Tuesday, December 31, 2024 - Our New Year's Eve Spectacular (fireworks, champagne, this episode's got it all!)

This is Adam Wagner's 18th crossword, and it was a doozy, with 4 debut answers, including both cohosts' favorite, 6D, Exploded, WENTKABOOM. The grid was replete with many other less explosive but still notable clues/answers, such as 24D, "The Way" in Chinese Pinyin, DAO; 9D, New Jersey city named for its most famous former resident, EDISON; and 1D, Bully in "Back to the Future", BIFF. A fine, fine crossword, and we are looking forward to Adam Wagner's 19th, which based on his prio...

10 Tammi 202418min

TEDLASSO might've been shutout at the Golden Globes, but he won big by appearing in today's NYTimes crossword, thanks to Nate Cardin, constructor and (by his own account) TEDLASSO fan. We suspect that Nate Cardin might also have liked rodeos, as today's theme definitely implies: you can almost smell the PETRICHOR (see yesterday's episode for the deets on that) from here. Show note imagery: Being a rodeo clown is tougher than it looks! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love...

8 Tammi 202413min

A superb Sunday crossword by Michael Schlossberg, meeting the cruciverbal RDA for: old-timey clues -- 5A, "Yikes!", EGAD, and 19A, "Sounds 'bout right to me", IRECKONSO; birds that Mike has never heard of -- 3D, Bird also known as a lapwing, PEWIT, and 84D, Bittern, e.g., HERON; and a word that neither of the cohosts had heard of -- 2D, Petrichor, n.: The pleasant _________ of rainfall on dry soil, AROMA (but to be clear, the word we were unfamiliar with was Petrichor, we nose, er, ...

8 Tammi 202421min

After Friday's grueling workout, today's crossword, even though it was a Saturday, seemed relatively straightforward. We are not complaining, though, because the clues were entertaining, the answers educational, and the overall effect soothing. A few examples of the constructors' craft: 55A, They change colors, DYERS; 33D, Where pizza is said to have been invented, NAPLES (what, not Chicago?? 😀); and 44A, A symptom of "man's failure as a thinking animal", according to John Steinbeck, WAR (pro...

7 Tammi 202414min

A tough, tough Friday crossword by David P. Williams -- his third, and his third to use the exact same grid pattern! The grid was daunting, with many a long answer, and there were almost no "gimme" clues to get a foothold. Mercifully (at least from Mike's perspective) there were relatively few pop culture references, just a lot of joyous word play. Deets inside, as well as a very fine fact for Fun Fact Friday, so download, listen up, and enjoy! Show note imagery: an early bread slicing machi...

6 Tammi 202420min

An excellent Thursday crossword, marred by an unfortunate technical glitch. The themed clues contained underlined letters, but the underscores did not appear in the app (they appeared as expected in a web browser). Needless to say this caused much consternation and gnashing of teeth, and the NYTimes crossword editorial team leapt into action, quickly replacing underscores with parentheses: but some early solvers were a tad ticked. Still, once you look past the underscore fiasco, you can see a...

5 Tammi 202416min

Any crossword that works both FIE and IRONHORSE into the grid deserves our respect and gratitude, and we give it freely to this fine opus by Jared Goudsmit, his second to be published in the NYTimes. The theme/gimmick is a delight, and bolstered by a fine supporting cast of clues, from 24D, Bring up, REAR and 68A, Bring up, CITE (nice combo!); to 27D, Tours de force, COUPS (ha!); and a clue that P.G. Wodehouse would've picked up on in a jiff, 34D, Good _______ (kind soul), EGG. S...

4 Tammi 202413min

We are back, after a brief holiday on the Riviera (or it might've been Green Bay, there seemed to be an inordinate amount of ice for the Riviera), and we are being welcomed back by an excellent Tuesday crossword. We tackle that in depth, as well as run our first Triplet Tuesday segment of the year, so for all that and more, please subscribe, download, listen up, and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Al...

3 Tammi 202414min