Saturday, March 4, 2023 - KACHINAs and BENTOBOXes and ESSAYMILLs, oh, my!

If you didn't know anything about today's constructor, you'd likely conclude, as did we, that this was a fine Monday crossword. But then, if you discovered that the constructor was 13 years old, you m...

4 Maalis 20258min

Even a casual glance at today's grid will reveal that something's up - seven vertical colored lines that, unsurprisingly, play a huge role in today's theme. The cost of that theme was complexity, but ...

3 Maalis 202522min

March reputedly comes in like a lion, and today's crossword does the same -- parts of it are ferocious, and it seems to have lots of claws. OK, that last bit might not be true, but it certainly was a ...

2 Maalis 202515min

Michael Lieberman is an accomplished crossword constructor, having written 27 for the NYTimes. Today's oeuvre had some great clues, including 63A, People may visit them just for kicks, SHOESTORES (ha!...

1 Maalis 202515min

It's been over a year since David Steinberg last graced the pages of the NYTimes crossword, and from our perspective it's been just over a year too long. David always crafts whip-smart puzzles, and to...

28 Helmi 202512min

Both cohosts found today's crossword to be a wee bit crunchier than usual (to use a technical cruciverbial term meaning, loosely translated, "really, really hard" 😀). This was, no doubt, in service t...

27 Helmi 202514min

This marks Greg Snitkin's second NYTimes crossword, almost one year, to the day, since his debut. The crossword had some fun entries, including 63A, Call it an early night?, DUSK ; 46A, "Who's interes...

26 Helmi 202513min

Rena Cohen, who we just saw in the NYTimes crossword last month is back again, and she remains at the top of her game. For proof -- OK, for strong anecdotal evidence -- check out today's podcast. Bonu...

26 Helmi 202512min