Wednesday, February 26, 2025 - We long for more crosswords by Dan Caprera 😁

A fabulous Saturday crossword by Andrew Linzer, who pulled out all the stops to come up with a cornucopia, or possibly a piñata, of great, great clues. We'd go over them here, but basically it's ... all of them! Pick a clue, any clue, and be prepared to be amazed. Naturally, of course, you'd think that this would be the JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) winner, and indeed it is, but ... we have another winner, because Tuesday's, by Trey Mendez, was also top notch...

28 Aug 202214min

A terrific Friday crossword by Robert Logan, as folksy as all get out, and that's not a complaint! It included many interesting factoids, such as 39A, Largest of the society islands, TAHITI; 53A, Snack item since 1912, OREO; and 42D, Scottish sheepdog, informally, SHELTIE. The structure of the puzzle was also intriguing -- as revealed by 64A, A 50/50 chance ... or a description of the lengths of this puzzle's Across and Down answers, respectively, EVENODDS. (We checked, it's true). It's Frid...

27 Aug 202211min

An ingenious Thursday crossword by Olivia Mitra Framke and Andrea Carla Michaels, who discovered how to amusingly squeeze US states together, to great effect, in this 5-square-on-the-JAMCR-scale-worthy puzzle. We have all the deets inside, just waiting for you to discover. Remember that if you haven't done the crossword, and want to be able to follow along, just wander over to xwordinfo.com -- there you can see the entire grid filled out (so, huge spoiler alert before you go there...

26 Aug 202213min

There were SCADS of good clues in this crossword, and AUGHT bad ones - thanks to the efforts of constructor Colin Ernst (aided and abetted, undoubtedly, by Will Shortz). A few old friends dropped in - 63A, Indian tea region, ASSAM; 22A, Shakespearean schemer, IAGO. who, blessed with 3 vowels and a G, has managed to worm his way into a NYTimes crossword grid a total of 408 times, including 5 this year!; and of course, what appears to be the official cheese of the NYTimes crossword,...

25 Aug 20229min

A splendid Tuesday crossword by Trey Mendez, with multiple LOL clues and an ingenious theme. This was Trey's debut crossword, and we can't wait for his next one! In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday: does Jean tear through it? Or does she tear through it? [There was a homograph there, honestly!] To find out, you are cordially invited to subscribe, download, listen up and savor! We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@iclou...

24 Aug 202214min

A somewhat folksy start to our crossword solving week, as well as a hidden theme -- especially apropos since the theme itself was, well, underground. If you want to dig up the dirt on that, you'll have to do a bit of spadework first, i.e., subscribe, download, listen up, and enjoy!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!

23 Aug 20228min

A (gasp!) themeless Sunday crossword, with very few black squares - so if you're looking for a challenge, constructors Brooke Husic and Will Nediger are happy to oblige! And we're happy that they made this crossword: to find out precisely why, you know what to do -- subscribe, download, listen up and enjoy! 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 strik...

22 Aug 202210min

A tough Saturday crossword, Jean had a spot of difficulty in the top-left, Mike forgot that the musical syllable LA was not an abbreviation; but other than that it was a fine ending to an incredible week of crosswords - the New York Times Crossword quality was cranked up to an 11, and our agonizing decision as to which deserved the JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) reflects that. To find out which one won the coveted prize, subscribe, download, listen up, and enjoy! We love...

21 Aug 202218min