Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword MP
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- Fritid
A short, fun and occasionally not unintentionally educational podcast in which two fans of the New York Times crossword describe their puzzle-solving travails.
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Tuesday, April 30, 2024 - BREADFRUIT, definitely a food with an identity crisis
The record does not state whether Michèle Govier, the constructor of today's crossword, was hungry when she set to work, but the presence in the grid of PEAS, NILLA, OREO, BREADFRUIT, TARO, and, as a topping, OREGANO, does make us wonder. What we are not wondering about is the quality of this crossword - excellent, 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Our justification is as close as your download button, and as a bonus you can check out Jean's epic struggle in today's Triplet Tuesday™️ segment.
Show note imagery: GIBRALTAR, a British territory visible from Africa
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 strike up a conversation! -
Monday, April 29, 2024 - No HUEANDCRY about this crossword, it was awesome!
Another day, another debut crossword, this one by Tom Locke -- who has published in other well-known venues before, but this is indeed his first in the NYTimes. In the best tradition of NYTimes Monday crosswords, the theme was amusing, understated (certainly compared to its flashy Thursday sibling), and not too difficult to souse out. Deets inside, so have a listen, don't forget to subscribe, and please tell others about us on social media.
Show note imagery: A pair of BLUEWHALEs looking, well, a bit BLUE
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 strike up a conversation! -
Sunday, April 28, 2024 - WIZKHALIFA, an unsurprisingly very tall rapper 😀 🗼
Today's crossword, a debut in the NYTimes by Mike Ellison, was a relatively gentle Sunday crossword with a host of curious clues, such as 94A, Hats worn by Napoleon, BICORNES; 86A, Golf gimme, TAPIN (not to be confused with last Thursday's golf phrase, HOLESOUT); 80A, Settings for timers, OVENS (nice!!); and the fine 53A, Needles holder, CONIFER (awesome!!). An auspicious debut indeed, and we look forward to many more contributions from Mr. Ellison.
Show note imagery: The Three Musketeers - Aramis, ATHOS, and Porthos
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 strike up a conversation! -
Saturday, April 27, 2024 - EXTRAEXTRA, in the grid and how long it'll take to solve this magnificent Saturday crossword
A challenging Saturday crossword by Rich Norris - his 188th!! -- with a nice mix of deceiving and educational clues. Examples of the former include 2D, "Say no more", ONIT, and the aforementioned 26D, "Do I have news for you!", EXTRAEXTRA. Latter examples include 17A, Like some coins, BIMETALLIC (huh), and 7D, NASA rocket since 1957, ATLAS.
Today is Saturday, meaning it's time to announce this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award), and this week the winner was ... nope, no spoilers here: check out the podcast, though, all will be revealed there.
Show note imagery: LOME, the capital of Togo, in the Gulf of Guinea
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 strike up a conversation! -
Friday, April 26, 2024 - This crossword was the CREMA de la CREMA!
This was a delightful Friday crossword courtesy of Matthew Stock and Christina Iverson (with Joel Fagliano ably editing). It had plenty of crunch, thanks to SCADS of challenging clues -- 43A, Porto-Novo's country, BENIN; 28D, Contend, HOLD; and 28A, Second hand, HELPER (😀) -- but they were reasonably fair (for a Friday!), and both cohosts concur that this crossword was worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.
It's Friday, time for Fun Fact Friday! We won't tell you the fact right here, other than to hint that you might want to don a monocle before listening.
Show note imagery: The great game of PLINKO
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 strike up a conversation! -
Thursday, April 25, 2024 - 🎶 The name's MCRAE ... Carmen MCRAE 🎶
Just when you thought that the PHENOMs who construct NYTimes Crosswords couldn't possibly come up with one more theme, they ... come up with one more theme, and this one, by Hanh Huynh, is so novel that it deserves a standing ovation. Have a listen, and you'll see why!
A reminder that the entire crossword, filled out and with clues, is available at xwordinfo.com. When listening to this podcast, if you haven't filled out the grid yourself, you'll probably find the convo a lot easier to follow if you have that open first, it is one awesome resource for cruciverbalists (that's you!) everywhere.
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 strike up a conversation!