Thursday, January 22, 2026 - Joe DiPietro pulls out all the stops 😀 🚦
If somebody has published 142 crosswords in the NYTimes, there's gotta be a reason ... and today's GUCCI crossword reminds us why Joe DiPietro gets published over and over again. It has an awesome theme, and nougat-like clues: tough to crack, but delicious on the inside. In addition to our analysis of today's puzzle, we also have some terrific listener mail. So, to take advantage of all that goodness, just hit subscribe (so you never miss an episode!), download, and enjoy! Show note imagery: ...
23 Jan 22min
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - NIHAO, y'all! 🙄
Today's crossword, a collaboration between Ginny Too and Avery Gee Katz, had scads of splendid clues. In addition to those mentioned in today's podcast, we also were amused (and at times bemused) by 64D, The Three Kingdoms in Chinese history, e.g., ERA; 61A, Opportunity to dress up, OCCASION; and 31D, Let float, as a currency, UNPEG. Show note imagery: Promo for The GREATESCAPE. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.co...
22 Jan 14min
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 - HELLO, Hello, hello, he ...
This was a debut crossword by Jonathan Raksin and an auspicious start to what we hope will be a lucrative crossword-writing career. The theme was a hoot, and the supporting cast of clues played their roles to perfection. Hence our official (non-Yelp) review: 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Being Tuesday, we have, naturally, a Triplet Tuesday™️ segment, and this time Jean is playing the role of inquisitor with Mike, by process of elimination, the inquisitee. Deets within. Show note imagery: WAWA...
21 Jan 15min
Monday, January 19, 2026 - This crossword was capital!
Peter Gorman has produced his third NYTimes crossword since February of last year, each on a different day of the week, which is quite 62D, Chilly, COOL. We had several celebrities in the grid — 37A, Cosmonaut Gagarin, YURI; 41A, R&B singer whose album "SOS" spent 100+ weeks in the Billboard top 10, SZA; and from a slightly more distant epoch, 58D, Biblical ark builder, NOAH. Being Monday, we have a JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) to announce, and the award goes to ...
20 Jan 12min
Sunday, January 18, 2026 - ¡Hola, MAMI! 😘
This was an excellent crossword by Rena Cohen, a Washington University in St. Louis student. If the university sounds familiar, that might be because another NYTimes crossword contributor, Sid Sivakumar, also hails from there. What are the odds? And we'll leave it to the reader to contemplate whether the appearance of 77A, Sloth in 2002's "Ice Age", SID, is coincidence or the result of meticulous planning. Today's puzzle had a brilliant theme (covered thoroughly in today's episode) and many, ...
19 Jan 17min
Saturday, January 17, 2026 - This crossword wasn't merely MKAY, it was parfait 😀 🤣
This was a fun Saturday crossword, which one of our cohosts (Jean) found to be an easy solve whereas the other (by process of elimination, Mike) found to be deucedly difficult. The reasons for both may be found on today's podcast. A few other artfully-crafted clues that were left on the editing room floor* include 6D, ___ Carlos Jobim, father of the bossa nova, ANTONIO (careful: the music is uber-soothing); 52A, Bracket contents, TEAMS (oh, those kinds of brackets); and 39A, Artificially unso...
17 Jan 12min
Friday, January 16, 2026 - All hail APOLLOVII!! 🚀 🧑🏼🚀
This was a great cruciverbial workout by Kyle T. Dolan, whose crosswords tend to be on the challenging side, with 11 of his 19 NYTimes puzzles appearing on Friday or Saturday. The clues today were deviously clever, yet oddly obvious in hindsight. We have all the deets inside, plus a Fun Fact Friday™️ segment celebrating one of the great leviathans of the deep (but no, not that leviathan, the other one 😉). Show note imagery: From l. to r., APOLLOVII astronauts Donn Eisele, Wally Schirra,...
17 Jan 18min
Thursday, January 15, 2026 - Are you fazed by FAZING? Fear not — it's only a phase 🙄😀
Today's crossword, a collaboration between Wendy L. Brandes and Barbara Lin, had an awesome theme that both cohosts temporarily missed in distinct and rather amusing ways that we will not describe here, so as to mildly increase suspense as you wait for the episode to download. While that is happening we would also like to draw your attention to 58D, Where the coffee and Wi-Fi might both be strong, CAFE 😀; 13D, Actor John who has granted more than 650 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, CEN...
16 Jan 16min
