Wednesday, April 2, 2025 - CIAO - the *perfect* word when you've forgotten if you're coming or going 😀 😀

A one-for-the-ages crossword -- everyone's going to remember where they were when they solved it (or broke their computer/iPad/iPhone out of frustration because the "solved" crossword wouldn't indicate that they'd succeeded). The revealer was 3 stepped answers -- MUCHADO ABOUT NOTHING The crossword had a series of circled squares, forming circles or ovals: those circles/ovals spelled out various synonyms for ADO -- FRACAS, STIR, RUMPUS, etc.. Inside those ci...

19 Mars 202120min

There seems to be a lot of men hanging around in today's puzzle: 43D, 1967 hit that starts "Well, my pad is very messy and there's whiskers on my chin", IMAMAN; 40A, Only United Nations member whose name starts with "O", OMAN; 46A, Heaven-sent food, MANNA; and 46D, Salvador Dali contemporary, MANRAY. There were also some very clever themed clues, such as 17A, If you think actors have two left feet, you haven't seen ________, TEDDANSON (nice!). and 52A, If you think economists don't lose...

18 Mars 20218min

An errific crossword for an uesday, with an interesting heme that revolved around ICEDTEA. Both Jean and Mike found the hardest of the 4 themed answers to be 51A, Lumberjacks in unsafe working conditions, AXDODGERS; both initially and independently thought it to be AXDANGERS, mistakingly answering 44D, ________ touch, as IPAD, rather than IPOD, and stumbling over 49D, Strong aversions, writing ONIUMS rather than ODIUMS. How odious! For Tip Tuesday, Jean points out the wonders of crosswordese...

17 Mars 202113min

Have you ever looked really closely at the MEXICANFLAG? If not, no worries, because Philip K. Chow got there first, and took notes -- it turns out to have a GOLDENEAGLE, a PRICKLYPEAR, and a RATTLESNAKE. Several other Mexican-themed clues/answers make an appearance - 21A, Hombre, is MAN, and 26D, They get smashed at parties, PINATAS, to name two. Other than that, listen on for some interesting discussion of abbr's, the proper pronunciation of PINATAS, and Mike's absolutely basele...

16 Mars 20219min

Happy Pi Day! Today's crossword was not as easy as that, though -- there were quite a few tricky clues, and the theme -- 101A, Satirical cartoonist, born 3/13/1921, known for dreaming up ridiculous inventions ... or are they?, ALJAFFEEOFMADMAGAZINE -- really didn't help with any of the related themed answers (although it was certainly interesting to learn all the inventions that the great man had dreamt up). So, a "crunchy" Sunday puzzle, as they say -- we still give it a 5 squares on the JAM...

15 Mars 20215min

A solid Saturday by veteran crossword constructor John Guzzetta, with a particularly knotty nattick at the junction of 25D, Is lachrymose, and 40A, "Young Man With a Skull" painter. The answers were WEEPS and HALS, although for those unfamiliar with the artist and wobbly when it comes to grammar, WEEPY and HALY are perfectly understandable. As your registered gramma might've said, gramma(r) matters. Listen on to hear all the details, and as always, we love to get feedback -- crosswordpodcast...

14 Mars 202111min

YKNOW, today's crossword was ABLAZE with intriguing clues and new(ish) answers: witness 38D, Emphatic agreement in Latin America, SISISI; 17A, Frozen food brand famously lampooned by comedian Jim Gaffigan, HOTPOCKETS; and 51A, Get smart?, DOLLUP. Even old answers were clued AFRESH: consider 48A, One with a solo in Brahm's Symphony No. 1, OBOE, and 10A, It carries an added tax in Philadelphia and San Francisco, SODA. Nice job, Peter Wentz, thanks for giving us this Friday treat. On toda...

13 Mars 202110min

Today's puzzle was a toughie -- you might need to BURNTHEONEAMOIL in order to solve it. The top-left corner was a particular quagmire -- 4A, Drink served hot or cold, SAKE, 3D, Added assessments, SURTAXES, and 1A, Kerfuffle, FUSS all caused, well, a kerfuffle. Mike also had to battle demons in the bottom left corner, unwisely answering 44A, Abbr. in many an urban address, as AVE, leading to the conclusion that 45D, Dense spinning celestial body, was VULCAN, which while true on some plane of e...

12 Mars 202111min