Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

One of our dynamic duo found today's crossword to be a major challenge - the other tore through it so quickly that her keyboard was smoking. And if the pronoun didn't give it away, then listening to this episode definitely will -- so do it now!

Just a reminder, the NYTimes Crossword is an excellent way to keep your  little gray cells sharp and keep up with the latest pop culture references - just go to nytimes.com/crosswords, they will be glad to have you as a new subscriber!

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Woah, if you thought Friday's crossword was tough, better sit down for this one because it's a wild ride, with 13 debut answers, and the crossword itself is also a debut ... for the constructor, Samuel Smalley, from Ottawa, Canada 🇨🇦. All the deets are inside, so have a listen, and let us know what you think.

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A challenging Friday crossword, especially the dreaded northeast corner,  home to quite a few posers (31A, Tough nut to crack, POSER 😀), and one clue that required a lot of scholarship to suss out (10D, Knowledge, or a means to acquire it, SCHOLARSHIP 😀 😀). In short, this crossword was 14A, "Smart!", VERYCLEVER.

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A clever Thursday crossword, with an inspired theme and virtually no crosswordese to sully its fine grid. We approve, and hereby, by the power vested in us by the state of Wisconsin (ed: that would be absolutely none, nada, nil 😀) we bestow upon it the much vaunted and fully-maxed-out 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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If you're a fan of old-timey video games, then this crossword will be right up your alley, so to speak -- the only remaining mystery is, how old is "old-timey", and which particular video game do we have in mind. To find all that out, as well as to hear why the USPS and AP agree to disagree when it comes to state abbreviations, just tap download, tap play, and tap into a fun convo!

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A deftly constructed crossword by Lee Taylor, with a nifty theme and a bevy of supporting clues that elevate it above the merely "good" to that loftier echelon, "good enough to get into the NYTimes".  A few clues of note: 10D, Free, as a seat, UNTAKEN; 12D, Guernica painter, PICASSO; and (in keeping with a 2-day trend of expressing east in a foreign language), 31A, German sunrise direction, OST.

It's Tuesday, which means it's time for Triplet Tuesday. Will Jean rise to the challenge? To find out, you know what to do: subscribe / download / listen up / enjoy!

Overall, a pleasing Sunday crossword, although Mike - in his capacity as founding member of the "Don't Drop Your G's Society" - did have a few things to say about the theme. Strike that, he had ATON of things to say about the theme, and to find out what those were, and to get Jean's alternate take on the same, you are cordially invited to download, listen up, and enjoy!

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A series of lively clues made for a vastly entertaining Saturday crossword. Notables include the debut 32A, Neuropsychological trait in which one might ascribe colors to numbers or tastes to words, SYNESTHESIA (!); the thought-provoking 32D, Capricorn's symbol, SEAGOAT 🐐; and the droll 38A, Don't do it, doc!, HARM 😀 

All in all a fine Saturday, and for all the deets - as well as the always exciting selection of this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Do The New York Times Crossword Of The Week Award), have a listen!

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David Distenfeld is on a role. Last month he had a Monday crossword published, and today has weighed in with a tricky Friday puzzle -- just on the right side of impossible (although as always, YMMV depending on a) how long you've been doing the crossword and b) just how much trivia/lore you've managed to stow away). In today's puzzle, the number of pop culture references were mercifully few (at least for Mike, for whom pop culture is definitely his bane).

There were many clever clues in today's grid and ... if you want to know what...

A tricky Thursday crossword - with, surprisingly, no rebus, but transformed by the unexpected appearance of the lowly comma. Jean tore through the crossword so quickly that she didn't even recognize that a theme was in play, whereas Mike had much more time to linger lovingly over the grid and savor the care that went into its creation.

For those of you wanting to go beyond just the facts, here's a reference to the EAPOE story, definitely worth a read (or three), and the origin story behind YAS, queen!

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A perfectly balanced mid-week crossword, with a clever theme, and some novel words/phrases -- 12A, Body of water between Sicily and Greece, IONIANSEA; 53D, Popular booth in New York's Times Square, TKTS; and 45D, Stand that a speaker might take, PODIUM 😀. Another plus, there were almost no naticks (notable exception: 62A, San Bernardino suburb whose name means "beautiful hill", LOMALINDA vs 60D, _____ queen!, YAS).

In short, a fine Wednesday, we give it a full and enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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Today's crossword is based on a suffusion of sneaky prefixes that underline the beauty, and the beautiful inconsistency, of the English language. Also, it's Tuesday, meaning it's time for yet another Triplet Tuesday segment in which Mike demonstrates his lack of, to put it succinctly, knowledge.  Deets inside, so download, listen up ,and enjoy!

