Thursday, February 9, 2023 - Welcome back, AMENRA!
The presence of 32D, Symbol of sharp wit, RAPIER, seems appropriate, because this crossword was brimming with the stuff (sharp wit, not RAPIERs), and the theme was also noteworthy. For both our co-hosts, though, the highlight of the crossword had to be 73A, __________ Midas Wolf (Disney's "Three Little Pigs" antagonist), ZEKE. Who knew that the Wolf had a first name? And a middle one? We are awed and agog, and we owe it all to today's constructor, Alex Rosen, whose work clearly deserves a 5 s...
10 Feb 202314min
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 - Today's crossword was JAWDROPPING, as in JAWDROPPINGly good!
Chase Dittrich turns in a stellar performance, with a puzzle-full of joyous clues and an ingenious theme, the joie de vivre just bubbles off the page (or screen, as the case may be). Definitely 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and certainly in the running for this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). 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 ...
9 Feb 202311min
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 - Max ERNST, Artiste Extraordinaire!
A charming Tuesday crossword, with a theme that wasn't too difficult to SUSS out, and any grid that manages to work both LOOKSUPTO (2D, Admires) and STANDTALL (36D, Act confidently) into the same grid deserves some sort of HONOR, and we give it here: 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. On a side note, next Tuesday we are going to be hosting our *second* Triplet Tuesday Contest, so for training purposes, we recommend you listen all week, to ensure you'll be in peak form! We love feedback! Send us a...
8 Feb 202313min
Monday, February 6, 2023 - A PURRfect Monday crossword!
Not to namedrop ancient Greeks and their deities, but one of our Achilles heels' is our infatuation with the Apollo program, just one of the reasons why we found this to be such a great crossword. The theme is ingenious, the clues a tad crunchier than usual -- in particular 9D, Ancient tool for hunters or warriors, SPEARTHROWER, and 23A, Dogs with curly tails, AKITAS -- and we are not complaining one bit! In other news, we've had some great suggestions for titles for our new Fact Checking se...
7 Feb 202314min
Sunday, February 5, 2023 - A crossword with The Right Stuff (or as it shows up in the grid, THEIRRITESTOUGH)
If you're into movies, you'll love today's crossword, a punny homage to the Oscars, with a theme that Jean loved, and Mike ... is still trying to wrap his head around. There were some excellent (non-theme-related) clues in the grid, such as 33D, Historic builders of rope bridges, INCAS (huh!); 79D, Things pandas have 20 of, TOES (yikes!!); and Jean & Mike's personal favorite, 48A, Therein lies the rubbed, SPA (😀 😀 ). All the deets are inside, so subscribe / download / listen and enj...
6 Feb 202313min
Saturday, February 4, 2023 - A GORGEOUS crossword, guaranteed to ENCHANT
A marvelous Saturday crossword by Kate Hawkins, with tough, fair, and entertaining clues everywhere you look in the grid. Among our favorites, 8D, Didn't go fast?, ATE (heh, heh); 40A, Floors, AWES (awwww... 😀); and the twin clues 2D and 12D, Booty, the answers to which were respectively, HAUL and SEAT (nice!). Since today's Saturday, that means it's time for JAMCOTWA -- the Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award -- so to find out who walked off with that prestigious prize, al...
5 Feb 202318min
Friday, February 3, 2023 - In a CRYOSLEEP? Today's crossword will wake you right up!
A delightful Friday crossword by Barbara Lin, with a bevy of very twee clues. Jean's favorite was 1A, Finishing-line cry?, BINGO, and Mike's was 47D, Edges of a diamond?, DEES: but both found gems -- and not just SARD* -- throughout the grid.*as discussed in yesterday and today's episodes!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!
4 Feb 202315min
Thursday, February 2, 2023 - This crossword's not too easy, not too SARD 🙄
Today's crossword is a victory for STEM education, as the NYTimes crossword managed to get millions (?) of its solvers thinking about the problem of DARKMATTER. There were a few notable clues, the most prominent of which is the aforementioned 51A, Orangish-brown gem, SARD. That almost sounds like a debut, but in fact it has appeared a whopping 154 times in the NYTimes crossword, albeit the last time (before today) was in 2015, and its first appearance was on Sunday, May 16, 1943 (!). So, welc...
3 Feb 202310min
