Saturday, May 8, 2025 - Joe Deeney, the Houdini of crossword constructors 🙄😁

To explain the episode title: this was, indeed, an awesome crossword. And, as has happened for years upon years, Deb Amlen scrutinized the crossword in the accompanying NYTimes column, Wordplay. This ...

3 Jan 16min

It's a new year, so why not start it off with a new constructor? That may or may not be Will's reasoning, but today's crossword is indeed a debut for Topher Booth, and it is an auspicious beginning. W...

2 Jan 13min

In honor of the ultimate day of 2025, Jeffrey Martinovic has donned both his party hat and thinking cap, the end result of which is today's fine crossword. We have, as always, the deets inside, plus s...

1 Jan 14min

After a week to recharge and reenergize, both cohosts are back and in peak fighting form -- or, to be more precise, crossword-solving form. And we had an excellent crossword to welcome us back, the se...

31 Dec 202517min

Today's crossword was (as you can deduce from the episode title) a fun, Christmas-themed puzzle by famed magician David Kwong. Jean & Co. solved it expeditiously, whereas David almost made Mike's stre...

22 Dec 202519min

This is Robert S. Gard's second Saturday crossword. It was not quite as difficult as his first, but the cluing was deliciously deceptive, and included five debuts. Jean got through it in her usual tim...

21 Dec 202510min

This is a stellar Friday crossword, chockfull of effervescent clues that make it clear that an ace constructor -- in this case, Hemant Mehta -- is at the helm. There is no doubt that today's puzzle i...

20 Dec 202513min

The genius required to craft an NYTimes-worthy crossword is on full display today: Joseph Gangi has created a cuuute theme, and the hilarity of that last clause will become apparent upon listening to ...

19 Dec 202511min