Thursday, September 12, 2024 - Finally, we can say that the NYTimes crossword is BRAT 😀
A historic first, "BRAT" used in the sense of 52D, 2024 Charli XCX album with a lime green color -- as opposed to all the 179 previous times, when it was a reference to an annoying small child. The rest of the crossword, by Parker Higgins, was similarly entertaining, as evidenced by clues such as 69A, Nose-in-the-air-type?, PLANE; 52D, Give in on Christmas Eve, say, PEEK; and 10D, One of 27 on Disney World's Cinderella Castle, TURRET. A bravura performance, definitely worth 5 squares on the J...
13 Sep 202413min
Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - Three cheers for New Mexico's GILA National Forest
A decidedly crunchy Wednesday crossword, Jean managed to chew through it expeditiously, Mike broke a tooth 😉. The theme took a while for both cohosts to grok, after which solving the puzzle became much easier. Deets inside, you are cordially invited to download, listen up, and ... enjoy! Show note imagery: The ARROYOS Natural Area, where we really, really hope they have some ARROYOS! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cross...
12 Sep 202410min
Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - HEMINGWAYESQUE, fun to say, a challenge to spell, and impossible to work into casual conversation 😀
Today's theme was about as NYTimes-esque as they come, just a fun exploration of attributes of the English language, and something that almost surely could not have been constructed without a computer to do the heavy lifting. Without spoiling anything out here in the show notes, let's just say that the theme involved finding three answers that met certain criteria, and those answers were the output of a Python program. To be fair, the author of the crossword wrote said program, and could've d...
11 Sep 202412min
Monday, September 9, 2024 - You know it's a classy puzzle when Dame Judi DENCH is in the grid
Tim D'Alfonso has constructed an excellent Monday crossword -- his debut! -- with a smile-inducing theme and some fun cluing, including 42D, Your of yore, THY; 43D, Start of a donkey's bray, HEE; and the nostalgia-inducing 25D, ________ Sketch (classic toy), ETCHA. This was a great puzzle and likely a confidence-builder for those just starting to do the NYTimes crosswords, we approve: 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Show note imagery: Dame Judi DENCH, as M, in Skyfall We love feedback! Send us...
10 Sep 202410min
Sunday, September 8, 2024 - A crossword that definitely gives it The Ol' College Try
Occasionally at JAMDTNYTC HQ, the cohosts opinions are so divergent that one might be inclined to think they are talking about different puzzles: but they most definitely were talking about one puzzle today, that of 9/8/2024, which Jean found to be a piece o' cake, and Mike found to be ... not that. Deets inside, so have a listen, and, as always, we welcome listener feedback! Show note imagery: Assumption of the Virgin, by TITIAN We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love list...
8 Sep 202420min
Saturday, September 7, 2024 - Why do spammers always call on the heckelphone? 😂
After last Saturday's killer crossword we were hoping that Joel might give us a break, but nooooooo, he still had the pedal to the floor, cruciverbially speaking. There were almost no gimmes in the grid, but a plethora of head scratchers, characteristic of David P. Williams, who has written 5 NYTimes crosswords -- 1 Friday, and the rest -- Saturdays. Definitely tough, definitely worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Show note imagery: a heckelphone, aka an OBOE We love feedback! Send us a text...
8 Sep 202420min
Friday, September 6, 2024 - CITI never sleeps ... but it does zone out from time to time 😀 🏧
A challenging Friday crossword, more so in the top-left, less so in the bottom-right. There were a plethora of awesome clues in today's puzzle, including 5A, They often have multiple horns, SKABANDS (what, not TRICERATOPS?); 62A, Competition with many missions, SPACERACE (nice!); and the outstanding 11D, Chicken or mashed potato, DANCE (ha!) Show note imagery: A Rembrandt, by ... Rembrandt! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodc...
7 Sep 202424min
Thursday, September 5, 2024 - Yoinks, it's a ZEDONK! 😀
We had an exceptional Thursday crossword -- no rebuses (rebusae(?)), but an inspired theme from the most brilliant Joe Deeney. We cover it in detail in today's episode, and you can see Joe's oeuvre at xwordinfo.com as well.Show note imagery: Look, ma, it's a ZEDONK!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 drop by there and strike up a conversation!
6 Sep 202417min
