Friday, December 9, 2022 - Yay, TAYTAY!

A challenging Friday crossword, although our intrepid co-hosts -- solving, as always, independently -- ran into difficulties in different areas of the grid. Jean got stuck in the center left, remaining INASTUPOR until she wasn't; whereas Mike encountered headwinds in the southwest, almost done in by his unfamiliarity with Spanish and the Italian literati, ENERO and ELENA Ferrante, respectively. In other news, it is Fun Fact Friday™️, and Jean weighs in with a striking article on SHRIKE...