Sunday, August 15, 2021 - Carl Sagan, Our Hero!
Double, double, toil and trouble refers not only to a witch's spell, but also to this crossword, which caused a lot of toil and trouble -- specifically at the junction of 6A, Sarcastic internet laughter, LOLZ, and 9D, Star man?, ZAGAT; both Jean and Mike (working independently, as always) decided that the answers should be LOLS and SAGAN. The authors of the crossword, Aimee Lucido and Ella Dershowitz, begged to differ, and did. Still, apart from that wee little natick the crossword was fine, ...
16 Elo 202115min
Saturday, August 14, 2021 - THATHURT 😀
The misdirections were flying fast and furious in today's epic by Nam Jin Yoon. Consider 48A, Marvel producer, MIRACLEWORKER, not KEVINFEIGE (it doesn't fit, and Marvel ≠ MARVEL). Right above that, 45A, Background for someone who's good with numbers, MUSICALTHEATER (!), and 34A, Star clusters?, FANBASES (!!). One of those classic Saturday puzzles that requires all neurons on deck, so to speak, we give this an exhausted and exhilarated 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send...
15 Elo 202114min
Friday, August 13, 2021 - The Lucky Crossword
Jean found today's crossword to be a bit of a slog, but Mike (surprisingly) cruised through it in excellent time, although it was touch-and-go at the beginning. There were a lot of amusing clues in today's offering, such as 26D, Traffic directors?, CONES, 51A, That's a wrap!, SARAN, and 61A, Person who is willfully alone, SOLEHEIR. If these didn't bring a smile to your face, then 4D, Revolutionary inventions in the culinary world?, ROTISSERIEOVENS, will surely leave you ROTFL. In today...
14 Elo 202115min
Thursday, August 12, 2021 - A Slight Misunderstanding
HOHO, another exciting crossword from Jake Halperin (with, we presume, a dollop of assistance from Will Shortz), who CALLSITLIKEITIS, calling a spade a spade, and a funny bone a FUNNYNERVE -- because that's what, it turns out, it really is. There are three other misnomers that he lays to rest in this fine bit of gridsmanship: to find out what they are (among other things), download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswor...
13 Elo 20218min
Wednesday, August 11, 2021 - Oh that face!
Today’s crossword featured a fine example of grid art — a face that definitely HADABLANKLOOK, and SHOWEDNOEMOTION - which coincidentally is what Jean & Mike look like when they have their puzzle-solving faces on. Apart from the Mona Lisa-like grid, there were some interesting answers: 56A, Brand with the record for a single car driven the most miles (3+ million and counting), VOLCO (huh!); 5D, Pennsylvania petroleum center, once, OILCITY (natch!), and 30D, It’s been known to chase Wild T...
12 Elo 202113min
Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - All CHARGEDUP
Today's crossword was a colorful one, well, red, at least, thanks to the theme -- 4 multi-word answers, the first word of which could be preceded by LITTLERED, as in 17A, Educated, but not streetwise, BOOKSMART, as in LITTLEREDBOOK (as in Mao's bestseller). Mike had a spot of difficulty, uncertain of and therefore focused on 11D, Judicial capital of Bolivia, SUCRE, whereas his real error was 62D, Cheese coating, WAX (not WAC, which would be simply, well, whack). Jean breezed through t...
11 Elo 202116min
Monday, August 9, 2021 - From the LOWLANDS to the HIGHSEAS
A slightly more difficult Monday than usual -- crunchier, as they say -- but that's to be expected when Alex Eaton-salners is at the helm. You know that trouble's ahead when one of the first clues, 2D, Wake-up calls played on bugles, REVEILLES, requires that you spell REVEILLES. Not too long after, 20A, Spiral shapes, HELICES, requires that you recollect that long-ago-or-possibly-never-even-happened English class where you learned that the plural of HELIX is HELICES. Yikes! So, a tough Monday...
10 Elo 20217min
Sunday, August 8, 2021 - Five Easy (?) Pieces
Today's crossword puzzle was ... a puzzle, literally, with 5 shaded areas that when fitted together spelled out that homage to Kodak (maybe), PICTUREPERFECTMOMENTS. There was not a lot of humor in the clues, but 74A, Beehives, but not hornets' nests, UPDOS, and 100A, Songs that can be trilling, ARIAS, were noteworthy. There was a lot to like in today's oeuvre, so to get the full 411, download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Dro...
9 Elo 202112min
