Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Ooh, a killer Saturday crossword, with some real stretches in the southeast corner. Jean  was stopped by STOPTIME (47A, Rhythmic pattern in jazz) , and got run over by a baseball player doing HOMERUNTROTS (37A, They cover all bases). Mike, meanwhile, couldn't see past OPERAGLASS to get to the correct answer, OPERACAPES for 60A, Luxury wear for showgoers, and still maintains that nobody, ever,...

Just like 10A, Big name in razors, ATRA, this crossword was sharp and attractive, with some brilliant clues, including head scratchers like 1A, Still on the line, say, DAMP, 5D, Take turns, say, STEER, and the superb 22A, It requires some assembly, QUORUM. Jean got through today's crossword not quite INAMINUTE, but close, while Mike was nearly DERAILED by his rock-solid  confidence that 21D,...

Even though this puzzle dealt with elements, it was not at all elementary, my dear Watson, and periodically it seemed like Moriarty himself had designed this fiendish crossword, rather than the actual constructor, Jack Murtaugh. The themed clues involved symbols for elements, cleverly hidden in the theme, so, for instance, 36A, Female?, turned out to be IRONMAN (Fe=IRON, male=MAN). 16A, Siding?, t...

A gentle Wednesday puzzle by Owen Travis and the RENOWN Jeff Chen, who never SETTHEBARLOW when it comes to crosswords, NOSIR, and indeed BENDOVERBACKWARD to provide quality entertainment. Jean tore through this crossword in about half the time it took to do Tuesday's and Mike wasn't too  far behind. Both were suckered into writing RUNS for 6A, Four are credited for a grand slam, briefly,...

An admirable Tuesday crossword, not too HARD, not too EASY, with a very clever theme -- POLAROPPOSITES. Jean was intrigued by STELAE, while Mike was pleased that, thanks to  NPR reporter Ofeibea Quist-Arcton's distinctive sign-off, he knew that the capital of Senegal was Dakar. It's Tip Tuesday, and here's what you ought to know: Sometimes it *does* pay to fill in letters: even if y...

BLIMEY (to quote yesterday's crossword), today's work is an ode to Anglophiles, with several answers that mean one thing on this side of the pond, and another thing on the other. For example ...17A, Travelled by subway?, WENTDOWNTHETUBE, 27A, "Would you call the elevator for me?", CANIGETALIFT, and 48A, "Hand me a flashlight", PASSTHETORCH. A few weeks ago we had a cr...

Today's crossword was ALITTLE easier than yesterday's epic. Jean's favorite clue was 79A, Nickname for baseball great Ernie Banks, MRCUB, Mike's was a tie between 44A, Brand that comes out a head?, PEZ, and 78D, Helical bit, AUGER. Both Jean and Mike were surprised to learn the existence of 104A, Peninsula shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, ISTRIA, and wondered if the autho...

A DEVILISH Saturday crossword, but ILIKEDIT, well, both of us did, to be precise. And precise is, er, precisely what you needed to be to solve this elegantly crafted puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley, with some SWELL clues like 31A, Woman of the world, MOTHERNATURE, and 11D, Occasion for smoking, BARBEQUE. We give this an enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Remember, if you want to get in to...

Jean was clearly EQUALTO the task of solving today's crossword, while Mike was a bit LATETO the party, getting stuck in, well, the sticky stuff -- 38D, Sticky stuff (PINETAR, not VINEGAR), among other places. Our favorite clue? 21D, Leaves home?, TEAPOT. Our least favorite? Trick question, we loved the entire puzzle, and give it a 5 squares on the JAM CR scale. Today's fun fact: The Cong...

It's not an UNLUCKYBREAK that Jake Halperin put together this fine crossword, which (possibly coincidentally) plays homage to a Mitch Hedberg routine about B being unlucky, because it's just a 13 scrunched together. Among the fascinating clues in today's puzzle, 7D, The U.S. Forest Service owns about 38% of it, IDAHO; and 34A, Modern lead-in to scrolling, DOOM (aka DOOMSURFING). We...

A tough Wednesday, Jean was well above her time, and Mike almost succumbed in the top right corner, unfamiliar as he was with ... pretty much every clue in the top right corner, SHEESH! There were quite a few NEW words and phrases, and we'd tell you about them RIGHTTHISSECOND but, OHSNAP, we're out of time! 😀  We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop...

Jean tore through today's NIFTY crossword so fast that she didn't even see the theme (as Einstein correctly predicted would happen to crossword solvers as they approached the speed of light), while Mike fell into all the TRAPS, and has a few SCARS to show for it. In today's Tip Tuesday segment, we observe that 1. GURU ≠ Religious figure all the time 2. SPOT = AD (a lot of the time)...

