Saturday, June 24, 2023 -If this crossword drives you BATTY, retreat to the ZENGARDENS

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

There were some very nice pairings in today's crossword: The oh-so-close 7D, Sound of a smooth-running engine, PURR, and 45D, Catherine ___, wife of Henry VIII, PARR 😀The numerically related 89A, 11,...

24 Helmi 202517min

Apologies for not wishing people a happy GALENTINESDAY earlier, but as one of our cohosts had never heard of the word until doing today's superb crossword, and the other deigned to mention it, it is o...

23 Helmi 202515min

Today's episode explores Colin Adams' fifth NYTimes crossword, which is just as good as his other four, i.e., great! It was a tough but rewarding puzzle, requiring a lot of head scratching and memory ...

22 Helmi 202517min

This was a debut crossword for Peter Gorman, and it was splendid. The theme was definitely unique -- we've seen none like it in recent memory -- and there were a number of excellent clues, including 6...

21 Helmi 20254min