Tuesday, October 3, 2023 - Snakes on a plane? No, in the grid!
A surprisingly slithery Tuesday, thanks to the arrival, in the grid, of a den of members of the order squamata, aka snakes. Both Jean and Mike found the crossword to be a bit crunchier than usual for a Tuesday, possibly a side effect of having to get all those squamata into the right squares. All in all, though, it was an impressive feat of cruciverbial legerdemain, and as such worthy of a full 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love liste...
4 Okt 202313min
Monday, October 2, 2023 - The Argos of crosswords 👀
Argos, you may recall, if you happen to be particularly long lived and/or well read, was a giant, Hera's servant, and a particularly good watcher, thanks to a surplus of eyes, at least 100. This crossword doesn't have quite that many, but as you'll hear in today's podcast, Alexandria Mason, the constructor of today's fine puzzle, managed to work in a surprising number. In other news, we have some awesome listener mail, and are pleased to announce our next Triplet Tuesday Contest, on Oct...
3 Okt 202312min
Sunday, October 1, 2023 - And the Oscar goes to ... Jeffrey Lease!?!
An award winning Sunday crossword, with movies that -- even if you don't go to movies -- you will (almost) surely know. But you probably don't know them in their present form, and it is a delight to see in just how many ways a movie title can be punned / rebussed -- Jeffrey Lease seems to know all of them. More deets inside, so please ... subscribe / download / listen / laugh / learn. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodca...
2 Okt 202316min
Saturday, September 30, 2023 - Like SPUMONI, this crossword had many layers 😀
A challenging Saturday crossword, Jean in particular had to take a stroll through her vast mind palace in order to get through today's puzzle, whereas Mike had to rely on what is, alas, not so much a mind palace as a mind broom closet in order to seize victory from the jaws of cruciverbial defeat. We liked this crossword a lot, and for that reason unreservedly award it our highest rating, 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Speaking of award, today's JAMCOTWA -- Jean And Mike Crossword...
1 Okt 202320min
Friday, September 29, 2023 - Beware the SUNDAYSCARIES!
A delightful Friday crossword by Malaika Handa, with some familiar clues, but not many, as befits a Friday. Some of our favorites include the most excellent 12A, Illegal product that's still made?, MOONSHINE (ha!); the mysterious 22D, Go into one's "phone voice", say, CODESWITCH (huh!); and the rarely seen (at least in crosswords!) 27D, Form of protest for tenants, RENTSTRIKE (hmmm). A fine crossword, 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and our heartiest congratulations to Malaika on this, her 4th ...
30 Sep 202319min
Thursday, September 28, 2023 - The key point about today's crossword involves ... keys!
Once again the NYTimes crossword typesetters are pushing the envelope, today by working musical staffs into the clues. They did a great job (er, except on the iPhone, where the staffs appeared as black rectangles 😱), and all in a good cause, the theme. We don't want to give away too much -- check out today's episode for the full deets -- but we will say that this crossword is definitely in the running for a JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award), which will be announced, as usua...
29 Sep 202319min
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - NOAMCHOMSKY weighs in on "colorless green ideas" -- we kid you not!
It is reasonable to assume that any crossword that works NOAMCHOMSKY into the grid and the theme is going to be deep, and we're talking Mariana Trench complexity here, thanks to a splendid work by Scott Koenig. Deets inside, as well as some insightful listener mail about Lyme, CT and why you should visit -- so have a listen, and, as usual, let us know what you think! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we...
28 Sep 202316min
Tuesday, September 26, 2023 - The McDonald's app better have a HAMBURGERMENU 😀
For those of you who have been hoarding tech terms like they're going out of style (which being tech terms, they will), now's your chance to haul them out, and for a good cause: to solve a great puzzle by Shannon Rapp (her debut!) and Rebecca Goldstein (her 10th, or in binary, 1010!). A fine Tuesday, clearly worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. 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, s...
27 Sep 202320min
