Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Jean cruised through this crossword like it was a Monday, while Mike  got hung up on the REEFS, and had to DOUBLEDOWN in order to get OVER the finish line with his self ESTEEM intact. The theme DOUBLEDOWN referred to several words that had repeating triplets, e.g., HEART MUR ==> HEART MUR MUR , CO VER SION ==> CO VER VER SION, etc. Very clevlever.   We love feedback! Send us a text... Contac...

A punny Wednesday, with multiple clues, based on PARADOX, that happened to contain, DOX, um, make that Docs as in Dr. EVIL, Dr. OZ, Dr. WHO, Dr. RUTH, Dr. DRE and Dr. NO -- clearly the makings of a great medical clinic! There were a few grin-inducing clues -- 53A, Elbows and such, PASTA, and 32D, Togs for sawing logs?, PJS -- offset by one sad clue -- 61D, Number of season's played by basebal...

Both Jean and Mike found this puzzle to be a tad easier than Monday. There was much  music in today's crossword -- Lady GAGA, ELTONJOHN, EMINEM, all made an appearance, and if IRONTHRONE isn't the name of a heavy metal band it ought to be 😀. KARAOKE, DEADHEAD, and 23A, Movin' _______ ("The Jeffersons" theme), also contributed to this toe-tapper of a puzzle. It's Tip...

We have no doubt that the illustrious editor of the New York Times, Will Shortz, was PEPPERED with questions after today's crossword was published, and might've thought, GIMMEABREAK. Nonetheless, controversy swirled around the answer to 29D, Evian and Perrier, EAUS, as opposed to (as any bon étudiant de la belle langue Français* could tell you), the correct answer, EAUX. Jean was serenel...

Are you feeling INARUT? Matthew Stock has just the ticket, a crossword with great APPEAL that will have you SINGININTHERAIN in no time! Jean got through today's crossword in her usual exemplary fashion.  Mike wasn't quite the STARPUPIL, he REWROTE a staggeringly large percentage of his answers before finally hitting ORO, so for him it wasn't so much a matter of WEARETHECHAMPIONS as...

Saturday is traditionally the hardest crossword of the week, and Ali Gascoigne does OBLIGE, with this ACE example of the genre. Jean's favorite clue was 14D, Protective suits?, SECRETSERVICE; Mike's was 13A, Things often hit during rush hour, CARHORNS. There were a few "today-we-learned" moments, including 15A, "I Wish" rapper, 1995, SKEELO, 39D, One doing some stitch...

A tough Friday, with a real quagmire in the bottom right -- from 47A, Ganja, HERB, to 53A, Way of Life?, CEREALAISLE (nice!), to 56D, Helen of Troy, e.g., DEMIGODDESS, to 51D, R&B singer Erykah, BADU and finally 47D, Gardner of "S.N.L.", it was a who's who of who-knows, who-knows 😀 What we do know is that, bottom right corner not withstanding, we liked this crossword a lot, and...

There was so much to RAVE about in this crossword that we just have to RATE it a 5 on the JAMCR scale. The author started off with the best of INTENTIONS, and thanks to several verbal INVENTIONS, pulled off an amazing feat that simply left us INAWE: 4 squares that could be either T or V, and the answers, spelled either with a T or V, were both plausible. For example, 17A, Designs, could be either...

A nice Wednesday crossword, although both Jean & Mike had a spot of bother in the top-right corner. Both independently came to the conclusion that 12D, "Never-ending" offerings at Olive Garden, was SALADS, as opposed to the other never-ending offerings, PASTAS. Both (also independently) assumed that 25A, Least bit, was ATAD. There was also some unpleasantness with 18A, "Full Fro...

A solid Tuesday crossword, even though the theme was liquid -- various types of beer, to be precise, embedded in longer clues (e.g., 26A, British fashion designer who's the daughter of Linda and Sir Paul, STELLAMCCARTNEY (after Stella Artois), and  the rather cryptic 57A, Long, straight-sided smoke, CORONACIGAR. Jean enjoyed the appearance of 23D, Drink that can cause brain freeze, SLUSHIE (h...

The New York Times crossword is going to the dogs ... but in a good way, with this themed puzzle that provides a shoutout to various presidential woofers. Jean was intrigued by 40A, The Buddha is often depicted meditating under it [Obama], BOTREE, while, predictably, Mike's favorite was 7D, Apple on a desktop, IMAC.  We give this puzzle a well deserved 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love fe...

A tough Sunday, ASSUREDLY not for the faint of heart, with NOTALOT of "gimmes". Still, any crossword that includes CAPTAIN AMERICA (57A and 3D, respectively) can't be that bad. The top right was a bit of a quagmire. thanks to the proximity of 26A, "Thong Song" singer, 2000, SISQO, 32A, In the capacity of, QUA, and 16D, Medieval helmet, CASQUE.  The bottom right had some ni...

