Thursday, February 20, 2025 - Oh, *so* close

An intriguing Tuesday crossword by Julietta Gervase, who undoubtedly put her soul into today's crossword, but also managed to sneak in her name - at least a part, as in 54D, James in both the Blues and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame, ETTA. Very clever, Julietta, we saw what you did there! There were also a few askew clues, as in 5D, Takes a dive, perhaps, SCUBAS (did not know that it could exist without DIVE attached); 32A, ________ Burton, host of "Reading Rainbow" (but, but, what about his rol...

14 Dec 202215min

At least one of our dynamic duo found this crossword to be woof, er, we mean rough, owing to a highly improbable series of poor word choices, and a loss of situational awareness causing this individual (who will remain nameless, at least until you listen to the episode) to mistake one country for another approximately a hemisphere apart. And, just to be clear, when we say "at least one", we really mean, "exactly one", because the individual who will not remain nameless, aka Jean, found this c...

13 Dec 20229min

If you suffer from entomophobia, then whatever you do, don't do today's crossword! But it should be safe to listen to today's podcast, as we only mention insects -- the bane of entomophobia sufferers everywhere -- en passant. Beyond the insect kingdom, the grid had a lot of educational clues and answers: both cohosts were surprised to learn that 33D, Sublime soprano, was a DIVA, having labored under the misapprehension that a DIVA was one of those stuck up, hard-to-work with, overly-pampered ...

12 Dec 202217min

An exceptional Saturday crossword by Sid Sivakumar, who seems to be incapable of writing any other kind. The clues were fabulous (as we explore in depth in today's episode), and even the crossings were praiseworthy - most notably 38A, Rock forming mineral that makes up over half the earth's crust, FELDSPAR intersecting 17A, Meets expectations, in a way, MAKESPAR, while even 19A, Pumped, STOKED versus 4D, Preakness or Belmont, STAKES, had a nice alliterative feel. Today being Saturday, ...

11 Dec 202213min

A challenging Friday crossword, although our intrepid co-hosts -- solving, as always, independently -- ran into difficulties in different areas of the grid. Jean got stuck in the center left, remaining INASTUPOR until she wasn't; whereas Mike encountered headwinds in the southwest, almost done in by his unfamiliarity with Spanish and the Italian literati, ENERO and ELENA Ferrante, respectively. In other news, it is Fun Fact Friday™️, and Jean weighs in with a striking article on SHRIKE...

10 Dec 202214min

A fantabulous Thursday crossword by Grant Thackray, with a brilliant theme, great clues all round, and the shocker that the answer to 69A, Misnomer for the character Fritz in the original "Frankenstein", (1931) was ... wait for it ... IGOR (gasp!). There were other equally entertaining and educational clues, of course, and to find out what those were, you are, like thousands before you, cordially invited to subscribe, download, listen up and enjoy! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact ...

9 Dec 202210min

A fascinating theme by Karen Steinberg, as a consequence of which Europeans might, for once, have a SKOSH of an advantage. There were a few relatively unfamiliar names in the grid - ________ Achebe, "Things Fall Apart" author, CHINUA; 59D, Little ________, who sang "The Locomotive", EVA; and the very rare, 22A, Six-time MLB All-Star Mookie, BETTS (in its second appearance ever in the grid, previously clued as Britain's Crown Princess way back in 1946!). We love feedback! Send us a ...

8 Dec 202212min

Today's crossword almost pegged the pop-culture-reference-meter, but, as you will discover in today's episode, it was for a very good cause (which we will refrain from expounding upon here in the interests of generating just a frisson of suspense). We will also refrain from defining frisson, because a) we always thought it involved a poor lifestyle choice in the shampoo aisle, and b) Wiktionary has already done so, and done so well. So, to hear all of the above, plus how Mike fared duri...

7 Dec 202215min