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A fun, font-dependent theme makes for an interesting Monday. The font-sizes are almost microscopic, so it may be time to break out that loupe and put it to the test.

In other news, we have a Triplet Tuesday Contest Winner! Kudos and congrats to Lindsey, for having turned in a very respectable 7 (3,2,2, to be precise)!! Deets within.

Apologies for having missed our usual Saturday and Sunday episodes, apparently our "fervent desire for our podcast to go viral" was slightly misinterpreted as "please send us a fever and a virus".  All is now well, though, thanks f...

A splendid Friday crossword by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano. Both your intrepid hosts, solving independently as always, found this to be a major struggle, with challenging but rewarding clues scattered throughout the grid. For example, 1D, Time to focus on oneself. MEDAY (not to be confused with the equally likely SPADAY -- equally likely in the sense that both have appeared 3 times in the NYTimes Crossword); 21D, Brainstorming diagram, IDEAMAP (my, we have been seeing MAP pop up a lot as of late, Will must be planning a trip 😀); 32D, Musician's mouthpiece, AGENT (cute!); 1A, Powdered green tea, MATCHA (huh!); and...

A challenging Thursday crossword, with a great EINSTEINIAN theme, all revolving around that famous equation, EEQUALSMCSQUARED. Deets are inside, so download, have a listen, and let us know what you think.

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If you like astronomy, you'll love today's crossword: it offers up  some, um, heavenly cluing . The theme revolves (sorry) around a number of famous constellations, and the result is a very pleasing, perfect middle-of-the-week puzzle.

All the deets are inside, so download, listen up, and ... don't forget to subscribe, so you'll never miss an episode.

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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.

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A fun Tuesday crossword by Margaret Seikel, with a theme that involves (if you didn't already guess it from the title) a peace emoji. Besides our in depth analysis of this fine puzzle, today's episode also includes ... drum roll, please ... our Triplet Tuesday Contest™️. So, have a listen, join in the contest, and then let us know how you did - crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.

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A debut crossword by Catherine Cetta, and a fine one it is, with a theme that'll make you want to smile, and fairly gentle cluing (as one would expect for a Monday). There were a few exceptions, including several clues that are on the rarer side, including 3D, Picture frames, usually, RECTANGLES (makes sense);  16A, Thomas Jefferson's religious belief, DEISM, and 17A, Shared a video call on an Apple device, FACETIMED. 

Remember that our Triplet Tuesday Contest is coming right up -- tomorrow, in fact -- so grab your thinking cap and get ready to win fabulous priz...

A great Sunday crossword by Will Nediger, with a brilliant theme surrounded by an equally brilliant cast of supporting clues and answers. Will is a professional crossword constructor, and based on today's delightful puzzle we can see exactly why people would be willing to pay him for his art. Deets inside, so download, listen up, and enjoy!

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A remarkable Saturday crossword, not so much because of the clues - they were fabulous, as you would expect based on the NYTimes incredibly strict quality control - but because of the grid, a virtual ocean of white with almost no black squares. Making a crossword with such an open grid is no mean feat, but Carter Cobb's cracked the code, as we detail in today's episode. So, have a listen, and let us know what you think!

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A crossword so good that adjectives fail us -- but we still have  nouns, verbs, and alliterations at our disposal to heap praise as the author  fires a furious fusillade of fabulous, funny clues. This is truly a masterclass in great crossword construction. The author, Jacob McDermott, has "only" had 5 crosswords published in the NYTimes, but this one ought to count for 50. In short, we approve.

To see this Mona Lisa in its entirety, check out the filled out grid at xwordinfo.com

Remember our next Triplet Tuesday Contest is coming up ... this Tuesday. So st...

A very challenging Thursday crossword by a veteran NYTimes cruciverbalist, aka David J. Kahn. Jean managed to get through it in close to her usual time, hardly breaking a 25D, Drops in the gym?, SWEAT; Mike did eventually solve the puzzle, but was surprised when he finally stumbled upon the final, vital correct answer in the SE corner, never a good sign.

For those of you who want to check out today's crossword, fully solved, xwordinfo.com has your back.

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A slightly sticky Wednesday crossword, possibly because of all the  alcoholic products, many of them SECO, that have dripped into today's grid - CUPS of beer, KIR, RIOJA, and even DEW. We have the deets inside, so download, listen up and enjoy!

