Saturday, February 13, 2021
An ARTFULLY constructed Saturday, with plenty of tough clues to RUMINATE over, from 14A, Wait here!, RESTAURANT (very nice), to the slightly less arcane 32D, Main course?, SEAROUTE. Jean had some difficulty with 33D, Nickname for the White House Correspondents' Dinner, NERDPROM, while Mike was temporarily flummoxed by 43A, Bottom lines, SUMS (as opposed to BUMS), crossing with 43D, It's not a good look, SNEER (as opposed to his original guess, based of suspension of disbelief and the basics o...
14 Helmi 202113min
Friday, February 12, 2021
A RESPITE from some of the harder Friday crosswords we had lately, in both Jean and Mike's wheelhouses. Jean appreciated the XXX stack, 39D, Adult and then some, XXXRATED (crossed with 38A, Goes past, EXCEEDS, 41A, It may be added to the mix, CHEX (very nice!), and the slightly more obscure 45A, Beast vanquished by Oedipus, SPHINX. Mike appreciated not having to spell OCCAM's razor twice in two days, but was glad to see EDASNER (64A, Player of Warren Buffett in "Too Big to Fail"), who had gra...
13 Helmi 20219min
Thursday, February 11, 2021
A terrific Thursday effort by Alex Eaton-Salners, who uses the plural form of words to great COMEDIEDIEFFECT, creating a truly COFFOOTFOOTABLE-worthy crossword. And if that last sentence made no sense, today's podcast will make it all clear. Both Jean and Mike learned something in today's crossword -- Jean, for instance, learned about 20A, Communist party systems, APPARATS; Mike learned that he did not know how to spell the answer to 1D, Razor handle?, OCCAM, and that his new favorite ...
12 Helmi 202112min
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
AND by for a UPENDOUS crossword by Kate Hawkins, and in case you haven't guessed by now, the theme involved STOUT, as in getting the ST OUT of various clues. Mike's favorite was 37A, The main characters of "Brokeback Mountain", e.g.?, RANGEBEDFELLOWS, while Jean was partial to 57A, Gross messages?, ICKYNOTES. Jean just had a small typo that slowed her down --RANGEBEDPELLOWS sounds like something you might buy at Bed, Bath and Beyond (not a sponsor, but here's hoping), while Mike proved ...
11 Helmi 20219min
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
There's a lot of clothing in today's crossword, and we are advised to hold onto it, with clues that, in a fairly straightforward manner (it is a Tuesday), resolve to KEEPYOURSHIRTON, HANGONTOYOURHAT, and TIGHTENYOURBELT. There were a few interesting juxtapositions - 13D, Understanding, KEN, was followed by 18D, What a "Y" with a pair of horizontal lines through it is the symbol of, YEN; and while this is a bit of a stretch, 58D, Clumsy boat, TUB, near 60D, Drinking game?, GIN, might be a refe...
10 Helmi 20219min
Monday, February 8, 2021
A stylish Monday crossword starts our puzzle-solving week. Jean got momentarily got hung up on 5A, The five weekdays, for short, writing MTWRF, rather than the NYTimes officially sanctioned MTWTF, begging the question, what day is T, and how would you interpret TGIT. Mike got hung up on culture -- 1A Actress / TV host _______- Pinkett Smith offered no help, so he turned to 1D, Liz's best friend on "30 Rock", and realized that he would have to let the crosses do the talking (JADA and JEN...
9 Helmi 20219min
Sunday, February 7, 2021
A weally gweat cwossword, with an intewesting theme -- Toddler Talk, to be precise. Jean made short order of this puzzle, as usual; Mike was surprised to discover the existence of SCHWAS, in 107A, Beginning and end of "America"; stunned to discover that KLEES was a real word; and disappointed that his bones didn't come with labels, so that he could've figured out 103D, Hip bone (ILIAC) more quickly. A nice Sunday crossword, we give it a 5 squares on the world-famous (?) JAMCR scale. We love f...
8 Helmi 202110min
Saturday, February 6, 2021
A fairly gentle crossword (for a Saturday): Jean tore through it so quickly her keyboard melted! Some of the clues were quite straightforward (14A, Princess of Monaco, STEPHANIE, and 21D, Give it some time, BEPATIENT). Others were humorous -- 41A, Government program?, THEWESTWING, and 24A, A real tour de force?, STARWARS. Still others required some very specific knowledge, e.g., 16A, ______ Hufflepuff, one of the co-founders of Hogwarts, HELGA, and the novel 50A, Music genre that includes "ge...
7 Helmi 20218min
