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
Friday, February 5, 2021
Uh, oh, it's an Erik Agard Friday puzzle - red alert! Dictionaries and thesauri up! Jean was highly impressed with the look of the grid (and you can see it, as usual, at xwordinfo.com). Mike was more impressed with the difficulty: he had to scan so far down the list of clues to find one that he could answer that he inadvertently rolled into Thursday! There were a few outre clues - 38A, Product from Bevel or Oui the People, RAZOR; 31D, Language in which you might be greeted "Hullo, hoo are ye?...
6 Helmi 202117min
Thursday, February 4, 2021
A very colorful and melodic Thursday crossword, with rebuses containing Green, Yellow, Black, and White, all parts of song titles. There were oldies -- like 32A. 1966 hit by the Rolling Stones, PAINTITBLACK, 61A, 1966 hit by the Beatles, YELLOWSUBMARINE, and much more modern fare, like 38D, 2017 hit by Cardi B, BODAKYELLOW. Jean worked expeditiously through the puzzle, while Mike, despite momentarily confusing JOHNDEERE with JOHNDENVER, and KODAK with BODAK, managed to turn in a v...
5 Helmi 20219min
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
A crossword in honor of 35A, Civil rights icon who led a historic march from Selma to Montgomery on 3/7/1965, JOHNLEWIS. Four clues celebrated the great man's life, including a truly iconic phrase, 58A, Oxymoronic coinage of 35-Across, GOODTROUBLE. There were some amusing non-theme related clues of note, including 14A, Unit of courage?, OUNCE, and the somewhat curiously clued 41D, Utters a sound, informally, SAYSBOO: to which we will not say BOOHOO, because this crossword made us smile. We lo...
4 Helmi 20217min
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Jean tore through today's crossword so quickly her computer almost overheated, while Mike ... got through it, although he had some issues at the junction of 17D, Financial expert Suze, ORMAN, and 20A, Riddle-me-________, REE, which to him still sounds like a typo (although of course it is not: the New York Times crossword quality control is legendary). There were a few TIL (Today-I-Learned) moments, including 1A, ________ Garden, London district know for diamond trading, HATTON, 30A, Je...
3 Helmi 202113min
Monday, February 1, 2021
A fine Monday crossword, and.a great start to Black History Month, with appearances by Malcom X, Wiz Khalifa, Marvin Gaye and the Black Eyed Peas. A few educational clues were scattered throughout, for instance, 47A, ________ Trench (deepest point on earth), MARIANAS, 27D, Fifth-most-common family name in China, CHEN, and the curious 36D, Circular windows, OCULI. We rate it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a...
2 Helmi 20218min
Sunday, January 31, 2021
A nice way to wrap up the week and the month, with a clever crossword by Jim Hilger -- all about product (mis)placement. Several common phrases had a noun replaced by a product -- for instance, 38A, Reason that the prestigious scientific journal refuses articles from President Herbert's relatives?, NATUREABHORSAHOOVER, and 97A Adding a historic ship as a deal sweetener, THROWINGINTHEBOUNTY. Very nice! Remember, if you want to subscribe to the New York Times crossword, you can do so right her...
1 Helmi 202111min
