Sunday, July 25, 2021
A tough Sunday, with a spectacular, dare we say stellar theme, but some really tricky naticks -- 35A, Japanese beer brand, KIRIN, versus 31D, Sharing maternal lines, ENATIC (yikes!), and 109A, Wine that may be Spumante or frizzante, PROSECCO, versus 94D, Clear, as crystal, BUS (double yikes!). The grid was a technical tour de force, with IX-based rebuses representing stars: if you connected those stars, you got the Big and Little Dipper! That must've taken forever to create, we doff our...
26 Jul 202116min
Saturday, July 24, 2021
A challenging Saturday (of course!) crossword, with some major obscurisms lurking in the grid. Certainly 29D, Happenstance, cutely, COINKYDINK, and 20A, Hallux, less formally, BIGTOE, qualify, as, at least for Jean & Mike, does 1A, Popular brand of alcoholic seltzer, WHITECLAW. Other clues were just deliciously deceptive, such as 14A, One might be off the hook, HOMEPHONE, 30D, Record producer?, NOTETAKER, and 36D, Airdrops?, MIST. A good 'un, we give it a 4.5 squares on the JAMCR sc...
25 Jul 202111min
Friday, July 23, 2021
We wouldn't say that Jean CRUSHEDIT, but she did turn in a STOUT performance. Mike's effort, meanwhile, wouldn't win any SPEEDTEST, but he did manage to finish with a SHRED of dignity intact, his streak kept ALIVE by a dearth of popular culture references. For all the details, 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...
24 Jul 202113min
Thursday, July 22, 2021
Hip, hip, hooray, it's a crossword about hips ... two of them to be precise, it's very hip. Jean made short order of today's crossword, as she turned in a perfect 28 minute time, whereas the crossword nearly made short order of Mike, as he struggled pretty much everywhere, in a catch 22: to get the theme revealer, you needed to get the crosses ... but to get the crosses, you had to understand the theme revealer. Diabolical! But in a good way, we give this a 5 squares on the JAMCR sc...
23 Jul 202112min
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
Today's crossword was a shocker! Traditionally, the New York Times grids are designed so that answers can be no shorter than 3 letters and as a corollary no letter can be like, well, like the Z's at the end of 21A, Bolivian capital, LAPAZ, and beginning of 48A, Spaces (out), ZONES -- surrounded on 3 sides by black squares. Yet (gasp!), there they are. It's all in a good cause, however, because the entire grid is marked by a large Z in the center -- and there were multiple words with multiple ...
22 Jul 202111min
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
A terrific Tuesday crossword, a paean to 6D, Olympic sport whose all-round competition is composed of the last parts of 19-, 26-, 44- and 52- across, WOMENSGYMNASTICS. Interspersed among all the sports were some other gently amusing clues, such as 28D, Cheery sort?, FAN, 5D, Uranus but not Neptune, GREEKGOD (nice!), and 46D, Aid in scrolling to the top, UPKEY. Now, will Will Shortz & co., continue in this vein, honoring other sports as the Olympics unfurl? Stay tuned to find out! We love ...
21 Jul 202111min
Monday, July 19, 2021
A fairly straightforward Monday, although it did contain one of Jean's banes, a quote, but thanks to gentle crosses (it's a Monday) she was still able to complete the crossword in a blazing 6:12! Mike, meanwhile, was able to ... complete the crossword. For all the details, download and listen up to 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 st...
20 Jul 20218min
Sunday, July 18, 2021
A delicious Sunday crossword, with LOL answers courtesy of Julia Child (as curated and transcribed by today's constructor, Jesse Goldberg). How could you not like such bon mots as 38A, "A party without cake is ________", REALLYJUSTAMEETING, or the rather brazen 65A, "If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. __________?", WHOSGOINGTOKNOW. Jean cruised through the crossword in 54 minutes, only getting hung up in the vicinity of 87A, ________ o'clock ...
19 Jul 202114min
