Wednesday, March 24, 2021
A crossword for the animation fashionistas in the crowd, where readers were challenged to the question of WHOWOREITBETTER, with sartorial standoffs among PAIRS of fictional characters, including 17A ... Donald Duck orPopeye?, SAILORSUIT, and 24A, Minions or Mario?, DENIMOVERALLS. Jean immediately picked up on this theme; Mike was left totally AREEL, and had to fight for every square, SOSAD! Oh, to answer the initial questions: definitely Donald Duck and Minions -- no doubt at all. We...
25 Mars 202112min
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
You'll probably get a charge out of today's puzzle, an electrifying effort by Dan Schoenholz. Jean managed to complete today's crossword within 3 seconds of her Monday time. Mike was too distracted by the appearance of TWEE (48A, Too cute, on the Thames) and ONUS (35D, Albatross) to turn in a good time. It's Tip Tuesday. Jean explains the architectural terms OGEE and ORIEL, while Mike advises solvers to be wary when reading clues, as there might be puns lurking within. We love feedback! Send...
24 Mars 202115min
Monday, March 22, 2021
Today's crossword creator was on fire -- or at least thinking about fire, witness the three themed answers, MATCHBOX, TINDERPROFILE and FLINTMICHIGAN. Those three looooong answers made this a more strenuous Monday than usual, but that's why crosswords come with crosses. Speaking of fire, COALS (18D, Classic eyes for Frosty) also made an appearance, although the pluralization of what is already a collective noun did sound a bit off. After last week's ULTRAVIOLET, INFRA made an appearan...
23 Mars 202111min
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Sunday is punday, at least as far as this crossword is concerned -- with plenty of groaners to make (or break, but probably make) your day. Exempli gratia, 23A, Nod off at a self-serve restaurant, SLEEPINTHEBUFFET, and 88A, "We should stall", LETSMAKEADELAY -- very droll. Jean learned a slew of new words today, including 56D, Piece with a title like "10 Best Places to ...", LISTICLE, and 4D, Brief summary, APERCU. Mike was stunned to learn not so much the answer to 26A, Jupiter, exempl...
22 Mars 202117min
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Today's crossword was not quite as difficult as yesterday's -- what is? -- but it still had some tough spots. The author set the tone right out of the gate with 1A, Muhammad Ali was one, famously, TRASHTALKER (not, as both Jean & Mike independently guessed, DRAFTDODGER). Right beneath it was another poser, 15A, Animal that produces eggs once a year, EASTERBUNNY (nice one!). And Mike's favorite, 58A, It flies around Florence, ITALIANFLAG (another gem). That's just a taste -- for the...
21 Mars 202120min
Friday, March 19, 2021
A Saturday-level crossword has lost its way, and accidentally wandered into Friday territory. That's the only explanation for this epic challenge by Kameron Austin Collins, with lots of "crunchy" entries throughout the entire grid. Jean had a spot of bother with 14A, "This has gotta be a trick, but ...", OKAYILLBITE, initially writing OKIWILLBITE. Mike discovered that BURKA can also be spelled as in the answer to 46D, Head-to-toe garment, BURQA, and that supplied the answer to 60A, As, QUA (y...
20 Mars 202116min
Thursday, March 18, 2021
A one-for-the-ages crossword -- everyone's going to remember where they were when they solved it (or broke their computer/iPad/iPhone out of frustration because the "solved" crossword wouldn't indicate that they'd succeeded). The revealer was 3 stepped answers -- MUCHADO ABOUT NOTHING The crossword had a series of circled squares, forming circles or ovals: those circles/ovals spelled out various synonyms for ADO -- FRACAS, STIR, RUMPUS, etc.. Inside those ci...
19 Mars 202120min
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
There seems to be a lot of men hanging around in today's puzzle: 43D, 1967 hit that starts "Well, my pad is very messy and there's whiskers on my chin", IMAMAN; 40A, Only United Nations member whose name starts with "O", OMAN; 46A, Heaven-sent food, MANNA; and 46D, Salvador Dali contemporary, MANRAY. There were also some very clever themed clues, such as 17A, If you think actors have two left feet, you haven't seen ________, TEDDANSON (nice!). and 52A, If you think economists don't lose...
18 Mars 20218min
