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
Monday, June 14, 2021
Hold the (homo)phone, it turns out there are a multitude of ways to pronounce WAY -- WHEY, as in 20A, Food for Little Miss Muffet, CURDSANDWHEY, WEI, as in 31A, Chinese dissident artist, AIWEIWEI, WEIGH, as in that toe-tapper from the US Navy, 36A, U. S. Naval Academy anthem, ANCHORSAWEIGH, and finally WAY, from the second greatest musical hook of all time, 54A, Breakup song by Fleetwood Mac, GOYOUROWNWAY. [And for details of the greatest musical hook of all time, just download and listen up....
15 Jun 20218min
Sunday, June 13, 2021
How's it going, eh? And if that question resonated, then you might be in a good position to tackle today's crossword, which celebrated all things Canadian. For example ... 19D, Program introduced by the Trudeau government in 1984, colloquially, FREEHEALTHCARE, 104A, Six-time winner of the N.H.L.'s Art Ross Trophy, born in Saskatchewan, GORDIEHOWE, and 16D, Seasonal destination near Quebec City, WINTERICEHOTEL. All of this led to the witty revealer, 76A, Like all the answers with pairs o...
14 Jun 202114min
Saturday, June 12, 2021
A gentler Saturday crossword, because not all Saturday's have to be Thanos-like (and it's only a matter of time before that Marvel villain makes it into the New York Times crossword, you heard it here first 😀). There were some "today-I-learned" moments scattered throughout the grid, such as 13D, What those with protanomaly have difficulty seeing, RED, 22A, Prefix with -graph, TRI, and 31D, Fruit that's a major Chinese export, PERSIMMON. Mike's favorite clue was, 37D, Obelix's friend in ...
13 Jun 20215min
Friday, June 11, 2021
An excellent Friday crossword, lots of ingenious and crisply crafted clues. Exhibit A, 39D, Long divisions?, AISLES, and 52A, They may have lots of steps, STAIRWELLS (a nice bit of indirection). Today's puzzle was also, as all good crosswords are, a learning experience: 5A, First country to discover water on the moon, INDIA; 11D, Many a farmer's market attendee, LOCAVORE (wow!); and 30A, "Rabbits" in a race, PACESETTERS, which forms the basis of today's Fun Fact Friday segment. We love fe...
12 Jun 202115min
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Today's crossword includes a novel, or at least very rare, theme, in which the clues lead to answers that similar to common phrases, except the "air" sound in the last word has been replaced with an "or" sound. For instance (because this definitely needs an example), 17A, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael?, RENAISSANCEFOUR (as opposed to RENAISSANCEFAIR). Jean was temporarily slowed down by 61A, Legendary queen once depicted on Tunisian currency, DIDO, initially writing (perhap...
11 Jun 202112min
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
You might want to be sitting down for this podcast ... but if you're not, fear not, because the crossword theme is, basically, things that you can sit upon, (BACKSEATDRIVER, COUCHPOTATO, etc.). There were not a lot of verbal fireworks in today's grid, although it did have 24A, Glistens with shimmering colors, IRIDESCES (from a Greek word meaning you'll never be able to spell this); 21D, De-tailed detail?, SPEC, deserves mention, and the crossing of 27D, Nobel prize winner of 1903 and 19...
10 Jun 202111min
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
It's amazing what an opportunely placed H can do to a phrase -- and Christopher Adams demonstrates this not just once or twice, but *four* times, taking common phrases, and tossing in an H to get a punderfully amusing answer. There was a lot of pop culture in today's crossword. This fazed Jean not at all, but Mike got temporarily natticked at the corner of 1D, "The Open Window" story writer, SAKI, and 17A, Actress Russell, KERI, knowing neither: only by walking through the alphabet did he eve...
9 Jun 202113min
