Friday, February 5, 2021
Uh, oh, it's an Erik Agard Friday puzzle - red alert! Dictionaries and thesauri up! Jean was highly impressed with the look of the grid (and you can see it, as usual, at xwordinfo.com). Mike was more impressed with the difficulty: he had to scan so far down the list of clues to find one that he could answer that he inadvertently rolled into Thursday! There were a few outre clues - 38A, Product from Bevel or Oui the People, RAZOR; 31D, Language in which you might be greeted "Hullo, hoo are ye?...
6 Feb 202117min
Thursday, February 4, 2021
A very colorful and melodic Thursday crossword, with rebuses containing Green, Yellow, Black, and White, all parts of song titles. There were oldies -- like 32A. 1966 hit by the Rolling Stones, PAINTITBLACK, 61A, 1966 hit by the Beatles, YELLOWSUBMARINE, and much more modern fare, like 38D, 2017 hit by Cardi B, BODAKYELLOW. Jean worked expeditiously through the puzzle, while Mike, despite momentarily confusing JOHNDEERE with JOHNDENVER, and KODAK with BODAK, managed to turn in a v...
5 Feb 20219min
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
A crossword in honor of 35A, Civil rights icon who led a historic march from Selma to Montgomery on 3/7/1965, JOHNLEWIS. Four clues celebrated the great man's life, including a truly iconic phrase, 58A, Oxymoronic coinage of 35-Across, GOODTROUBLE. There were some amusing non-theme related clues of note, including 14A, Unit of courage?, OUNCE, and the somewhat curiously clued 41D, Utters a sound, informally, SAYSBOO: to which we will not say BOOHOO, because this crossword made us smile. We lo...
4 Feb 20217min
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Jean tore through today's crossword so quickly her computer almost overheated, while Mike ... got through it, although he had some issues at the junction of 17D, Financial expert Suze, ORMAN, and 20A, Riddle-me-________, REE, which to him still sounds like a typo (although of course it is not: the New York Times crossword quality control is legendary). There were a few TIL (Today-I-Learned) moments, including 1A, ________ Garden, London district know for diamond trading, HATTON, 30A, Je...
3 Feb 202113min
Monday, February 1, 2021
A fine Monday crossword, and.a great start to Black History Month, with appearances by Malcom X, Wiz Khalifa, Marvin Gaye and the Black Eyed Peas. A few educational clues were scattered throughout, for instance, 47A, ________ Trench (deepest point on earth), MARIANAS, 27D, Fifth-most-common family name in China, CHEN, and the curious 36D, Circular windows, OCULI. We rate it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a...
2 Feb 20218min
Sunday, January 31, 2021
A nice way to wrap up the week and the month, with a clever crossword by Jim Hilger -- all about product (mis)placement. Several common phrases had a noun replaced by a product -- for instance, 38A, Reason that the prestigious scientific journal refuses articles from President Herbert's relatives?, NATUREABHORSAHOOVER, and 97A Adding a historic ship as a deal sweetener, THROWINGINTHEBOUNTY. Very nice! Remember, if you want to subscribe to the New York Times crossword, you can do so right her...
1 Feb 202111min
Saturday, January 30, 2021
We weren't quite PASTED by Nam Jin Yoon's Saturday spectacular, but it definitely took a while for us to GETGOING on this one, as there were a lot of tricky (and fascinating) clues. The winner in that category was surely 32D, Amphibian that Ogden Nash once rhymed with "bottle", AXOLOTL, with honorable mention going to 19D, Holding up the line for?, CUING. There were quite a few new-to-us names -- 46D, Actress Rowlands, GENA, 19A, "Between the World and Me" author, 2015, COATES, and 34D, Milan...
31 Jan 202113min
Friday, January 29, 2021
The phrase, "a Robyn Weintraub crossword is a thing of beauty" has not made it into common speech yet, but it should, because her crosswords really are extraordinary. Consider just a few splendid examples -- 14A, Choice for those eager to retire and travel?, SLEEPERCAR, or 12A, Union deserters, EXES, or 51A, State in which you might get a tax deduction, PARENTHOOD. Brilliant, the lot of them! We give this an enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Remember that you can see the solved cros...
30 Jan 202111min
