Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Have you ever looked really closely at the MEXICANFLAG? If not, no worries, because Philip K. Chow got there first, and took notes -- it turns out to have a GOLDENEAGLE, a PRICKLYPEAR, and a RATTLESNAKE. Several other Mexican-themed clues/answers make an appearance - 21A, Hombre, is MAN, and 26D, They get smashed at parties, PINATAS, to name two. Other than that, listen on for some interesting discussion of abbr's, the proper pronunciation of PINATAS, and Mike's absolutely basele...

16 Mar 20219min

Happy Pi Day! Today's crossword was not as easy as that, though -- there were quite a few tricky clues, and the theme -- 101A, Satirical cartoonist, born 3/13/1921, known for dreaming up ridiculous inventions ... or are they?, ALJAFFEEOFMADMAGAZINE -- really didn't help with any of the related themed answers (although it was certainly interesting to learn all the inventions that the great man had dreamt up). So, a "crunchy" Sunday puzzle, as they say -- we still give it a 5 squares on the JAM...

15 Mar 20215min

A solid Saturday by veteran crossword constructor John Guzzetta, with a particularly knotty nattick at the junction of 25D, Is lachrymose, and 40A, "Young Man With a Skull" painter. The answers were WEEPS and HALS, although for those unfamiliar with the artist and wobbly when it comes to grammar, WEEPY and HALY are perfectly understandable. As your registered gramma might've said, gramma(r) matters. Listen on to hear all the details, and as always, we love to get feedback -- crosswordpodcast...

14 Mar 202111min

YKNOW, today's crossword was ABLAZE with intriguing clues and new(ish) answers: witness 38D, Emphatic agreement in Latin America, SISISI; 17A, Frozen food brand famously lampooned by comedian Jim Gaffigan, HOTPOCKETS; and 51A, Get smart?, DOLLUP. Even old answers were clued AFRESH: consider 48A, One with a solo in Brahm's Symphony No. 1, OBOE, and 10A, It carries an added tax in Philadelphia and San Francisco, SODA. Nice job, Peter Wentz, thanks for giving us this Friday treat. On toda...

13 Mar 202110min

Today's puzzle was a toughie -- you might need to BURNTHEONEAMOIL in order to solve it. The top-left corner was a particular quagmire -- 4A, Drink served hot or cold, SAKE, 3D, Added assessments, SURTAXES, and 1A, Kerfuffle, FUSS all caused, well, a kerfuffle. Mike also had to battle demons in the bottom left corner, unwisely answering 44A, Abbr. in many an urban address, as AVE, leading to the conclusion that 45D, Dense spinning celestial body, was VULCAN, which while true on some plane of e...

12 Mar 202111min

TOOMANYCOOKS ... clearly was not a problem with this crossword -- there were TWO cooks, and they've served up a delicious Wednesday crossword for your enjoyment. The theme was the beginning of three adages -- truncating them right where the word SPOIL appeared, e.g., 45A, Start of a saying about parental discipline, SPARETHEROD. Very clever, Nancy Stark and Will Nediger! A few rarer words made an appearance -- 51A, Quick, possibly controversial bit of commentary, HOTTAKE and the always...

11 Mar 20219min

If you like cars, or perhaps we should say, if you like srac, then you'll love this crossword, which features a series of car manufacturers, embedded, in reverse, in various names. For instance, 17A, They often come out at night, FALSETEETH, includes, reading backwards, TESLA; and our favorite, 28A, First Lady of 2001 to '09, LAURABUSH, includes SUBARU. Besides that, the injection of several unexpected I's caught our I, er, eye -- 6D, Longtime "All Things Considered" host Robert, SIEGEL, an...

10 Mar 202110min

There is always a DEMAND for good crosswords, and contributing to the SUPPLY is Eric Bornstein. whose ECONOMICS themed crossword would've made ADAMSMITH proud. Both Jean and Mike, although solving independently, were temporarily naticked in the same location: 47A, Actor Philip with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, AHN, ran into 38D, Tennis score after deuce, ADIN. Fortunately, that troublesome N was part of the themed answer, DEMAND, which ran diagonally through the puzzle, and saved the...

9 Mar 20219min