Friday, January 22, 2021

The gloves are off, the gauntlet is cast down, yes, it's a Saturday crossword, so you might need some PLOTARMOR to protect you from the absolute deluge of tough clues. starting with, well, speak of the devil, 1A, Protection of a protagonist for narrative purposes, in slang, PLOTARMOR. The fun continues with the clues beneath it, 15A, Get in the pool, say, RIDESHARE, which bumps into the even slier 7D, Bunch of hipsters?, MANBUN -- and that's just the top-left corner! The bar for the rest of ...

30 Touko 202112min

A somewhat challenging Friday, with head-scratchers in all 4 quadrants. Jean struggled in the middle of the crossword, with 40A, "Vice" principal?, DICKCHENEY, while Mike struggled with, well, it would be faster to say what he didn't struggle with -- he got 42D, Province named for a daughter of Queen Victoria, ALBERTA, right off the bat. Everything else he had to work for. In today's episode of Fun Fact Friday, we talk about Otis Boykin, best known for his work with resistors and pacemakers....

29 Touko 202110min

Sufferin' succotash! It's Sylvester, one of Mel Blanc's many, many creations, and the basis of the theme, which involves exchanging S's for TH's, e.g., 35A, When an armistice is signed, as 58-Across would say, MOMENTOFTRUCE. Mike wasn't quite sure about 50-A, Looking pretty, as 58-Across would say, INGOODFAITH, but Jean assured him, INGOODFAITH, that INGOODFAITH was a legitimate answer. A good Thursday offering, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a tex...

28 Touko 202113min

Mi, mi, mi -- sorry, we're just warming up to analyze a Will Nediger crossword that had three ME references, all tied to 53A, Ominous request from a teacher ... or a hint to the first words (and following letters) of 17-, 26- and 43 Across, SEEMEAFTERCLASS. The answers to those clues were, incidentally, BUSINESSMEETING, GYMMEMBERSHIP, and GERMANMEASLES. There was a lot to like in this crossword -- Will Nediger does not know how to write anything less. Most notable were 14A,...

27 Touko 20219min

Jean found today's crossword to be a piece o'cake, while Mike found it more of a torture, er, torte, as he wandered down various dead-end alleys (1A, Evidence of a recent scrape, SCAB (not SCAR); 6D, Go here and there, ROVE (not ROAM); 17A, Many a graduate of 37-across; Abbr., ENGR, not MNGR; etc., etc.). Both Jean and Mike enjoyed the delicious irony that 9A, Expensive Super Bowl purchases, TVADS, was kitty-corner to 64A, Rival of Hydrox cookies, OREOS (and since OREOS were involved,...

26 Touko 202115min

There are a lot of body parts in today's crossword, but that's not really a bad thing, just a good theme, well implemented. There was also a diverse array of foods that hopefully you'll never encounter at one meal -- 16A, Challenging vegetables to eat with a fork, PEAS, 46D, Three-ingredient lunchbox staple, familiarly, PBANDJ, and 44D, ____ Balls (chocolaty snack), SNO. Beyond the crossword, we got some mail (crosswordpodcast@icloud.com, we promise to read every missive!), so download...

25 Touko 20217min

In today's episode, Jean explains about PIONS, and the fact that SELFSOWN is not superfluous; Mike, meanwhile, ponders where he can download the latest version of CLAROS, in spite of the fact that it is the answer to 33A, Mild, light-colored cigars, and not, as he had posited, a new version of Linux. While they have been known to have a DIFFERENCEOFOPINIONS, both Jean & Mike do agree that 32A, They have stems and white heads, HALFNOTES, is brilliant, as is the crossword in general -- a 5 ...

24 Touko 202115min

Today's crossword was a bit of a slog, although we were happy to see the return of AMONRA - the god of tricky spelling -- and several Star Wars references (21A, Hoth, in "Star Wars", ICEPLANET, and 27A, Sci-fi enemy collective, perhaps, EVILEMPIRE). Jean struggled in the northwest corner, and both Jean & Mike had to grit their teeth in the southeast, where the dubious 49D, Hit on the head, in slang, DONK, and the clever but obscure 32D, "100 Years ... 100 Stars" and others, in brief, AFIL...

23 Touko 202114min