Thursday, July 1, 2021
The constructor of today's crossword, Joe Deeney, had one big idea, and ran with it -- omit the word BIG from a series of answers, and then expand the word that followed into a BIGger font. For instance, 20A, "I can't believe I said that", MEANDMYMOUTH appeared in the grid with MOUTH in a larger than ordinary font. Cute! Jean's favorite clue was 48A, Rhyme for "menorah" in "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah", HORA, while Mike was fond of 33A, Instrument that largely replaced the ophicleide, TUBA (presuma...
2 Jul 202112min
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Happy last day of June! In today's episode, both Jean & Mike resist the urge to break into song when discussing Tommy Tutone's most famous hit, 867-5309/Jenny, the theme of today's crossword. They also ponder the works of Ted CHIANG, the origin story of FIVEGUYS, and the reappearance of the computer that might very well be powering WordPlay's comments, section, the ENIAC. For all this and more, check out today's podcast. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener m...
1 Jul 20218min
Monday, June 28, 2021
If you have a fear of painful (aka good) puns then beware, this crossword is likely to cause nightmares. Exhibit A, 17A, "So this red thing, Mom? This is not good.", BEETREPORT, and exhibit B, 63A, "Wow, Mom, this is like at a restaurant! Dibs on the chocolate pudding!", MOUSSECALL. Ouch! We'd continue with exhibits C and D, but they are likely to trigger SOBS and perhaps an OATH or two: but if you are a glutton for pun-ishment, then download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text......
30 Jun 20218min
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Back in the day, we'd nip in the bud any clues like 55A, "Years ago ....", literally, THEBACKDAY, and 24A, Put an early stop to, literally, THENIPBUD, but fortunately here in 2021 Alan Arbesfeld had no such misgivings, and today's fine crossword -- we rate it a 4.5 on the JAMCR scale -- is the result. Meanwhile, on today's exciting edition of Triplet Tuesday, Mike does a PHIne job (and to understand that last remark, be sure to download and listen up!). We love feedback! Send us a text... Con...
30 Jun 202114min
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Today's crossword is a panoply of colors: if you solve it correctly on an iPad or on the web, the answers RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO and VIOL:ET become appropriately colored. Even more impressively, they are arranged so that they sweep out an arc, like a rainbow, truly a work of art -- if you don't have access to the solution, do check it out at xwordinfo.com. There were several new (to us) clues: 69A, Cal's game-winning kickoff return against Stanford in 1982, familiarly, THEP...
28 Jun 202117min
Saturday, June 26, 2021
The toughest crossword of the week lives up to its reputation, with a stunning array of deceitful clues. Easily the best, and for which the crossword constructors should win either an award or jail time, is 3D, Answer that would be more apt at 10 Down, TOES. What makes this so sneaky is the writing of 10 Down rather than 10-Down. The latter is the NYTimes crossword's convention for clue references: the former, 10 Down, refers to a person's toes. Two other clues of note: 41A, Digital applicati...
27 Jun 202119min
Friday, June 25, 2021
In today's episode, Jean finds today's crossword to be a breeze, while Mike sees it as more of a tempest. Both ponder the meaning of 25A, Spirals out over the winter holidays?, HAMS, and their response is 20A, Acknowledgement with a shrug, WELLOK. In today's Fun Fact Friday segment, we learn about the joys of clerihews. Remember, when listening to this podcast, we recommend you do so with a solved puzzle close at hand. If you don't happen to have one about your person, visit xwordinfo.com, w...
26 Jun 202114min
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Jean makes short order of today's crossword, whereas Mike gets tormented in a TANSY garden, nearly snookered by SNOODS, menaced by MCCOO, and temporarily lured into believing that LECI Eshkol was the third prime minister of Israel (for the record, it was the eminently more plausible LEVI Eshkol who occupied the office). Still it was a great crossword, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line,...
25 Jun 202113min
