Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A DEVILISH Saturday crossword, but ILIKEDIT, well, both of us did, to be precise. And precise is, er, precisely what you needed to be to solve this elegantly crafted puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley, with some SWELL clues like 31A, Woman of the world, MOTHERNATURE, and 11D, Occasion for smoking, BARBEQUE. We give this an enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Remember, if you want to get in touch to discuss anything you hear on this podcast, just drop us a line at crosswordpodcast@iclou...

6 Dec 202016min

Jean was clearly EQUALTO the task of solving today's crossword, while Mike was a bit LATETO the party, getting stuck in, well, the sticky stuff -- 38D, Sticky stuff (PINETAR, not VINEGAR), among other places. Our favorite clue? 21D, Leaves home?, TEAPOT. Our least favorite? Trick question, we loved the entire puzzle, and give it a 5 squares on the JAM CR scale. Today's fun fact: The Congo River is the second longest in Africa, has the world's second largest drainage volume, and is the deepes...

5 Dec 202017min

It's not an UNLUCKYBREAK that Jake Halperin put together this fine crossword, which (possibly coincidentally) plays homage to a Mitch Hedberg routine about B being unlucky, because it's just a 13 scrunched together. Among the fascinating clues in today's puzzle, 7D, The U.S. Forest Service owns about 38% of it, IDAHO; and 34A, Modern lead-in to scrolling, DOOM (aka DOOMSURFING). We give today's effort a 5 squares on the always accurate, but unpredictably published, JAMCR scale We love feedbac...

4 Dec 20209min

A tough Wednesday, Jean was well above her time, and Mike almost succumbed in the top right corner, unfamiliar as he was with ... pretty much every clue in the top right corner, SHEESH! There were quite a few NEW words and phrases, and we'd tell you about them RIGHTTHISSECOND but, OHSNAP, we're out of time! 😀 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 by there and st...

3 Dec 202010min

Jean tore through today's NIFTY crossword so fast that she didn't even see the theme (as Einstein correctly predicted would happen to crossword solvers as they approached the speed of light), while Mike fell into all the TRAPS, and has a few SCARS to show for it. In today's Tip Tuesday segment, we observe that 1. GURU ≠ Religious figure all the time 2. SPOT = AD (a lot of the time) 3. Leaving iffy squares blank, rather than hazarding a guess, makes them easier to spot as the grid fills up (a...

2 Dec 202010min

How's it going, eh? Pretty well, especially if you were able to get today's crossword, which included many references to Canada, including mention of the most Canadian thing ever -- TIMHORTONS (a wildly successful, primarily Canadian-based restaurant chain owned by Burger King). MAPLESYRUP (available at TIMHORTONS 😀), HOCKEYNIGHT, and, um, RAIN also made an appearance. Tomorrow is Tip Tuesday, so be sure to listen in for tips on how to hone your crossword solving skills. We love feedback! Sen...

1 Dec 20207min

Today's crossword was quite the SCRIM, LIVENED with an ingenious theme involving shared letters (e.g., 23A, Very short-lived gemstones, EPHEMERALDS = EPHEMERAL + EMERALDS, and 63D, Pounding on a pie topping, HAMMERINGUE = HAMMERING + MERINGUE). You'll definite need a CUPPA or two, and possibly a long troll in the OPENAIR, to solve this one. Remember if you want to follow along as Jean & Mike discuss today's crossword, and haven't gotten the crossword figured out for yourself,...

30 Nov 202014min

Jean tears through today's crossword like it's a Monday, while Mike takes a more TORTOISE-like approach, hindered by a lack of knowledge, spelling, and in some tragic cases, both. The clues themselves are minor works of art (see: 31D, Study pills, PLACEBOS, and 30D, Air traveler in early winter, SANTA), but even some of the juxtapositions are worthy of note -- RUSHERS next to TORTOISE, PINACOLADA next to TEETOTALER, that's craftsmanship, right there! A terrific 5 squares on the JAMCR ...

29 Nov 202011min