Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Today's crossword was not quite as difficult as yesterday's -- what is? -- but it still had some tough spots. The author set the tone right out of the gate with 1A, Muhammad Ali was one, famously, TRASHTALKER (not, as both Jean & Mike independently guessed, DRAFTDODGER). Right beneath it was another poser, 15A, Animal that produces eggs once a year, EASTERBUNNY (nice one!). And Mike's favorite, 58A, It flies around Florence, ITALIANFLAG (another gem). That's just a taste -- for the...

21 Maalis 202120min

A Saturday-level crossword has lost its way, and accidentally wandered into Friday territory. That's the only explanation for this epic challenge by Kameron Austin Collins, with lots of "crunchy" entries throughout the entire grid. Jean had a spot of bother with 14A, "This has gotta be a trick, but ...", OKAYILLBITE, initially writing OKIWILLBITE. Mike discovered that BURKA can also be spelled as in the answer to 46D, Head-to-toe garment, BURQA, and that supplied the answer to 60A, As, QUA (y...

20 Maalis 202116min

A one-for-the-ages crossword -- everyone's going to remember where they were when they solved it (or broke their computer/iPad/iPhone out of frustration because the "solved" crossword wouldn't indicate that they'd succeeded). The revealer was 3 stepped answers -- MUCHADO ABOUT NOTHING The crossword had a series of circled squares, forming circles or ovals: those circles/ovals spelled out various synonyms for ADO -- FRACAS, STIR, RUMPUS, etc.. Inside those ci...

19 Maalis 202120min

There seems to be a lot of men hanging around in today's puzzle: 43D, 1967 hit that starts "Well, my pad is very messy and there's whiskers on my chin", IMAMAN; 40A, Only United Nations member whose name starts with "O", OMAN; 46A, Heaven-sent food, MANNA; and 46D, Salvador Dali contemporary, MANRAY. There were also some very clever themed clues, such as 17A, If you think actors have two left feet, you haven't seen ________, TEDDANSON (nice!). and 52A, If you think economists don't lose...

18 Maalis 20218min

An errific crossword for an uesday, with an interesting heme that revolved around ICEDTEA. Both Jean and Mike found the hardest of the 4 themed answers to be 51A, Lumberjacks in unsafe working conditions, AXDODGERS; both initially and independently thought it to be AXDANGERS, mistakingly answering 44D, ________ touch, as IPAD, rather than IPOD, and stumbling over 49D, Strong aversions, writing ONIUMS rather than ODIUMS. How odious! For Tip Tuesday, Jean points out the wonders of crosswordese...

17 Maalis 202113min

Have you ever looked really closely at the MEXICANFLAG? If not, no worries, because Philip K. Chow got there first, and took notes -- it turns out to have a GOLDENEAGLE, a PRICKLYPEAR, and a RATTLESNAKE. Several other Mexican-themed clues/answers make an appearance - 21A, Hombre, is MAN, and 26D, They get smashed at parties, PINATAS, to name two. Other than that, listen on for some interesting discussion of abbr's, the proper pronunciation of PINATAS, and Mike's absolutely basele...

16 Maalis 20219min

Happy Pi Day! Today's crossword was not as easy as that, though -- there were quite a few tricky clues, and the theme -- 101A, Satirical cartoonist, born 3/13/1921, known for dreaming up ridiculous inventions ... or are they?, ALJAFFEEOFMADMAGAZINE -- really didn't help with any of the related themed answers (although it was certainly interesting to learn all the inventions that the great man had dreamt up). So, a "crunchy" Sunday puzzle, as they say -- we still give it a 5 squares on the JAM...

15 Maalis 20215min

A solid Saturday by veteran crossword constructor John Guzzetta, with a particularly knotty nattick at the junction of 25D, Is lachrymose, and 40A, "Young Man With a Skull" painter. The answers were WEEPS and HALS, although for those unfamiliar with the artist and wobbly when it comes to grammar, WEEPY and HALY are perfectly understandable. As your registered gramma might've said, gramma(r) matters. Listen on to hear all the details, and as always, we love to get feedback -- crosswordpodcast...

14 Maalis 202111min