Wednesday, November 27, 2024 - A crossword clearly written by a BELESPRIT
English is a ravenous language, devouring words from other languages and claiming them as their own. Such is the case with one of our favorite entries in today's puzzle -- 66A, Clever person, BELESPRIT (two words, to be accurate, BEL ESPRIT). This came from the French, English laid claim to it, and, alas, promptly forgot about it, it is now considered archaic. We love it anyway, as well as all the other clues, to say nothing of the splendid theme, found in today's puzzle. Deets inside, so dow...
28 Marras 202416min
Tuesday, November 26, 2024 - A crossword with a lot of vroom to grow 🙄
This was an excellent debut crossword by Killian Olson. He has had a total of 2 crosswords published, his first in the Michigan Daily, and his second in what we perceive to be a slightly more demanding venue, the NYTimes. We have all the deets inside, as well as another of our famed Triplet Tuesday™ segments -- Mike is in the hot seat tonight -- so we would be most thankful if you checked out today's episode, and then told your 500 best friends about us on social media 😀 Show note imagery: A...
27 Marras 202415min
Monday, November 25, 2024 - Looking for happiness? FOLLOWYOURBLISS ❤️
Today's crossword is Dena R. Witkes' debut, and we like it! The difficulty was spot on, the theme was light and frothy, like good Monday themes ought to be, and the rest of the clues were just right to entice would-be solvers to, well, start solving. Five squares on the JAMCR scale, absolutely! Show note imagery: Joseph Campbell, originator of the phrase FOLLOWYOURBLISS. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Als...
26 Marras 202411min
Sunday, November 24, 2024 - This crossword is LEGENDARY!
This was an ambitious crossword that took the author, Alex Eaton-Salners, many years to get into its final form. It was worth the wait, though, with a dazzling theme and some terrific supporting clues. We therefore present, for your consideration, 77D, Moon over Miami, for many a Miamian, LUNA (nice one!); 58A, Like Hadrian's Wall in Northern England, ROMAN (unusual behavior, for a wall 😏); and 90A, Guitar's resting place, often, KNEE (well, now that you mention it ...) Kudos to A E-S for a ...
25 Marras 202416min
Saturday, November 23, 2024 - A ROBUST Saturday crossword
There were many fine clues in today's grid, courtesy of Ryan McCarty. We'd be hard pressed to limit ourselves to 3, but we're going to give it the ol' college try: 33A, Stories that can be read both backward and forward, SAGAS 😀 35A, Makes some calls, REF 🙄 31D, Zeus, Odin or the Dagda, PAGANGOD 🧐30D, Middling in rank, informally, BTIER (so much for the ol' college try!)Beyond today's crossword, we've awarded our JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award), so check out tod...
24 Marras 202413min
Friday, November 22, 2024 - Is ADO Annie in the grid? We can't say no 🙄
Today's crossword was, to borrow an answer from earlier in the week, absolutely fabulous, with an ocean of great clues. [A small ocean, to be sure: the grid was its normal 15x15 size, but somehow "large pond of great clues" doesn't have quite the stirring effect we are aiming for, so we are sticking with ocean.] For example, we have the terrific 5D, Toon whose last name is Nahasapeemapetilon, APU; the all too true 54A, Like the topic of politics in a job interview, TABOO; and the fascinating ...
23 Marras 202418min
Thursday, November 21, 2024 - A Saturday crossword so tricky it's disguised itself as a Thursday 😱😀
Today's crossword was (1A) ABFAB, definitely one of our (3D) FAVES this week, with such a sparkling grid that we had to wear shades and set the app to dark mode in order to work on it. We were dazzled by clues like 42A, One hanging out in the cold, ICICLE (a clue that just warms our hearts!); 22A, "Bam!", KAPOW (Boom!); and 35A, On ice longer than normal, say?, INOT (a clue that did not leave us cold). In short, a crossword definitely worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and certainly a conten...
22 Marras 202417min
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - This crossword is CRACRA good!
Writing spoiler-free show notes can be tricky, but we're willing to give it a shot for our listeners. In today's crossword, we see that the author has made clever use of ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️, which is surprising, because we normally only see those on ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️ or ◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️◼️! However we are glad to see them, they definitely add a bit of zest to the grid. Intrigued? Want to know what's behind all those ◼️'s? Download today's episode to find out! Show note imagery: The original CRAYOLACRAYON...
21 Marras 202413min
