and Will Nediger!  A few rarer words ma...

If you like cars, or perhaps we should say, if you like srac, then you'll love this crossword, which features a series of car manufacturers, embedded, in reverse, in various names. For instance, 17A, They often come out at night, FALSETEETH, includes, reading backwards, TESLA; and our favorite, 28A, First Lady of 2001 to '09, LAURABUSH, includes SUBARU. Besides that, the injection of sev...

There is always a DEMAND for good crosswords, and contributing to the SUPPLY is Eric Bornstein. whose ECONOMICS themed crossword would've made ADAMSMITH proud. Both Jean and Mike, although solving independently, were temporarily naticked in the same location: 47A, Actor Philip with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, AHN, ran into 38D, Tennis score after deuce, ADIN. Fortunately, that troub...

Today's crossword had an ingenious theme. as one would expect when Celeste Watts and Jeff Chen are at the keyboard. Two letters, extracted from each themed  clue ,when pronounced, formed a homonym for a word or phrase, as part of a second phrase, that described the original clue. For instance, 49A, LUXUR_ _AUGHT, UNWISEINVESTMENT, and 93A, POI_T OF _IEW, UNENVIABLEPOSITION. Amazing! Jean made...

The force is strong with this one, this one being Sid Sivakumar, author of a crossword with a distinct sci-fi/nerd/geek vibe going for it. It starts off with 1D, "Star Trek" character first played by 12-Down, DATA, and the 12D counterpart, Actor Spiner, BRENT. It doesn't let up with 14A, Side opposite 41-Across in a sci-fi clash, ALIENRACE, and its counterpart, 41A, See 14-Across, H...

A strenuous Friday workout from Sridhar Bhagavathula, with lots of challenges ... pretty much everywhere. Jean had a spot of bother with the top-left corner, with 1A, Pitched poorly, OFFKEY, and 3D, Resource for music performers, FAKEBOOK being particular sticking points. Mike found the top right corner a tough slog, with 7A, Trace element?, STENCIL (cute);  17A, The Statue of Liberty, for one, CO...

Jean's favorite crossword device makes an appearance today -- a rebus! The revealer was two clues, spelling NBA JAM, and the rebus required NBA be JAMmed into one square (we see what you did there, Blake Slonecker, author of today's puzzle).  A few crossword friends take a bow today, including the apparently contractually obligatory 35A, Male actor with the most primetime Emmys (7), ASNE...

There were a few ENIGMAS in this puzzle -- the most perplexing being, how did Galileo, born in the 1500's, earn the monicker of 39A, The Father of Modern Physics? Schroedinger is probably rolling over (and simultaneously not rolling over) in his grave 😀  Jean was natticked at the corner of 49A, Lecture series focused on "ideas of the mind", TEDX and 39D, British Pharma giant, GLAXO...

We're not sure if Ross Trudeau STAYSSANE by writing crosswords, but he certainly does a fabulous job of concocting them, and we present today's puzzle as exhibit A. It was a themed crossword, and Jean's favorite clue was 61A, Chicken broth or beef bouillon?, STOCKOPTION; Mike liked the tangentially-related 6D, Participated in a stock exchange?, MOOED - ultra-cute! Jean got through t...

If this crossword seemed taller than usual -- in spite of being the standard 15x15 -- that is probably because of the preponderance of tall themed answers -- SPACENEEDLE, EIFFELTOWER and FERRISWHEEL. These were all constructs built for one of the WORLDSFAIRS that seem to have gone out of vogue nowadays. Jean and Mike both appreciated 66A, Like some college bros, FRATTY; and Mike was pleased that h...

A punny Sunday crossword ... ORISIT? Well, with clues like 41A, When the nudist club was founded?, MANYMOONSAGO, it is apparent that the answer is a a resounding yes ! Jean's favorite themed clue (and the gimmick all revolved around people going au naturelle)  was 78A, What happens in the stand-up show at the nudist club?, COMICSTRIPS, whereas Mike although partial to the aforementioned 41A,...

Jean sailed through this crossword so quickly that her keyboard ignited, while the fate of Mike's keyboard was never in doubt nor peril. There was a goodly number of arcane (depending upon your age) clues, including 61A, Actress/YouTube star ______ Condor, LANA, 38A, Title character in a "Sgt. Pepper" song, MRKITE, 8D, George Sand title heroine, ISIDORA, and 63A, "East of Eden&...

There were no ERRATA in this perfect Friday crossword, with 5 loooong answers that spanned the grid -- 3 across and 2 down. Despite their length, however, they were relatively accessible, common phrases -- sneakily disguised to ELUDE discovery. Jean found a few new words to add to her vocabulary - 43A, Fencing sport with bamboo swords, KENDO, and 46A, Film composer Morricone, ENNIO. Mike learned a...