Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Today's crossword was a toughie. Jean valiantly struggled through it, as is her wont. Mike, in contrast, is wearing a SASH of mourning to honor his LATE streak. There were some terrific clues -- 42A, Artificial object in orbit?, GLASSEYE, 46A, Shade from the sun, TAN, and 12D, Fits in between?, HALFSIZED. We give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we'...

3 Jan 202110min

Happy New Year! And in case you've forgotten what year it is, today's crossword conveniently writes out 2021 in approximately the center of this oversized (16x16, versus the usual 15x15) grid. There were a few tough clues, Jean had trouble getting traction in the top-left corner and Mike spent most of his solve trying to spell SRIRACHA, before realizing that it wasn't the answer to 21A, You might get a kick out of this at a restaurant, HOTSAUCE. Remember, you can always subscribe to the New...

2 Jan 202111min

The last New York Times crossword of 2020, and we are KEEN, even ANTSY, to get to 2021. We of course don't know what next year has in store -- SIRI isn't saying -- but hopefully SMALLBUSINESSES will recover, WAR will decrease, and everybody's NESTEGGS will be on the rise. Today's crossword had some interesting factoids -- 22A, Product with the slogan, "Trust the power within", DURACELL; 38D, Woodchuck of the western U.S., MARMOT, and 23A, Quantity equal to about seven glasses of wine, LITER.&...

1 Jan 202112min

Today's crossword is a middle-of-the-road Wednesday, that is to say, a real TREASURE. It has a NICE theme involving a BILLYCLUB, a smattering of Spanish (ESO and ESTE), and a FEW other BAUBLES, like 5A, First courses, for short, APPS, 46A, Good name for someone with a sharp tongue?, BARB, and 41A, Do with a pick, maybe, FRO. So, according to our CRYSTALBALL, you will find this crossword to be just the thing to RESCUE you if you are in need of rescuing. We give it a perfect 5 squares on the JA...

31 Des 202011min

Today's crossword had an oblique Bob and Ray reference and a FAIRYTALEENDING, who could ask for more? The reference was 27A, Largest lizard on earth (up to 10 feet long), KOMODODRAGON, the topic of a famous Bob and Ray routine. The FAIRYTALEENDING slyly united WARRIORPRINCESS, KOMODODRAGON, CNTOWER, and GLADYSKNIGHT. Today is Tip Tuesday -- Jean noted that two fairytale villains that show up a lot in the New York Times crossword are OGRES and ORCS, while Mike reminded listene...

30 Des 20207min

Today's crossword is a tad unusual for a Monday - four 15-square answers, all to down clues. They are not particularly difficult, but without gentle crosses would definitely pose a serious challenge. While solving this last Monday crossword for 2020 we learned what MBE stands for, how to pronounce DOGE, but the mystery of why R2-D2's nickname is ARTOO, as opposed to ARTWO, remains unsolved. Detectives are on the case! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener m...

29 Des 20209min

FACTIS, this was an AWE-inspiring Sunday crossword, we are SHIRR, um, sure, of that! Jean cruised through it without too much difficulty, Mike got hung up in the neighborhood of 94D and 95D, having forgotten that 95D, Patchy in color, was PIED, and either forgotten or possibly never even learned that 101A, Money in coins rather than bills, was SPECIE, and 98A, Bake, as an egg, was SHIRR. Still, HUGSANDKISSES to the creators, we give this a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send ...

28 Des 20208min

It's a Saturday, that should mean tough. and John Guzzetta does not disappoint, with a crossword that crackles with clever clues. Most of the crossword was just ... difficult, but John really cranked it up in the southeast corner. Our best advice: only try a John Guzzetta puzzle when well rested. We give it a 5 on the JAM CR scale. 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 dr...

27 Des 202011min