Friday, July 18, 2025 - This was a CORKER of a crossword!

The father and daughter duo of Brad Wiegmann and Nicole Wiegmann have teamed up to create a wonderful connect-the-dots-er-squares puzzle-within-a-puzzle. Elizabeth Gorski, an NYTimes contributor with a whopping 219 crosswords to her credit apparently pioneered this approach: and the Wiegmann opus is a fine addition to the oeuvre. Besides the crossword, our investigative team is hot on the trail of the mysterious Janus-faced 55A. The answer was BUDICE, but the clue depended on where you read t...

13 Nov 202515min

This is the second Christina Iverson - Scott Hogan collaboration, and the first NYTimes crossword ever to include WORCESTERSHIRE as an answer. It usually takes us several takes before we can pronounce the word, and even more before we can spell it. We enjoyed 52A, Copenhagen's "The Little Mermaid", for one, STATUE (which for all the attention it gets, is surprisingly short); we had a blast from the (very recent) past, 53D, "You talkin' _______?", TOME; and finally 33D, "I so did not need to h...

12 Nov 20256min

This was an excellent crossword by a prolific cruciverbalist. It was a Monday, and as far as being fun and appropriate for novice puzzle solvers, a smashing success. We enjoyed the challenge of how to spell 9D, Shrub with bright flowers, AZALEA; the reappearance (for the second time in two days) of a by-gone internet pioneer, AOL; and the opportunity to haul out our faux-pirate accent for 9A, Pirate's "Stop!", AVAST. Show note imagery: Some real FIREBREATHERS! We love feedback! Send us a text...

11 Nov 20257min

If crosswords had moods, we'd classify this one as feisty. It took both cohosts, working independently as always, longer than usual to get to the happy music. But the journey is the reward, as they say, so rather than complain, we prefer to celebrate this, the fourth NYTimes crossword by Amie Walker. Deets inside. Show note imagery: A LORIS, in its native habitat, the crossword grid (no, strike that, India, it's definitely India). We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love list...

10 Nov 202519min

This was a good Saturday workout: not the hardest Saturday ever, but engaging, with some truly effervescent cluing. We covered the best-of-the-best in today's episode, but we would also like to note 26A, John Coltrane album whose title suggests making major progress, GIANTSTEPS (check it out, an awesome work); 46D, Pussyfoot: SNEAK; and the star of one of our favorite Marvel series, 9D, Elizabeth of "Wanda Vision", OLSEN (no relation to the photographer Jimmy OLSEN, one reason being that the ...

9 Nov 20258min

This was a challenging crossword for both cohosts, as both -- solving independently as is their custom -- ended up in the same area of the grid, temporary waylaid by the crossing of 40A, The Brady household, including Alice, e.g., ENNEAD, and 29D, "The Fall of the House of Usher" actress ___ Miller, TNIA. In the end, though, Jean managed to get through this crossword LIKEABOSS; Mike was more like a JUNIORDEPUTYUNDERSECRETARY 😀 Show note imagery: An ENNEAD of Egyptian deities. We love fe...

8 Nov 202512min

For you polyglots out there, the NYTimes has written a love letter, cleverly disguised as a crossword -- today's, to be precise, a magnificent opus by Sam Brody. For the rest of us, the crossword was (for reasons that will be come clear once you've heard the podcast and/or seen the completed grid) a lot more challenging, which means, of course, a lot more fun. We adored this, Sam's third NYTimes crossword since June (!), and are delighted to bestow upon it a très bon 5 squares on the JAMCR sc...

7 Nov 202512min

The first author of today's crossword, Chad Hazen, had over 40 rejections before finally getting a crossword published -- but when he did get it published it was in the New York Times, so there is that. He was aided in his efforts by legendary crossword constructor Jeff Chen, an ideal person to have your six when the crossword deities conspire against you. We have all the deets on today's crossword inside, so have a listen, and please let others know about us on social media. Show note imager...

6 Nov 202513min