Thursday, December 30, 2021 - An eXXXcellent New Year's Eve Eve crossword
On this New Year's Eve Eve, we have a fine crossword by John Ewbank -- starting with that always tricky question when it comes to 1A, Flatbread from India -- is it NAAN or ROTI? (today it's ROTI) all the way to the slippery 68A, Coaster, SLED. Jean had to dig for the answer to 39A, Sounder, SANER, while Mike felt slightly vertiginous parsing 52D, Have because of, OWETO -- but fortunately he always solves crosswords sitting down, and recovered quickly. We love feedback! Send us a text......
31 Joulu 20218min
Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - I can't believe I ate the SWOLE thing
The perfect Wednesday crossword -- fun theme, some slightly tricky and in some cases LOL clues, who could ask for anything more? To find out precisely why it deserves all this praise, you know what to do -- download and listen up! A reminder that these podcasts are easier to follow if you have the solved crossword in hand. If you don't, wander over to xwordinfo.com to see the clues and completed grid -- and tell 'em Jean & Mike sent ya! We love feedback! Send us a text... Con...
30 Joulu 202110min
Tuesday, December 28, 2021 - Dancing the HABANERA at ORU!
Opinions are divided on today's crossword - Jean thought it fine, and tore through it in about 7 minutes, whereas Mike didn't even understand the theme, and only managed to eke out a victory by channeling his deep knowledge of Cuban dance moves. In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday, so to hear Jean strut her stuff, intellectually speaking, all you need to do is download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcas...
29 Joulu 202112min
Monday, December 27, 2021 - Solving crosswords can be AARDVARK!
Adam Aaronson apparently looked within for inspiration, because today's grid is chock-full of answers that start with AA. If we were to grade this puzzle then, we'd definitely have to give it an A ... and then another A ... in short, an AA!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 strike up a conversation!
28 Joulu 20217min
Sunday, December 26, 2021 - NESSIE, famous cryptid!
An extra crunchy Sunday crossword, mainly due to a clever theme, recognition of which genuinely helped with the solve. Jean had a little trouble, being a little too HIP when the answer was merely HEP, and Mike struggled at 85D, One hanging around Queen Elizabeth?, trying to fit PRINCECHARLES into an answer that only had room for a solitary PEARL. Still, a goodly Sunday, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us ...
27 Joulu 202115min
Saturday, December 25, 2021 - Podcasts about the NYTimes crossword? They're THENEWBLACK!
A tough Saturday crossword: a stack of 3 15-letter answers at the bottom, and a stack of 9-, 11- and 13-letter answers at the top made for a formidable grid. Jean had issues in the top left, and Mike was temporarily enticed into thinking that 1A, Things you might snap on, nowadays, PHOTOAPPS, was PHONEAPPS -- as the crosses for both the T and O were (to him) unknowns. Very sneaky, Mr. Shortz! Still, a good crossword, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Since it's Saturday, that means i...
26 Joulu 202112min
Friday, December 24, 2021 - No angst about ANKHS
A festively difficult Christmas Eve crossword -- there was no theme, but a bevy of tricky clues that made this a real challenge. Jean struggled in the top-left, but eventually her NEURALNET helped her figure out 13A, Artificial intelligence system based on the human brain, NEURALNET, as well as the rest of the crossword. Mike got temporarily waylaid in the bottom-right, originally answering 40A, Last _____ as CALL, rather than GASP, and he was getting desperate when, with a GASP, he realized ...
25 Joulu 202111min
Thursday, December 23, 2021 - HEATH genius, er, genus
Today's puzzle had a tad less of the verbal trickery that we're accustomed to seeing on Thursdays, but it made up for it with a series of puns of admirably bad (by which we mean good) quality. It also did educate, as good crosswords are wont to do -- 67A, What cynophobia is the fear of, DOGS, and 26A, Heath genus that's also a woman's name, ERICA -- are just a few of the examples. For all the deets, though, you'll need to do what countless others have done before -- download and listen up!We ...
24 Joulu 20217min
