Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Happy Pre-April-Fool's Day!. And in honor of the occasion, Trenton Carlson has produced a crossword that fooled, well, one of us, with a virtual-natick at the corner of 48A, Dance move that went from trendy to cringe in the 2010s, DAB, and 50D, Mayim who played Amy Farrah Fowler on "the Big Bang Theory", BIALIK. Said cohost also had problems in the middle of the puzzle, briefly contemplating 59A, Key of Beethoven's ninth, to be NMINOR (a really, really low (high?) note). The other...
1 Apr 202115min
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
While a MONONYM might sound like a one-note Gregorian chant, it is, in fact, a term for a person with a single name, and forms the basis for today's crossword, featuring BONO, PINK, ENYA and EMINEM. What a great concert that would be! It's Tip Tuesday: Jean lists common tests that tend to pop up in the crossword, while Mike reminds listeners to explore the cultural references -- if it's mentioned in the NYTimes it's worth investigating -- and makes a plug for the OED. We love feed...
31 Mar 202113min
Monday, March 29, 2021
The EPITOME of what a Monday crossword should be -- not too difficult, with a GLOB of humor (6D, Try, try again?, REHEAR, and 25D, Shelters for shelties, KENNELS), and a few novel words (41D, Theatergoer's break, ENTRACTE, and the slightly more common but even more difficult to spell word, 67A, Garlicky sauce, AIOLI). Jean was able to get through all of this with her usual APLOMB, while Mike wasn't quite as TIMELY. We give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send ...
30 Mar 20219min
Sunday, March 28, 2021
A perfect puzzle for a perfect day (28 is a perfect number, we kid you not). The puzzle was not too tough, especially if you knew your planetary moons (ARIEL, DEIMOS, and the like). There were several smile-inducing clues, but we have to give a shoutout to one of the funniest, genuinely LOL clues that we've seen in a while -- 60A, Hit movie released as "Vaselina" in Mexico, GREASE. Bravo! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast...
29 Mar 202110min
Saturday, March 27, 2021
The toughest crossword of the week lives up to its billing, with a bottom right corner that was a real HAIRRAISER. Both Jean and Mike had to dig for 39D, Rogues, PICAROS (not (Jean thought) GIGOLOS, or (Mike thought) PIRATES). That ran into another poser, 53A, Entry point in the walls of Babylon, ISHTARGATE. Meanwhile in other parts of the puzzle, the author didn't ease off, FARFROMIT, but had enough HORSESENSE to up the levity quotient as in 17A, Start of a nudge, DONTFORGET, an...
28 Mar 202113min
Friday, March 26, 2021
A loooong crossword, at least the answers were: but the clues were relatively merciful for a Friday, which means (based on the Law of Conservation of Crossword Difficulty) that tomorrow's puzzle is going to be an ursa, if you'll pardon our Latin. But back to the here-and-now, there were quite a few clever clues, including 2D, Not fast, EAT, and 62A, Place for a hot date?, DESERTOASIS. Jean was able to make short work of 6D, Heart of an academic paper, THESISSTATEMENT, whereas Mike's firs...
27 Mar 202114min
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Opposites attract, but some of the time they just hang around in bigger words, as Alex Eaton-Salners demonstrates in this fine puzzle. Alex was able to find AMITY in ANIMOSITY, WOEFUL in WONDERFUL, and a few others that we'll not reveal here (but we discuss in the podcast, and you can also see at xwordinfo.com). Beyond the central theme, there were several clues of note: 12D, Distance between "some" and "where" in "Somewhere over the rainbow", OCTAVE, and 23D, Intruder warning, m...
26 Mar 202111min
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
A crossword for the animation fashionistas in the crowd, where readers were challenged to the question of WHOWOREITBETTER, with sartorial standoffs among PAIRS of fictional characters, including 17A ... Donald Duck orPopeye?, SAILORSUIT, and 24A, Minions or Mario?, DENIMOVERALLS. Jean immediately picked up on this theme; Mike was left totally AREEL, and had to fight for every square, SOSAD! Oh, to answer the initial questions: definitely Donald Duck and Minions -- no doubt at all. We...
25 Mar 202112min
