Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Jean attempts to set an indoor speed record for the Tuesday crossword, while Mike prefers to saunter his way through the grid. Both finished and lived to tell the tale, which is precisely what they do in today's episode. Also listen for another exciting Triplet Tuesday adventure, with Mike doing the pitching and Jean at bat. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we're on FaceBook, so feel free to drop by th...
23 Jun 202115min
Monday, June 21, 2021
In today's crossword, we get a lesson in knowledge (Jean, discussing 2D, 1950's-60's singer Bobby, DARIN, and the tie-in to the Three Penny Opera), and ignorance (Mike, confessing that he thought 9D, Honorific for Gandhi, MAHATMA was in fact the great leader's first name -- rather than his actual first name, Mohandas). Today's puzzle did have a nice theme to it, 52A, "Let's put things in perspective" ... or a title for this puzzle, ITSALLRELATIVE. For full details, and much more interes...
22 Jun 20219min
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Jean tore through today's crossword like nobody's business. Mike, meanwhile, got through about 2/3 of the grid at a decent clip and then lapsed into slo-mo mode for the remainder, running into a sea of cruciverbal misery bordered between 70D, Like fuschia and turquiose, MISSPELLED (nice!!), and 93D, Raw deal from a restaurant?, CEVICHE. However, this did let him spend quality time with clues like 78A, Actress de Armas writes "Mr. Gas" and "Ms. Rag", ANAANAGRAMSGRAMS, and 112A, Doctor ac...
21 Jun 202117min
Saturday, June 19, 2021
A challenging but fair Saturday crossword, with quite a few "today-I-learned" moments. For example, 10A, "The Metamorphosis" protagonist, SAMSA, the very interesting 15A, Person who will do anything for you, in modern slang, RIDEORDIE (!), 26D, Nintendo offering with more than 10 installments, MARIOPARTY, and the revelation that the answer to 20A, Bridge, e.g., PASTIME, is spelled with only one T. Who knew? Speaking of spelling, 37A, Birthplace of Ivan Turgenev, OREL, is spelled ORYOL accordi...
20 Jun 202114min
Friday, June 18, 2021
Hopefully the author of today's terrific. crossword, Daniel Larsen, was paid by the letter, because there were a very small number of black squares in today's grid , which featured 7 clues that ran the entire width of the puzzle, and 1 that ran the entire height. At first blush, then, the crossword looked daunting - a sea of white squares - but fortunately (some of) the crosses were merciful. For instance, 46D, Two-legged stand, BIPOD, and 50D, Police dept. alerts, APBS, would be famili...
19 Jun 202113min
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Jean cruised through today's crossword while simultaneously baking cookies, while Mike, unencumbered by food preparation tasks of any sort, took 3x as long to get the job done: we will let you draw your own conclusions about this. Construction-wise, the crossword was a real tour-de-force, with themed answers tracing out the shape of a fish hook, while the letters in the hook themselves formed the names of various fish. Amazing! [If you haven't solved the crossword, stroll over to xwordinfo.c...
18 Jun 202115min
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
There was a lot of misdirection in today's crossword, but that's by design, because the theme was, in fact, a series of movies in which the directions were flipped - 19A, Jim Sheridan gives Daniel Day Lewis nothing to work with in this Irish dramedy (1989), MYRIGHTFOOT, 25A, Rian Johnson helms this snoozer of a whodunit starring Daniel Craig (2019), KNIVESIN, etc. There were some nice clues -- 1D, Item needed for burning, once, BLANKCD, being the standout. and 53D, Monk known as the "Father o...
17 Jun 202110min
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Apparently the use of "dog" as slang for foot hearkens back to at least 1913, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Mike discovered it 108 years later, during today's podcast, so ... better late than never. In other parts of the grid, Apple tech once again makes an appearance ( 7D, iPad ________ , MINI), and U-Haul also pops up (a much rarer event), in the clever clue 26D, Rental with 10-, 15-, 17-, 20- and 26-foot sizes, UHAUL. It's Triplet Tuesday, and in today's excitin...
16 Jun 202112min
