Saturday, July 17, 2021

This puzzle starts perfectly -- with the title, Theme, Shmeme -- alerts you that it means (non-serious) business with the very first clue, 1A, Round number?, BARTAB, and never lets up, with a delightful bevy of fun and entertaining clues, perfect Sunday fare. You have to love a crossword that includes 88A, Barely afloat?, SKINNYDIPPING, and 70A, It's sedimentary, my dear, SILT. Kudos to Caitlin Reid, this is definitely 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Co...

16 Marras 202014min

A relatively merciful Saturday, with fun clues and just a handful of names (ERICIDLE, Diana RIGG, GEENA Davis and EDIE Segwick). Superman (or at least his alter-ego) saved the day for Jean (14A, Lane hugger?, KENT), while Mike got out of a STICKYSITUATION by realizing that 13D, Mythical figure associated with snakes, was *not* MEDUSA, but rather the much more ASTUTE ATHENA (and the two cross: kudos to the authors, Emily Carroll and Erik Agard, that's true artistry). Remember if you go to xwo...

15 Marras 202013min

This crossword wasn't as EASYASPIE, but it wasn't too much of a PAIN, either, in spite of being a fairly open grid, with lots of daunting white spaces. The clues were deftly crafted, including Jean's favorite, 62A, Early tablet user, MOSES, and Mike's, 30D, Honker, SCHNOZ. Jean has to dig deeply to figure out 33A, Songs by a recording artist that aren't well known, DEEPCUTS, while Mike has just a few worries while trying to ferret out 17A, "You're good", NOWORRIES. Remember, you can always s...

14 Marras 202013min

One of those great Thursdays, with a theme guaranteed to provide a glorious aha! moment that will stay with you all day. Jean was slowed down slightly by a RARE gathering of RANDOS, while Mike was elated to discover that his years spent watching The Jetsons once again paid off. Both were surprised to discover that ACAI has 3 syllables -- it seems it barely has room for 2 -- and it took some serious Googling before they discovered that AUDIBLE plays referred to the gridiron, not the stage. We ...

13 Marras 202012min

A wonderful Wednesday crossword, with a clever and appropriate theme for Veteran's Day. Particularly witty clues included 51A, Producer of a lot of suits?, BUSINESSSCHOOL, and the award winning 46D, It's found beneath the crust, PIEPAN. (Hands up, all those who wrote MANTLE first. We thought so ... 😀) We appreciated the appearance of both ICAHN and CAHN as answers, and, of course, are suckers for any crossword that features an EPEE. We give this crossword a 5 squares on the JAMC...

12 Marras 202012min

A punny Tuesday crossword with lots to like: if the answer to 20A, Sommelier?, PORTAUTHORITY, doesn't bring a smile to your lips, well ... that's just a theoretical question, because we know it will. Mike was particularly pleased to learn that his memorization of the Reduced Shakespeare Company's skit, "Titus Andronicus ... as a Cooking Show!", finally paid dividends, while Jean was pretty much ATEASE with the whole puzzle. We have some excellent tips for Tip Tuesday, so do listen in a...

11 Marras 20209min

A fairly crunchy crossword, for a Monday, with an interesting but subtle theme -- a vowel-wordchain, with AEIOU showing up in a series of descending clues: PALLBEARER, PELLGRANT, PILLBUG, POLLTAKER, PULLQUOTES. Our favorite clue - 17A, Raiser of the dead? (PALLBEARER), ironically positioned just underneath ENTOMB. Now that's craftsmanship! 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 ...

10 Marras 20206min

Jean tears through today's crossword, while Mike, FELTSAD to discover the bottom-left corner to be almost LETHAL (but still TAME compared to yesterday!). We give it a 4.0 squares on the JAMCR scale.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!

9 Marras 20208min