Friday, May 28, 2021

There were plenty of fireworks in this New Year's Eve crossword, some sparkling clues, and some brilliant answers (as always). Jean tore through it in good time, Mike took it a bit more sedately but still managed to emerge victorious. For all the deets, and a fascinating fun fact for Fun Fact Friday, download and listen up. 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 the...

1 Jan 202210min

On this New Year's Eve Eve, we have a fine crossword by John Ewbank -- starting with that always tricky question when it comes to 1A, Flatbread from India -- is it NAAN or ROTI? (today it's ROTI) all the way to the slippery 68A, Coaster, SLED. Jean had to dig for the answer to 39A, Sounder, SANER, while Mike felt slightly vertiginous parsing 52D, Have because of, OWETO -- but fortunately he always solves crosswords sitting down, and recovered quickly. We love feedback! Send us a text......

31 Des 20218min

The perfect Wednesday crossword -- fun theme, some slightly tricky and in some cases LOL clues, who could ask for anything more? To find out precisely why it deserves all this praise, you know what to do -- download and listen up! A reminder that these podcasts are easier to follow if you have the solved crossword in hand. If you don't, wander over to xwordinfo.com to see the clues and completed grid -- and tell 'em Jean & Mike sent ya! We love feedback! Send us a text... Con...

30 Des 202110min

Opinions are divided on today's crossword - Jean thought it fine, and tore through it in about 7 minutes, whereas Mike didn't even understand the theme, and only managed to eke out a victory by channeling his deep knowledge of Cuban dance moves. In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday, so to hear Jean strut her stuff, intellectually speaking, all you need to do is download and listen up. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcas...

29 Des 202112min

Adam Aaronson apparently looked within for inspiration, because today's grid is chock-full of answers that start with AA. If we were to grade this puzzle then, we'd definitely have to give it an A ... and then another A ... in short, an AA!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 there and strike up a conversation!

28 Des 20217min

An extra crunchy Sunday crossword, mainly due to a clever theme, recognition of which genuinely helped with the solve. Jean had a little trouble, being a little too HIP when the answer was merely HEP, and Mike struggled at 85D, One hanging around Queen Elizabeth?, trying to fit PRINCECHARLES into an answer that only had room for a solitary PEARL. Still, a goodly Sunday, 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 ...

27 Des 202115min

A tough Saturday crossword: a stack of 3 15-letter answers at the bottom, and a stack of 9-, 11- and 13-letter answers at the top made for a formidable grid. Jean had issues in the top left, and Mike was temporarily enticed into thinking that 1A, Things you might snap on, nowadays, PHOTOAPPS, was PHONEAPPS -- as the crosses for both the T and O were (to him) unknowns. Very sneaky, Mr. Shortz! Still, a good crossword, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Since it's Saturday, that means i...

26 Des 202112min

A festively difficult Christmas Eve crossword -- there was no theme, but a bevy of tricky clues that made this a real challenge. Jean struggled in the top-left, but eventually her NEURALNET helped her figure out 13A, Artificial intelligence system based on the human brain, NEURALNET, as well as the rest of the crossword. Mike got temporarily waylaid in the bottom-right, originally answering 40A, Last _____ as CALL, rather than GASP, and he was getting desperate when, with a GASP, he realized ...

25 Des 202111min