Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

This was a very pleasant Friday crossword by Alina Abidi -- her fourth for the NYTimes. Like almost all Friday's, no theme was involved, but there were some Friday-worthy clues, including a mathematically-oriented debut, 24D, Unchanged when multiplied by itself, from the Latin for "same" and "power" , IDEMPOTENT; the very French 41D, Un canard ou un émeu, OISEAU (mais oui!); and the delightfully deceptive 27D, One mailing it in?, EARLYVOTER. Show note imagery: The CARLSAGAN Institute, ...

16 Nov 20246min

Though hard to believe, this is Matthew Faiella's debut NYTimes crossword, and it has a lot to commend it - most notably a fabulous theme, fabulously executed. Deets inside, so check it out -- and when it comes to comments, don't hold back -- drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com, or click on the Send Fan Mail link in the show notes. Show note imagery: The TORSO of Adele (no, not that Adele 😀) We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cros...

15 Nov 202417min

Our cohosts definitely had divergent solving experiences while tackling today's crossword. Jean tore through it, Mike almost tore his hair out trying to tear through it. But there were no tears at the end, just happy music, so AWTEW, as they say. (Editor's note: in fact almost nobody says AWTEW, short for All's Well That Ends Well, but we salute you for trying to invent YMATNN (Yet More Acroynyms That Nobody Needs) 😀 😀 Show note imagery: The name's NEESON, Liam NEESON - with two, count...

14 Nov 202416min

This was a fine Tuesday crossword by the brother and sister team of Avery Gee Katz and Aaron Gee. The theme was droll, and, apart from a minor spot of bother with 66A, Burrowing rodent, MOLE (not VOLE), it was a smooth solve. We approve, and by the power vested in us by whoever's in charge in NE Wisconsin, do bestow upon this crossword the ranking of 5 squares, as measured on the JAMCR scale. Show note imagery: Father KNICKERBOCKER, who was, in some sense, the grandfather of the New York Kni...

13 Nov 202417min

Today's puzzle was relatively straightforward - being a Monday, we would be surprised if it were otherwise - with a wry theme, and a supporting cast of fun clues. Our favorites were 48A, Raps off the cuff, FREESTYLES; 5D, Visual accompaniment to a musical release, ALBUMART (are physical albums still a thing??); and the particularly fine 41A, The second O of O-O-O, TAC (nice!). Besides the crossword, we have a spot of listener mail expounding on the meaning of ANTEPENULTIMATE, so to enjoy all...

12 Nov 202414min

This was Sam Ezersky's 57th NYTimes crossword, so while we feel that a reference to Heinz would've been in order (as in Heinz 57 Sauce), even without there was a lot of spice in the grid. There were educational clues: 16D, Length of William Henry Harrison's presidency, ONEMONTH; the astonishing 110D, Nickname for Francisco, PACO (surely a gimme for the bay area folk around San PACO); and the delightful 95A, Hardy follower, HAR (HAR, HAR, HAR 😀). In short, a wonderful Sunday diversion, ...

11 Nov 202421min

There's only one time when we enjoy riding a STRUGGLEBUS, and that's when we're working on a tough Saturday crossword, like this one -- which, coincidentally, happened to feature an actual STRUGGLEBUS in the grid. Now long time solvers and listeners know, through experience, that clues become more cryptic, and answers longer, over the course of the week, from Monday to Saturday. To quantify this, however, someone has made a splendid visualization plotting word length versus day of the w...

10 Nov 202414min

Evans Clinchy's bio pic in xwordinfo.com shows him chowing down on a burrito, and that may or may not have any connection with the presence of both CHEESECAKE and TRESLECHES in the grid. What we do know for certain is that Evans has crafted a challenging but fair Friday crossword, just the kind we like! Indeed, the grid just sparkles, with clues such as 4D, Doofuses, TOMFOOLS (definitely fun to say); 10D, Beyond clean, STERILE (can't argue with that!); 49D, It comes down hard, HAIL (makes mor...

9 Nov 202417min