Wednesday, February 26, 2025 - We long for more crosswords by Dan Caprera 😁

Most of the time the black squares are just standing guard, allowing clues to not run into one another and trigger an Everything, Everywhere, All At Once moment, but not today. In this puzzle, those black squares, so easy to ignore, are absolutely critical to making sense of the grid. We have the complete 411 in today's episode, so we strongly encourage you to subscribe (so you'll never miss an episode!), download, listen and enjoy! Just a reminder that our Triplet Tuesday Contest winne...

17 Feb 202317min

A great way to celebrate Black History Month, with several famous civil rights leaders appearing in the grid, with their names slightly modified in honor of the DOUBLEV campaign of WWII. We found LOTSA interesting clues throughout the rest of the puzzle, and to find out what those are, you know what to do: subscribe / download / listen up / enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we're ...

16 Feb 202315min

A lovely Valentine's Day present from the New York Times to the world ... a somewhat challenging (for Mike) Tuesday crossword with a highly amusing theme, a very apt follow-up to yesterday's. We have all the deets inside plus ... the big news, it's our *second* Triplet Tuesday Contest! That's right, if you didn't win last time, now you have a second chance. Listen to the rules, follow 'em to the letter (or as close to the letter as you can get), and send your # of tries to crossword...

15 Feb 202317min

A marvelous Monday crossword, and your co-hosts had a rather unique experience solving it. We'd say more, but because today is "No-Spoiler Monday", we will refrain from doing so but rather encourage you to subscribe, download, listen up and enjoy today's episode. 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!

14 Feb 20239min

Ooh, a tough Sunday crossword by Christina Iverson and Samuel A. Donaldson, thanks to an ingenious theme and some relatively obscure clues -- 12A, Catchy tunes, informally, BOPS; 49D, Cousin of a weasel, MARTEN; and the very droll 78D, Main antagonist?, PIRATESHIP (woah!). There was a lot to like in today's grid, and we spell out all the deets in today's episode. Also a reminder, our Triplet Tuesday Contest is coming right up -- perhaps not quite the Super Bowl, but we do have...

13 Feb 202320min

A super Saturday crossword by the NYTimes Spelling Bee editor, Sam Ezersky, who occasionally wanders over into the crossword section to work his magic. And he did so today, with some nicely worded clues and juicy juxtapositions. We enjoyed the rarely seen 58D, Like swampland, MIRY (if you say so!); 5D and 23A, both "Ah", follower, respectively ISEE and CHOO (very twee); 61D, End of a series, in Canada, ZED (❤️🇨🇦); and the educational 50D, Where "talon" and "toga" mean "hello...

12 Feb 202318min

Ah, the NYTimes Crossword at its best -- slippery clues, devious double-entendres, all designed to trip up the unwary solver. Both our co-hosts had to dig deeply, and the whole story -- as well as a Fun Fact based on 8D, Annual competition that starts on the first Saturday in March, IDITAROD -- is revealed on today's episode. A reminder that this Tuesday we're running our second Triplet Tuesday Contest - you'll play along with the hosts, email how many clues it took you to find each of the 3...

11 Feb 202318min

The presence of 32D, Symbol of sharp wit, RAPIER, seems appropriate, because this crossword was brimming with the stuff (sharp wit, not RAPIERs), and the theme was also noteworthy. For both our co-hosts, though, the highlight of the crossword had to be 73A, __________ Midas Wolf (Disney's "Three Little Pigs" antagonist), ZEKE. Who knew that the Wolf had a first name? And a middle one? We are awed and agog, and we owe it all to today's constructor, Alex Rosen, whose work clearly deserves a 5 s...

10 Feb 202314min