Thursday, February 20, 2025 - Oh, *so* close

Today's crossword was a colorful one, well, red, at least, thanks to the theme -- 4 multi-word answers, the first word of which could be preceded by LITTLERED, as in 17A, Educated, but not streetwise, BOOKSMART, as in LITTLEREDBOOK (as in Mao's bestseller). Mike had a spot of difficulty, uncertain of and therefore focused on 11D, Judicial capital of Bolivia, SUCRE, whereas his real error was 62D, Cheese coating, WAX (not WAC, which would be simply, well, whack). Jean breezed through t...

11 Aug 202116min

A slightly more difficult Monday than usual -- crunchier, as they say -- but that's to be expected when Alex Eaton-salners is at the helm. You know that trouble's ahead when one of the first clues, 2D, Wake-up calls played on bugles, REVEILLES, requires that you spell REVEILLES. Not too long after, 20A, Spiral shapes, HELICES, requires that you recollect that long-ago-or-possibly-never-even-happened English class where you learned that the plural of HELIX is HELICES. Yikes! So, a tough Monday...

10 Aug 20217min

Today's crossword puzzle was ... a puzzle, literally, with 5 shaded areas that when fitted together spelled out that homage to Kodak (maybe), PICTUREPERFECTMOMENTS. There was not a lot of humor in the clues, but 74A, Beehives, but not hornets' nests, UPDOS, and 100A, Songs that can be trilling, ARIAS, were noteworthy. There was a lot to like in today's oeuvre, so to get the full 411, download and listen up! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Dro...

9 Aug 202112min

There are many reasons to love today's crossword, and a new world's record for use of words containing GHTs is not the least of them. With a minimum of cultural references (Mike's bane), and the pun-meter dialed up to 11, it was one of those puzzles that starts of as Impossible and then ... well for many people it stays there's but if you're lucky, well-rested, and have been doing these crosswords for a while you can coerce it to yield its secrets. Nice job, Adam Aaronson, we give your ...

8 Aug 202116min

Both Jean and Mike had issues with today's crossword - Jean missed class the day they covered the moons of Saturn (41D, Moon of Saturn, TETHYS), and Mike is utterly convinced that the only true 23D, Director Cameron, is JAMES Cameron (not CROWE). They also are convinced that an 's' made a break for it in 49D, Just deserts, DUE. Apart from this, the crossword felt like, well, a Friday -- and we give it a 4 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love li...

7 Aug 202114min

Today's crossword involves two animals, both clued as Hybrid creature of myth, that are either ancient and indeed mythical or possibly escapees from S.T.A.R. labs: MERMAID and CENTAUR. And these are central to today's theme, details of which Jean spells out in her inimitable style in today's episode. Beyond that, there were some very clever clues, Jean's favorite, 55A, Where you might search for a lead?, IMDB, and Mike's favorite, 57D, Maneuverable, in nautical lingo, YAR (mainly becaus...

6 Aug 202111min

In today's episode, Jean talked about the ARTE of crossword solving, Mike reflects on a Donkey Kong called ACE, and both discuss the possibility of FGOTUS. All that and more awaits, so just 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 there and strike up a conversation!

5 Aug 20218min

A technical tour de force by Trip Payne, who managed to CORNERTHEMARKET on cool themes this week, by placing permutations of THEMARKET in the corners of the grid. (Be sure and check it out on xwordinfo.com if you haven't solved it yourself). In other news, Mike goes down in flames in Triplet Tuesday, but Phoenix-like, emerges from the ashes to ... well, to complete the podcast. Details within; download and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! ...

4 Aug 202111min