Friday, August 21, 2020

This was a challenging crossword for both cohosts, as both -- solving independently as is their custom -- ended up in the same area of the grid, temporary waylaid by the crossing of 40A, The Brady household, including Alice, e.g., ENNEAD, and 29D, "The Fall of the House of Usher" actress ___ Miller, TNIA. In the end, though, Jean managed to get through this crossword LIKEABOSS; Mike was more like a JUNIORDEPUTYUNDERSECRETARY 😀 Show note imagery: An ENNEAD of Egyptian deities. We love fe...

8 Nov 202512min

For you polyglots out there, the NYTimes has written a love letter, cleverly disguised as a crossword -- today's, to be precise, a magnificent opus by Sam Brody. For the rest of us, the crossword was (for reasons that will be come clear once you've heard the podcast and/or seen the completed grid) a lot more challenging, which means, of course, a lot more fun. We adored this, Sam's third NYTimes crossword since June (!), and are delighted to bestow upon it a très bon 5 squares on the JAMCR sc...

7 Nov 202512min

The first author of today's crossword, Chad Hazen, had over 40 rejections before finally getting a crossword published -- but when he did get it published it was in the New York Times, so there is that. He was aided in his efforts by legendary crossword constructor Jeff Chen, an ideal person to have your six when the crossword deities conspire against you. We have all the deets on today's crossword inside, so have a listen, and please let others know about us on social media. Show note imager...

6 Nov 202513min

This was a debut crossword by Patrick Hayden, and a very nice one, to boot. The theme was sly, and the author has a knack for writing novel clues for common answers. We covered many of them in the podcast, but we admired many more. For instance, we had 58A, What you eat, DIET; 52D, Metaphor for a bad goalie, SIEVE (awesome!); and 61D, Start of a bray, HEE (hee, hee). Also, we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the presence of both 38A, Wood-cutting tool, ADZ, and 63D, Highlights of th...

5 Nov 202515min

If you fear crosswords with large swathes of white squares, infrequently interrupted by a black square or two (and psychiatrists have a technical name for that: "normal"), you might want to give this crossword a bye. But if you do so, be warned: you'll be missing out on one of the best Sunday crosswords of the year, courtesy of Rafael Musa (adeptly edited, as always, by Will Shortz). While that might sound like a bold assessment, the proof's not only in the pudding, it's in the podcast; so ha...

3 Nov 20258min

This was a sweet Saturday crossword by Michael Lieberman, filled with his characteristically witty, and fresh clueing. We've covered the best in the podcast, but we also were enamored with 37D, Atypical, to Antonius, RARA; 24D, Settled a debt reluctantly, PONIEDUP 🐎; and 51D, One direction, EAST 😁. Show note imagery: An AGOUTI, looking for some Brazil nuts to pulverize We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, ...

2 Nov 202516min

As we sidle up to the most challenging crossword of the week, aka Saturday, we expect the opening act -- Friday -- to help get us in the right frame of mind. Friday does not disappoint, as there were oodles of tricky (theme-free) clues to contend with. For instance, 34D, A smartphone has many of these, USES (ah, not APPS, got it!); 38D, The U.A.E. is in it, OPEC (rather than ASIA, fine); and the informative 37D, Island home of what may be the world's oldest living olive tree (2,000+ years), C...

1 Nov 20256min

If you needed to be reminded that the scariest day of the year is coming up tomorrow; and if yesterday's crossword didn't drive the stake (er, point) home, then today's surely will. Between the OREOS, bat(omorph)s and witches in the grid, and the suspiciously large number of pumpkins one is likely to encounter in the street, it is clear that Halloween is drawing nigh. What is also clear is that this was a fabulous crossword, brimming with great clues like 42A, Desirable Vegas couple? ACES; 69...

31 Okt 202516min