Monday, November 10, 2025 - Happy Veteran's Day Eve!!

A festively difficult Christmas Eve crossword -- there was no theme, but a bevy of tricky clues that made this a real challenge. Jean struggled in the top-left, but eventually her NEURALNET helped her figure out 13A, Artificial intelligence system based on the human brain, NEURALNET, as well as the rest of the crossword. Mike got temporarily waylaid in the bottom-right, originally answering 40A, Last _____ as CALL, rather than GASP, and he was getting desperate when, with a GASP, he realized ...

25 Dec 202111min

Today's puzzle had a tad less of the verbal trickery that we're accustomed to seeing on Thursdays, but it made up for it with a series of puns of admirably bad (by which we mean good) quality. It also did educate, as good crosswords are wont to do -- 67A, What cynophobia is the fear of, DOGS, and 26A, Heath genus that's also a woman's name, ERICA -- are just a few of the examples. For all the deets, though, you'll need to do what countless others have done before -- download and listen up!We ...

24 Dec 20217min

For those who like to geek out on planetary science, you will love today's crossword; and even for those who don't, there's lots to enjoy and discover. We've culled the best clues and answers and included them in the podcast, of course, but on the cutting room floor we left the always dapper-looking 40A, Fist bump, DAP, and the truly great putdown, 50D, "Ridiculous", MYEYE. For all the deets, though, be sure and download and listen up to today's episode. We love feedback! Send us a text....

23 Dec 20216min

A fine Tuesday crossword and a fun theme in which a certain utensil plays an absolutely pivotal role. Which utensil? And in what sense did it pivot? The answers to those burning questions (as well as others, including many that you never even knew you should ask), may be found in today's installment, just waiting for you to download 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...

22 Dec 20215min

A slightly crunchier Monday crossword than usual, Jean and Mike didn't come anywhere near the their epic, some might say quixotic, quest to complete the crossword in 5 minutes. Why, you ask? Or, if you speak old English or got the Helga reference, Wyeth, you ask? To find out, you'll need to, as usual, download and listen up! 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...

21 Dec 20218min

A sapid Sunday crossword (and if you're unfamiliar with sapid, be sure and check out Friday's episode), Jean ate it up, tearing through it in 32 minutes. Mike, always the fussy eater, took just over twice the time, as he was temporarily naticked at the corner of 35D, Get, slangily, COP and 41A, Stage name of rapper Yasiin Bey, MOSDEF. (Mike thought that 35D might be CAP, short for capeesh: alas, no.) We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a l...

20 Dec 202112min

Today's crossword pegged the crossword-difficulty-meter (expressed in units of Joe DiPietro's, see our December 10th podcast for the deets). Everywhere you looked in the grid there was a challenge, from the (believe it or not, relatively easy) 37D, Go out of business?, RETIRE, to the quaint 10D, Buffaloed, ATALOSS (how fitting!), and who could forget 39A, Pieces together?, SUITE (yikes). We have all the details in today's podcast, all ready for you to download and enjoy. We love feedback! Sen...

19 Dec 202116min

A decidedly vocabulary-stretching Friday crossword, with a dollop of food and pop culture references to amp up the difficulty level. We loved it -- giving it an enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Besides that, it's Fun Fact Friday, so hit the ol' download button, followed by the ol' play button, and enjoy our dr'oll commentary on today's puzzle. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com. Also, we're on F...

18 Dec 202112min