How's it going, eh? Pretty well, especially if you were able to get today's crossword, which included many references to Canada, including mention of the most Canadian thing ever -- TIMHORTONS (a wildly successful, primarily Canadian-based restaurant chain owned by Burger King). MAPLESYRUP (available at TIMHORTONS 😀), HOCKEYNIGHT, and, um, RAIN also made an appearance. Tomorrow is Tip T...

Today's crossword was quite the SCRIM, LIVENED with an ingenious theme involving shared letters  (e.g., 23A, Very short-lived gemstones, EPHEMERALDS = EPHEMERAL + EMERALDS, and 63D, Pounding on a pie topping, HAMMERINGUE = HAMMERING  + MERINGUE). You'll definite need a CUPPA or two, and possibly a long troll in the OPENAIR, to solve this one. Remember if you want to follow along as Jean...

Jean tears through today's crossword like it's a Monday, while Mike takes a more TORTOISE-like approach, hindered by a lack of knowledge, spelling, and in some tragic cases, both.  The clues themselves are minor works of art (see: 31D, Study pills, PLACEBOS, and 30D, Air traveler in early winter, SANTA), but even some of the juxtapositions are worthy of note -- RUSHERS next to TORTOISE,...

It's a Robyn Weintraub crossword, so expect Good Things. Both Jean & Mike were temporarily THROWN off the scent, getting little traction especially in the top left and right corners. Eventually they persevered. Jean was rescued by, of all people (and we use the term loosely), BILLTHECAT and Mike, well, once again, his Achilles' heal, ADBLOCKERS, almost did him in. In a crossword with...

For those of you LONGing for a good Thanksgiving Day crossword to sink your teeth into, metaphorically spelling, here you go! This wasn't a ROMP, but you didn't need to be a GURU to solve it either -- just a bit of luck, a lot of patience, and a passing acquaintance with  1970s operating systems. 😀 We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line,...

Feast your eyes on this fabulous Wednesday crossword by John Guzzetta and Jeff Chen (edited, as always, by Will Shortz). It included a WRY reversing-homonym theme, and a SLEW of clever clues that were clearly written without the impediment of RYE . Jean cruised through it in record time while Mike, hobbled by his lack of knowledge of the legendary Buck ONEIL, was slower off the mark, but eventuall...

A genuinely fun and funny crossword by Caitlin Reid. Any crossword that includes the clue 19A,"An orca is actually a dolphin?!", WHALEILLBEDARNED, deserves some sort of award. We give it a perfect 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and it's not because we're fishing for compliments 😉 We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordp...

A few challenges for the spelling-challenged -- DIDGERIDOO and MATZOH, to name two -- but other than that, ITLLDO (quite WELL, in fact). It did feature Jean's favorite musketeer, ARAMIS, as well as Mike's favorite prime minister, PIERRE (48D, Justin Trudeau's father). There was also a (possibly intentional) acoustical tie-in to yesterday's crossword -- that featured  48A, Wishe...

A novel crossword, definitely not by the numbers, to round out our puzzle solving week. The theme involved adding up intersecting digits, which was a real HOOT. Jean found this slightly more difficult than usual, while Mike knew a diminishingly small number of answers at the outset. Some clues of note: 33D, Makes cloudy (BLEARS),  9D, Don's partner in the underworld, CAPO, and 97A, Zoning, so...

If you didn't get today's crossword, well, HAKUNA MATATA, NOLOSS. It was a Saturday, ERGO it was bound to be a bit of an OGRE. Some particularly memorable clues -- 54D, An expert on feet, POET, 9A, 1, 2, 3, 4, ..., 11, 12, 14, etc., FLOORS, and, oh ANOTHERONE, 25D, 28 pound debut of 1981, IBMPC.  We give it a 4.5 squares on the increasingly precise JAMCR scale.  Remember, if you want to...

There are not a lot of BIGYUKS to be found in today's crossword, but there is a BARRAGE of obscure clues, including 6D, _________ Barnes, WNIT-winning basketball coach (ADIA), 43D, German leader after Adenauer (ERHARD), and (for Mike: apparently it's Jean's middle name), 38D, Dolce's partner in fashion, GABBANA. But, at the end of the day, both Jean and Mike were able to get al...

Cn y ndrstnd ths? f s, y mght hv lg p dng tdy's crsswrd! And for those of you who don't speak consonantese, what we wrote  was "Can you understand this? If so, you might have a leg up doing today's crossword!". That's because today's crossword was an homage to the WHLFFRTN, aka Wheel of Fortune, and many of the clues had been de-voweled. Jean, being a WHLFFRTN af...

You will sure aPPreciate this puzzle, with a riPPing good theme, from Amanda Rafkin and Ross Trudeau. Twas a fairly gentle Wednesday, both Jean & Mike turned in exemplary times, and thought IMHAPPY afterwards. 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 str...