Sunday, February 2, 2025 - MRMACGOO, meet MRSDASH 😀

It's not an UNLUCKYBREAK that Jake Halperin put together this fine crossword, which (possibly coincidentally) plays homage to a Mitch Hedberg routine about B being unlucky, because it's just a 13 scrunched together. Among the fascinating clues in today's puzzle, 7D, The U.S. Forest Service owns about 38% of it, IDAHO; and 34A, Modern lead-in to scrolling, DOOM (aka DOOMSURFING). We give today's effort a 5 squares on the always accurate, but unpredictably published, JAMCR scale We love feedbac...

4 Dec 20209min

A tough Wednesday, Jean was well above her time, and Mike almost succumbed in the top right corner, unfamiliar as he was with ... pretty much every clue in the top right corner, SHEESH! There were quite a few NEW words and phrases, and we'd tell you about them RIGHTTHISSECOND but, OHSNAP, we're out of time! 😀 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 st...

3 Dec 202010min

Jean tore through today's NIFTY crossword so fast that she didn't even see the theme (as Einstein correctly predicted would happen to crossword solvers as they approached the speed of light), while Mike fell into all the TRAPS, and has a few SCARS to show for it. In today's Tip Tuesday segment, we observe that 1. GURU ≠ Religious figure all the time 2. SPOT = AD (a lot of the time) 3. Leaving iffy squares blank, rather than hazarding a guess, makes them easier to spot as the grid fills up (a...

2 Dec 202010min

How's it going, eh? Pretty well, especially if you were able to get today's crossword, which included many references to Canada, including mention of the most Canadian thing ever -- TIMHORTONS (a wildly successful, primarily Canadian-based restaurant chain owned by Burger King). MAPLESYRUP (available at TIMHORTONS 😀), HOCKEYNIGHT, and, um, RAIN also made an appearance. Tomorrow is Tip Tuesday, so be sure to listen in for tips on how to hone your crossword solving skills. We love feedback! Sen...

1 Dec 20207min

Today's crossword was quite the SCRIM, LIVENED with an ingenious theme involving shared letters (e.g., 23A, Very short-lived gemstones, EPHEMERALDS = EPHEMERAL + EMERALDS, and 63D, Pounding on a pie topping, HAMMERINGUE = HAMMERING + MERINGUE). You'll definite need a CUPPA or two, and possibly a long troll in the OPENAIR, to solve this one. Remember if you want to follow along as Jean & Mike discuss today's crossword, and haven't gotten the crossword figured out for yourself,...

30 Nov 202014min

Jean tears through today's crossword like it's a Monday, while Mike takes a more TORTOISE-like approach, hindered by a lack of knowledge, spelling, and in some tragic cases, both. The clues themselves are minor works of art (see: 31D, Study pills, PLACEBOS, and 30D, Air traveler in early winter, SANTA), but even some of the juxtapositions are worthy of note -- RUSHERS next to TORTOISE, PINACOLADA next to TEETOTALER, that's craftsmanship, right there! A terrific 5 squares on the JAMCR ...

29 Nov 202011min

It's a Robyn Weintraub crossword, so expect Good Things. Both Jean & Mike were temporarily THROWN off the scent, getting little traction especially in the top left and right corners. Eventually they persevered. Jean was rescued by, of all people (and we use the term loosely), BILLTHECAT and Mike, well, once again, his Achilles' heal, ADBLOCKERS, almost did him in. In a crossword with lots of terrific clues there two absolutely fabulous ones -- 26D, Page seen in a wedding album, RING...

28 Nov 202012min

For those of you LONGing for a good Thanksgiving Day crossword to sink your teeth into, metaphorically spelling, here you go! This wasn't a ROMP, but you didn't need to be a GURU to solve it either -- just a bit of luck, a lot of patience, and a passing acquaintance with 1970s operating systems. 😀 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 co...

27 Nov 202011min