Thursday, January 30, 2025 - A review of Edward Gibbon's little known work, The Rise and Fall of the NYTimes Thursday Crossword 😀 😀

It's, er, time to, er, um, er, talk about the Sunday crossword, which is decidedly lacking in ers, so we thought we'd add a few extras here to make up for it. Yes, the theme involves various common phrases for which ER has been removed, and the clue leads to that ER-less answer, in a humorous way. For instance, 23A - Always glad to be seated in the back of the boat? - is HAPPILYEVERAFT, 103A - Ad for heartburn indication? - is RELIEFPITCH - and our personal favorite, 115A - "Quit your snicker...

14 Syys 20209min

An epic crossword, lots of long and obscure clues, just like you'd hope for and expect on a Saturday. Both Mike and Jean got stymied in various places - Jean at 1D, Band with the 1970's hit "Come and Get Your Love", REDBONE, and Mike at 18A, "Who Shot Mr. Burns on the Classic TV Episode, "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", MAGGIE. There were lots of fun, fascinating words - 43A, Score marking to play higher or lower than written, OTTAVA, and 26A, Mesoamerican language family with about half a milli...

13 Syys 202016min

A sparking crossword by Caitlin Reid and Erik Agard, with great clues -- we give it a perfect 5.0 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!

12 Syys 202011min

Today's crossword features what might possibly be the 4 most recognizable notes in all of western music, D, D, D, EFlat. They might not be recognizable, just lying there on the page, but put an orchestra behind them and you'll instantly recognize the beginning of BEETHOVEN's 5th symphony. That was just one of several of the great master's SYMPHONIC works that made its way into this Thursday masterpiece by David Kahn. Like the answer to 26D, Like violin strings, this crossword was TAUT, and, b...

11 Syys 20209min

99 bottles of clues on the wall, 99 bottles of clues, take one down, pass it around ... well, you get the idea: this crossword had a theme that involved the number 99. EINSTEINIUM, NAMESOFALLAH, WAYNEGRETSKY and LUFTBALLONS were featured, and our one regret was that they couldn't work in a reference to BARBARAFELDON (Agent 99 on the old time television series, Get Smart). Hopefully you got smarter by doing this crossword: there are many more to help keep you. mentally sharp, visit nyti...

10 Syys 20208min

A crossword in honor of ALFREDHITCHCOCK's most famous (?) movie, PSYCHO. For a while, Mike -- GASP! -- had NARY a clue in left central, but at LAST was able to TEASE out the answers. Jean, on the other hand, blazed through the entire shebang in 8 minutes! Also, it's Tip Tuesday, so listen in for some hints as to how you can enhance your crossword solving prowess. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also,...

9 Syys 202013min

The games a-FOOT, and to get so many references to FOOT in this crossword was no small feat, and would've taken a lot of WORK. Thanks to xwordinfo.com, we discover that AVA -- also seen in today's crossword -- has been seen 448 times before, whereas OREO -- surely the unofficial cookie of the New York Times Crossword -- has only appeared 431 times. Tomorrow is Tip Tuesday (tm), so listen for some novel hints as to how you can improve your crosswording skills. We love feedback! Send us...

8 Syys 20207min

DOUBLE, DOUBLE, toil and trouble, that pretty much summarizes today's crossword, which Jean breezed through, but Mike got hung up on, on the shoals of IRENECARA. We rate it a 4.0 squares on the JAMCR scale. Want to talk about crossswords? We're ready to join in, drop us a line at crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. 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 u...

7 Syys 20208min