Thursday, January 21, 2021
It's a twisty, turny crossword, a technical tour de force by Daniel Mauer. Jean solved it, Mike tried to solve it STAT, but did not find it a SNAP, so his streak, once again, DIED, as did, apparently, MRPEANUT (according to 37D, Classic figure, killed off in a 2019 Super Bowl ad campaign). Our latest contest is now ongoing -- if you are the first person to send an email to crosswordpodcast@icloud.com with the subject "Yes, please!" then you will win a one-year subscription to the New Y...
22 Jan 202114min
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Today's crossword was written by Andy Kravis, Natan Last, and the J.A.S.A. Crossword Class, so the adage "too many cooks spoil the broth" does not apply here, since this was a very tasty morsel indeed. Jean tore through it, of course, while Mike panicked while answering 1A, "God is the perfect ______", Robert Browning, writing POEM, thereby leading him to conclude that the answer to 4D, One up, for example, was MIED. Fortunately, the ONEPERCENT of his neurons that were working at this p...
21 Jan 202112min
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
This ingenious crossword really takes the CAKE, and, no, we are not SORRY that we wrote that 😀 Besides the themed clues (two word phrases, both of which could take CAKE as a suffix, e.g., FRUITCUP = FRUITCAKE + CUPCAKE), it had other interesting clues: 62A, World's largest terrestrial arthropod, COCONUTCRAB, the witty 47D, Figure of speech?, ORATOR, and the curious 20A, Case for small toiletries, ETUI. Speaking of which, ETUI and AMAH were Jean's Tip Tuesday tips; Mike sung the praises of th...
20 Jan 202112min
Monday, January 18, 2021
OHO, a themed Monday crossword, that's IDEAL. Although CAIROILLINOIS and HAVANAILLINOIS inexplicably didn't make the cut, DARN, we were glad to see ATHENSGEORGIA. PARISTEXAS, NAPLESFLORIDA and TOLEDOOHIO get their 15 minutes. Sometime this week we will be giving away a year's subscription to the New York Times Crossword, so be sure to keep listening, and be ready, at the drop of a hat, to drop us a line (crosswordpodcast@icloud.com) in order to win. We love feedback! Send us a text... ...
19 Jan 202110min
Sunday, January 17, 2021
This was an AONE crossword, with an iinnteresting tthheme, and a rebus that crammed more letters into a square than there are MESONS in the dot at the end of this sentence. As usual, there were a few surprises for Mike -- 61A, Prominent women's rights lawyer, GLORIAALLRED, and 55D, Lesser Antilles native, CARIB -- that is to say, a human being, not to be confused with a non-human bean, aka CAROB.Sometime this week we'll be offering another chance to win a year's subscription to the New ...
18 Jan 202118min
Saturday, January 16, 2021
It's a Saturday Sam Ezersky puzzle, with 6 LETHALLY long answers, but lots of fun clues to keep you entertained. It starts off brilliantly with 1A, Be in charge ... as a doctor?, CALLTHESHOTS, and 13A, Remains to be seen, MUSEUMEXHIBIT:. The rest of the crossword does not disappoint, either. There are some educational clues -- 22A, Small hybrid instrument with 6 strings, GUITALELE, 43D, Historic town NW of London where some of the Harry Potter series was filmed, BUSHEY, and the terrific 35D, ...
17 Jan 202112min
Friday, January 15, 2021
A great Friday crossword, with lots of punny clues and fun facts (appropriate, since it's Fun Fact Friday). Jean's favorite was 41D, Frost accumulation, POEMS. Mike was fond of 35A, Shower heads, perhaps, MAIDSOFHONOR. Apparently 48A, Complete loss of identity, EGODEATH, is a thing, as is 34D, Fashion designer's portfolio, LOOKBOOK (which Mike had temporarily had as LOOTBOOK, but that turns out to be a Thief's portfolio). This week's fun fact was the origin of UNCLE, which showed up in Wedne...
16 Jan 202113min
Thursday, January 14, 2021
We are INLOVE with this AONE crossword, ITSSAFE to say that it was one of the best puzzles out this year. The theme, SPINTHEBOTTLE, fed into a series of rebuses (rebusi?) that needs to be seen (as it can be, at xwordinfo.com) to be believed. The rest of the crossword was of the same awesome quality, with tight cluing and some interesting new words (we're looking at you, 23D, Relevance of text, in librarian's lingo, ABOUTNESS). All in all, a fabulous piece of work by Aimee Lucido and Ella Der...
15 Jan 202112min