An ARTFULLY constructed Saturday, with plenty of tough clues to RUMINATE over, from 14A, Wait here!, RESTAURANT (very nice), to the slightly less arcane 32D, Main course?, SEAROUTE. Jean had some difficulty with 33D, Nickname for the White House Correspondents' Dinner, NERDPROM, while Mike was temporarily flummoxed by 43A, Bottom lines, SUMS (as opposed to BUMS), crossing with 43D, It's...

A RESPITE from some of the harder Friday crosswords we had lately, in both Jean and Mike's wheelhouses. Jean appreciated the XXX stack, 39D, Adult and then some, XXXRATED (crossed with 38A, Goes past, EXCEEDS, 41A, It may be added to the mix, CHEX (very nice!), and the slightly more obscure 45A, Beast vanquished by Oedipus, SPHINX. Mike appreciated not having to spell OCCAM's razor twice...

A terrific Thursday effort by Alex Eaton-Salners, who uses the plural form of words to great COMEDIEDIEFFECT, creating a truly COFFOOTFOOTABLE-worthy crossword. And if that last sentence made no sense, today's podcast will make it all clear. Both Jean and Mike learned something in today's crossword -- Jean, for instance, learned about 20A, Communist party systems, APPARATS;  Mike learned...

AND by for a UPENDOUS crossword by Kate Hawkins, and in case you haven't guessed by now, the theme involved STOUT, as in getting the ST OUT of various clues. Mike's favorite was 37A, The main characters of "Brokeback Mountain", e.g.?, RANGEBEDFELLOWS, while Jean was partial to 57A, Gross messages?, ICKYNOTES. Jean just had a small typo that slowed her down --RANGEBEDPELLOWS sou...

There's a lot of clothing in today's crossword, and we are advised to hold onto it, with clues that, in a fairly straightforward manner (it is a Tuesday), resolve to KEEPYOURSHIRTON, HANGONTOYOURHAT, and TIGHTENYOURBELT. There were a few interesting juxtapositions - 13D, Understanding, KEN, was followed by 18D, What a "Y" with a pair of horizontal lines through it is the symbol...

A stylish Monday crossword starts our puzzle-solving week. Jean got momentarily got hung up on 5A, The five weekdays, for short, writing MTWRF, rather than the NYTimes officially sanctioned MTWTF, begging the question, what day is T, and how would you interpret TGIT.  Mike got hung up on culture -- 1A Actress / TV host _______- Pinkett Smith offered no help, so he turned to 1D, Liz's best fri...

A weally gweat cwossword, with an intewesting theme -- Toddler Talk, to be precise. Jean made short order of this puzzle, as usual; Mike was surprised to discover the existence of SCHWAS, in 107A, Beginning and end of "America"; stunned to discover that KLEES was a real word; and disappointed that his bones didn't come with labels, so that he could've figured out 103D, Hip bone...

A fairly gentle crossword (for a Saturday): Jean tore through it so quickly her keyboard melted! Some of the clues were quite straightforward (14A, Princess of Monaco, STEPHANIE, and 21D, Give it some time, BEPATIENT). Others were humorous -- 41A, Government program?, THEWESTWING, and 24A, A real tour de force?, STARWARS. Still others required some very specific knowledge, e.g., 16A, ______ Huffle...

Uh, oh, it's an Erik Agard Friday puzzle - red alert! Dictionaries and thesauri up! Jean was highly impressed with the look of the grid (and you can see it, as usual, at xwordinfo.com). Mike was more impressed with the difficulty: he had to scan so far down the list of clues to find one that he could answer that he inadvertently rolled into Thursday! There were a few outre clues - 38A, Produc...

A very colorful and melodic Thursday crossword, with rebuses containing Green, Yellow, Black, and White, all parts of song titles. There were oldies -- like 32A. 1966 hit by the Rolling Stones, PAINTITBLACK,  61A, 1966 hit by the Beatles, YELLOWSUBMARINE, and much more modern fare, like 38D,  2017 hit by Cardi B, BODAKYELLOW. Jean worked expeditiously through the puzzle, while Mike, despite moment...

A crossword in honor of 35A, Civil rights icon who led a historic march from Selma to Montgomery on 3/7/1965, JOHNLEWIS. Four clues celebrated the great man's life, including a truly iconic phrase, 58A, Oxymoronic coinage of 35-Across, GOODTROUBLE. There were some amusing non-theme related clues of note, including 14A, Unit of courage?, OUNCE, and the somewhat curiously clued 41D, Utters a so...

Jean tore through today's crossword so quickly her computer almost overheated, while Mike ... got through it, although he had some issues at the junction of 17D, Financial expert Suze, ORMAN, and 20A, Riddle-me-________, REE, which to him still sounds like a typo (although of course it is not: the New York Times crossword quality control is legendary).  There were a few TIL (Today-I-Learned)...

A fine Monday crossword, and.a great start to Black History Month, with appearances by Malcom X, Wiz Khalifa, Marvin Gaye and the Black Eyed Peas. A few educational clues were scattered throughout, for instance, 47A, ________ Trench (deepest point on earth), MARIANAS, 27D, Fifth-most-common family name in China, CHEN, and the curious 36D, Circular windows, OCULI.  We rate it a 5 squares on the JAM...