Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A fine Monday crossword, and.a great start to Black History Month, with appearances by Malcom X, Wiz Khalifa, Marvin Gaye and the Black Eyed Peas. A few educational clues were scattered throughout, for instance, 47A, ________ Trench (deepest point on earth), MARIANAS, 27D, Fifth-most-common family name in China, CHEN, and the curious 36D, Circular windows, OCULI. We rate it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a...

2 Feb 20218min

A nice way to wrap up the week and the month, with a clever crossword by Jim Hilger -- all about product (mis)placement. Several common phrases had a noun replaced by a product -- for instance, 38A, Reason that the prestigious scientific journal refuses articles from President Herbert's relatives?, NATUREABHORSAHOOVER, and 97A Adding a historic ship as a deal sweetener, THROWINGINTHEBOUNTY. Very nice! Remember, if you want to subscribe to the New York Times crossword, you can do so right her...

1 Feb 202111min

We weren't quite PASTED by Nam Jin Yoon's Saturday spectacular, but it definitely took a while for us to GETGOING on this one, as there were a lot of tricky (and fascinating) clues. The winner in that category was surely 32D, Amphibian that Ogden Nash once rhymed with "bottle", AXOLOTL, with honorable mention going to 19D, Holding up the line for?, CUING. There were quite a few new-to-us names -- 46D, Actress Rowlands, GENA, 19A, "Between the World and Me" author, 2015, COATES, and 34D, Milan...

31 Jan 202113min

The phrase, "a Robyn Weintraub crossword is a thing of beauty" has not made it into common speech yet, but it should, because her crosswords really are extraordinary. Consider just a few splendid examples -- 14A, Choice for those eager to retire and travel?, SLEEPERCAR, or 12A, Union deserters, EXES, or 51A, State in which you might get a tax deduction, PARENTHOOD. Brilliant, the lot of them! We give this an enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Remember that you can see the solved cros...

30 Jan 202111min

You might have to TOIL to figure out today's theme, and we ENVY those who could readily SEE it -- the combination of a precisely placed comma and the addition of an ILY suffix. Apart from the decidedly quirky clues dictated by that theme, there were a few memorable ones -- 57A, Follower of pigs or cows, EIEIO, and 26A, 90s, say, AAVERAGE., ETC ANDSUCH. We give it a 4 on the JAMCR scale. We love feedback! Send us a text... Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@i...

29 Jan 202113min

If yesterday's crossword left you in a FUNK, then you can RELAX, because today's puzzle AMPS up the AHAS, and drops the number of Z's to practically zero. Jean's favorite clue was 61A, "I only got a seventh-grade education, but I have a doctorate in ________", James Brown, FUNK; Mike also loved that clue, but if forced to pick a different favorite, he'd go for 69A, Part of w.p.m., Abbr., WDS -- simply because of the meta-ness of an abbreviation of an acronym.We give today's puzzle ...

28 Jan 202110min

YAWN, there are certainly a lot of ZEES in this puzzle, it's making us SLEEPY ... Nope, jk, we're fully awake, in fact startled, perhaps, by the crunchiness of today's puzzle. Exhibit A is 17A, Having panache, PIZZAZZY, and 35A, State that many people want to get to on vacation?, STRESSLESSNESS, It was a very ZESTY puzzle indeed! For Tip Tuesday, Jean suggests committing to memory the names Ernie Els, Mel Ott, and Arthur Ashe, while Mike suggests app settings to expedite the puzzle solving p...

27 Jan 202116min

EGAD there's a lot of firing going on in today's crossword -- the theme was YOUREFIRED, and 4 answers were two word phrases with the last word being a synonym for being fired -- CAN, AXE, SACK and BOOT. MERCY! In other news, EPEE got a rest today, in lieu of which we had 23A, Old weapon in hand-to-hand combat, BATTLEAXE. In lieu of UGG, we had a much rarer if not debut clue, 53A, Bit of fashionable footwear, ANKLEBOOT. Jean was temporarily misled at 52A, English Channel, informa...

26 Jan 20217min