Tuesday, October 14, 2025 - Contemplating the RIGHTNESS of RIGHTNESS 🙄😉
This was an excellent crossword by Stella Zawistowski, her 24th for the NYTimes and her 7th Tuesday. There were some awesome clues in the grid, such as 28D, "A pox on thee!", FIE (a truly excellent insult 😀); 23A, Heavily edit with beauty filters, as a photo, in modern lingo, YASSIFY (how do scholars classify YASSIFY, anyways? 😉); and in retrospect an obvious answer (but a fun one nonetheless), 50D, Country whose national soccer team is nicknamed the Pharaohs, EGYPT. In addition to our analys...
15 Okt 12min
Monday, October 13, 2025 - YOSHI, Everyone's favorite pixel-based lifeform 😉
This was an intriguing debut crossword by Katherine Xiong. Both cohosts -- solving independently as usual -- found it to be a tad longer than one might expect for a Monday. That just means more time spent savoring the crossword, though, and so more a cause for celebration than anything else. Besides the crossword, we also have our JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). Also, as an exclusive, we have left in the mix the origin story of our next contest (currently unnamed: ...
14 Okt 15min
Sunday, October 12, 2025 - FENNELBULBS: when LCDs just aren't bright enough 🙄😎
Both cohosts found today's puzzle to be particularly crunchy due to cruciverbial challenges in different areas of the grid. Jean struggled mightily in the southeast corner, while Mike was temporarily waylaid by his ignorance of sports -- and any pop culture references more recent than around 1850. Still, both eventually prevailed, and lived to tell (podcast) the tale. Deets inside! Show note imagery: Benedick, the comic relief in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, who swore he'd never marr...
13 Okt 21min
Saturday, October 11, 2025 - Another Sam Ezersky Thriller
Sam Ezersky crosswords can be quite thrilling, as he is renowned for making highly challenging puzzles. He certainly does not disappoint this Saturday, quite the contrary. However, he has managed to inject a lot of humor into the grid, making for an epically challenging but also quite entertaining solve: no slogs here. We have all the deets inside, so have a listen, and, as always, we welcome your feedback! Show note imagery: LAMARJACKSON, a Baltimore Ravens quarterback getting ready to unlea...
12 Okt 13min
Friday, October 10, 2025 - Another fun-filled Friday frolic of a crossword
Colin Adams seems to have hit the sweet spot with Friday crosswords chock-full of cracklingly good clues. Besides those mentioned in today's podcast, we also have such notables as 14D, Locales for some residents, in brief, ERS (ah, those types of residents); 32D, Sch. that's home to Mike the Tiger (and his 15,000-square-foot habitat), LSU (we're suckers for clues that reference a cohost😉); and 47D, One might be ticked off, LIST (nice one, Colin!). Besides our coverage of a most excellen...
11 Okt 14min
Thursday, October 9, 2025 - Soyonora, LEONORA 🙄😀
This was Freddie Cheng's 18th NYTimes crossword. He mainly publishes earlier in the week, but he has had a crossword published on every day, no mean feat. Today's puzzle had some awesome cluing, including 28D, Way to go, ROAD; 53A, What Zuckerberg dropped from before "Facebook" in 2005, THE; and the bound-to-be-useful-someday-to-somebody clue 37D, Equivalent of five carats, GRAM. There's more, besides, so check out today's podcast for all the deets. Show note imagery: The Burghers of Calais, ...
10 Okt 11min
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - Will you enjoy this crossword? Signs point to yes 🔮
This was an enjoyable Wednesday crossword, with a warm, uplifting, nostalgia-centric theme that both cohosts greatly appreciated. We were glad to see Jules VERNE in the grid for his 77th time, in 48A, Author of "L'Île Mystérieuse"; we were not at all surprised to see YAOA (Yet Another OREO Answer) at 60D, Double Stuf cookie; and we also appreciated the next clue over, 62A, A 2-1 record has one, LOSS (of course!). A nice debut by Daniel Trujillo Diaz. Will his second appear before not to...
9 Okt 13min
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - TESCO: the best in-store prices, but delivery charges are *insane*
This was a fine debut crossword by Corry Cropper. It felt a little crunchier than usual for a Tuesday, but not overwhelmingly so; and it revolved around a mythological theme, which both cohosts found intriguing. Deets inside! In addition, we have a challenging Triplet Tuesday™️ segment for your enjoyment and edification, so prepare to be ... amused and/or edified. Show note imagery: A CAPUCHIN, runner-up in 2024's Most Meme-able Image Contest™️. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Inf...
8 Okt 16min
