Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

An AMIABLE Sunday crossword by Dan Margolis, not too OUTRE, with only a few troublesome areas to SPOIL your day. The theme involved punnily-clued movies (e.g., 26A, Indy film? (1981), RAIDERSOFTHELOSTARK, and 103A, Dock-udrama? (1954), ONTHEWATERFRONT). There were some other gems as well, e.g., 99D, Bit of ranch dressing? STETSON, and right off the bat, 1D, Wear off?, DISROBE. A nice palette cleanser after Saturday's epic battle, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. We love feedba...

14 Dec 202013min

Ooh, a killer Saturday crossword, with some real stretches in the southeast corner. Jean was stopped by STOPTIME (47A, Rhythmic pattern in jazz) , and got run over by a baseball player doing HOMERUNTROTS (37A, They cover all bases). Mike, meanwhile, couldn't see past OPERAGLASS to get to the correct answer, OPERACAPES for 60A, Luxury wear for showgoers, and still maintains that nobody, ever, anywhere, has said PEACES on their way out the door. We give it a 4 on the JAMCR scale. We love...

13 Dec 202012min

Just like 10A, Big name in razors, ATRA, this crossword was sharp and attractive, with some brilliant clues, including head scratchers like 1A, Still on the line, say, DAMP, 5D, Take turns, say, STEER, and the superb 22A, It requires some assembly, QUORUM. Jean got through today's crossword not quite INAMINUTE, but close, while Mike was nearly DERAILED by his rock-solid confidence that 21D, Penguin's home?, was ANTARCTICA, rather than the actual (and much cleverer) answer, GOTHAMCITY. A...

12 Dec 202015min

Even though this puzzle dealt with elements, it was not at all elementary, my dear Watson, and periodically it seemed like Moriarty himself had designed this fiendish crossword, rather than the actual constructor, Jack Murtaugh. The themed clues involved symbols for elements, cleverly hidden in the theme, so, for instance, 36A, Female?, turned out to be IRONMAN (Fe=IRON, male=MAN). 16A, Siding?, turned out to be Siliconchip (!), and 57A, Cold?, was CARBONDATING, YADA, YADA, YADA. We lov...

11 Dec 202015min

A gentle Wednesday puzzle by Owen Travis and the RENOWN Jeff Chen, who never SETTHEBARLOW when it comes to crosswords, NOSIR, and indeed BENDOVERBACKWARD to provide quality entertainment. Jean tore through this crossword in about half the time it took to do Tuesday's and Mike wasn't too far behind. Both were suckered into writing RUNS for 6A, Four are credited for a grand slam, briefly, RBIS, and Mike had a few personal AHAS - 22D, Variety of tea, BOBA, (no relation to the Star Wars char...

10 Dec 20206min

An admirable Tuesday crossword, not too HARD, not too EASY, with a very clever theme -- POLAROPPOSITES. Jean was intrigued by STELAE, while Mike was pleased that, thanks to NPR reporter Ofeibea Quist-Arcton's distinctive sign-off, he knew that the capital of Senegal was Dakar. It's Tip Tuesday, and here's what you ought to know: Sometimes it *does* pay to fill in letters: even if you don't know the entire word, you may be able to classify a square as being either a vowel or consonant,...

9 Dec 20209min

BLIMEY (to quote yesterday's crossword), today's work is an ode to Anglophiles, with several answers that mean one thing on this side of the pond, and another thing on the other. For example ...17A, Travelled by subway?, WENTDOWNTHETUBE, 27A, "Would you call the elevator for me?", CANIGETALIFT, and 48A, "Hand me a flashlight", PASSTHETORCH. A few weeks ago we had a crossword with a distinctly Canadian theme, so expect Australia/India/South Africa/Other commonwealth country to pop up in the no...

8 Dec 20208min

Today's crossword was ALITTLE easier than yesterday's epic. Jean's favorite clue was 79A, Nickname for baseball great Ernie Banks, MRCUB, Mike's was a tie between 44A, Brand that comes out a head?, PEZ, and 78D, Helical bit, AUGER. Both Jean and Mike were surprised to learn the existence of 104A, Peninsula shared by Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, ISTRIA, and wondered if the author might've had a few AYS about 105D, Exclamations of regret, AYS, in lieu of OYS. We just hit 5000 downloads, so tha...

7 Dec 202012min