Saturday, May 8, 2025 - Joe Deeney, the Houdini of crossword constructors 🙄😁
Joe Deeney has created a daunting looking Saturday grid -- there are oodles of 4-stack answers, and as an ADDEDBONUS, a pinwheel in the center with very few exits into the rest of the puzzle. The clues were definitely of Saturday calibre. As proof, consider 53D, Arabic man's name meaning "servant of God, ABDI; 30D, Scorching, HOTASHADES; 46A, Antonym of "iie" in Japanes, HAI; and the absolutely fabulous 50D, What's added to one to make zero?, NOTA. In short, a brilliant way to end our crosswo...
9 Mar 6min
Friday, March 7, 2025 - MOVIEMAGIC, on the big screen, and in this tiny grid 😀
Today's crossword was a great mental workout, replete with fine, fabulously deceptive clues -- just the kind that you hope for on a Friday. For example, we had 36A, A real no-name, ANON (of course!); 32A, Darkens in the light, say, TANS (how enlightening); and 49A, Buttery topping for paratha, GHEE (oh, gee 🙄). Those were just a few of the terrific clues in the grid; for more, do check out today's episode! Show note imagery: MOONSTONE, which, name notwithstanding, comes from Sri Lanka a...
8 Mar 9min
Thursday, March 6, 2025 - Three (Slightly Belated) Cheers for ALYRAISMAN! 🤸♀️
At least one of our cohosts wasn't quite on the same wavelength as today's constructor, Kiran Pandey: the clues and answers just felt a wee bit ... out of sync. Still, professional that they were (in terms of determination and ethics, not income), they managed to persevere and get to the happy music. We have all the deets inside, so please have a listen, and, as always, please encourage your friends and relations to do the same. Show note imagery: DOSA, an Indian crepe with chutney. We love f...
7 Mar 19min
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 - Happy ... Halloween??
This was a spookily fun crossword by Rebecca Goldstein, who we are fairly certain won the ORCA Constructor of the Year Award sometime in the not too distant past -- 2024, we read on the internet -- for creating crosswords just like today's. So, to see what it takes to become Constructor of the Year, check out Rebecca's latest and, of course, this episode! Show note imagery: BABKA, fun to say, even more fun to eat! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop u...
6 Mar 13min
Tuesday, March 4, 2025 - Announcing the discovery of the world's first Chameleon Word™️
This was a fine Tuesday-level crossword, the fourth (on the 4th!) for Hanh Huynh. The theme shone, the rest of the fill was quite good, and the end result was, as you will hear in today's episode, highly satisfying. In addition to our usual banter (including the accidental discovery of the world's first chameleon word™️), we also have our Triplet Tuesday™️ segment. This is your chance to test your wits against Jean's, but just know that if Triplet Tuesday ever becomes an olympic sport, ...
5 Mar 17min
Monday, March 3, 2025 - Vroom, vroom!
If you didn't know anything about today's constructor, you'd likely conclude, as did we, that this was a fine Monday crossword. But then, if you discovered that the constructor was 13 years old, you might be tempted to reflect that a) PRODIGY does not often show up in the grid, and b) it certainly applies to Harrison Walden, the aforementioned 13-year-old. In other developments, we have a few pieces of electronic communication to relate, clearing up questions of SAFETY and MADEMEN that ...
4 Mar 8min
Sunday, March 2, 2025 - Today's puzzle, brought to you in Crossword-Color™️🌈 🙄
Even a casual glance at today's grid will reveal that something's up - seven vertical colored lines that, unsurprisingly, play a huge role in today's theme. The cost of that theme was complexity, but both cohosts agreed that it was worth the effort, as the payoff was huge. Deets inside. A reminder that the NYTimes Crossword makes a great present, and helps keep those little grey cells at peak efficiency. To subscribe, just wander over to NYTimes.com/subscriptions/games, where operators (or, m...
3 Mar 22min
Saturday, March 1, 2025 - Hello, March!
March reputedly comes in like a lion, and today's crossword does the same -- parts of it are ferocious, and it seems to have lots of claws. OK, that last bit might not be true, but it certainly was a challenge, especially those clues in the northern areas of the crossword - above the equator, so to speak. But this was a Saturday, and so we expect challenging clues. It was also a Ryan Judge puzzle, and so we expect fabulous clues, and as even a quick listen to today's episode will reveal ... h...
2 Mar 15min