Also, we wish to highlight that we'll be having YATTC (Yet Another Triplet Tuesday Contest), this coming Tuesday (or Noodle's Grand Opening Eve, as it's known in NE Wisconsin), so start practicing now so you'll be in peak form!

Finally, if you want to check out today's crossword, you can do so right he...

Today's crossword, by Lucido ... Aimee Lucido, is an homage of sorts to one of the most famous fictional British spies of all time. We can't reveal his name here (he's a spy, after all), so if you want to find out who, and what was being, um, homaging, check out today's episode, which also includes another fabulous edition of Triplet Tuesday™️.

Our favorite website, xwordinfo.com, has the full crossword, filled out, so if you want to follow along more closely as we discuss today's puzzle, please check it out here.

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A crossword that's 99 44/100% pure, and if that phrase doesn't resonate, then you, most definitely, need to listen to today's podcast, at which point all will become clean, um, we mean clear 😀

Tomorrow is Triplet Tuesday, so if you're interested in seeing if you can do better than your co-hosts, have a listen, and let us know how you fared!

Remember, the New York Times Crossword is a fine gift for anyone in your household (including yourself!), Just wander over to nytimes.com/crosswords, and tell 'em Jean & Mike sent ya'.

Finally, today's crossword, in...

This crossword is really -- to borrow from 54A, Baseball slang for home run -- a TATER (our favorite new word for something fabulous). What elevates this NYTimes Crossword from merely brilliant to something stratospherically stunning is the theme: but the surrounding cast of characters, aka the non-themed clues, are themselves terrific. Definitely 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and to find out exactly why, have a listen.

Also, to see this Mona Lisa of a crossword, fully solved, check out xwordinfo.com right here.

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Crosswords have moods - some make you laugh; some (especially the insanely hard ones)  make you want to cry; this one was just infectiously joyous. You'll see (er, make that hear) why when you listen to today's episode, so please subscribe, download, listen up and enjoy!

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Considering the day of the week and the names of the constructors -- Malaika Handa and Erik Agard -- it was not surprising that the cohosts  had to dig for pretty much every clue:  from 49A, Where the first five counting numbers are "üks kaks kolm neli viis", ESTONIA, to 50D, Man known for his morals, AESOP, to 56A, Lead in to MAIL or BOX, VOICE, it was a major slogfest, but they are not complaining in the least!

Want to see the entire crossword, solved? Here you go!

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A splendid Thursday crossword by Michael Schlossberg -- and somehow "splendid" and "Michael Scholossburg" seem to appear together quite frequently, this being his 7th NYTimes crossword since 2020. The theme was a rebus with a twist, and if that sounds intriguing, wait 'til you hear the details. Ah, but you don't need to wait, you can download and listen up right now.

Today's crossword? We have the whole solution right here, courtesy of xwordinfo.com

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If you're a HITCHCOCK fan, or a Jimmy STEWART or Kim NOVAK stan, then today's crossword will be right up your alley, as the theme revolves around HITCHCOCK's most famous (?) work, VERTIGO. Both cohosts found this puzzle to be, aptly enough, somewhat dizzying, but they did manage to (eventually) puzzle it out. Deets inside, so download, have a listen, and as always, let us know what you think.

Today's crossword, in all its glory, is available, solved, right here.

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A fun Tuesday crossword, and we had fun talking about it, as even a perfunctory listen to today's episode will reveal.  So have a listen, and, as always, let us know what you think, and please do something to make this episode go viral!

Want to see the entire crossword, solved? Here you go.

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There appeared to be, along with the explicit and enjoyable main theme, there is a sub-theme involving Star Wars - witness 9D, Humanoid robot who appears in all nine "Star Wars" episodes, informally, THREEPIO, 17A, Childhood nickname for Darth Vader, ANI,  and 52D, Decide one will, OPTTO (which has a decidedly Yoda-ish sound to it). So, two themes for the price of one, sounds like a great deal to us!

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A crossword that's sure to be a hit with English teachers everywhere, today's rather subtle -- almost to the point of invisible -- theme reminds us of the importance of proper punctuation. There were numerous other noteworthy gems in the grid, including 97A, Twisted do, LOCS ; 92A, Muppet bear, FOZZIE; and  40D, Oviform:egg :: pyriform:____, PEAR (huh!). And there's more where those came from -- for all the deet's, um, we mean deets, check out today's episode, and, as always let us know what you think!

Today's crossword, fully solved, is available right here.

C...