Latest Word play Podcast Episodes
Thursday, May 23, 2024 - Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 24, 2024 02:00 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. We don't normally namedrop Shakespearean quotes, but we are inspired by today's highly twisty-turny theme that looks like it might take 100 years or so to construct, but Adam Wagner managed to pull it off in well under a decade 😉 While the theme is certainly the center o...
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - Finally, the DEBUGGER gets its due!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 23, 2024 01:00 - 10 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Today's crossword had eight, count'em, eight debut answers, including every computer programmer's favorite, DEBUGGER, the unsung hero of software development. A number of other clues didn't make it into the grid but deserve a shoutout, including 61A, Currently happening...
Tuesday, May 21, 2024 - Today's crossword is LIT!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 22, 2024 01:00 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Tuesday's crossword, just like the child in the nursery rhyme, is full of grace -- and we mention nursery not just to name drop but because it is an essential component of today's puzzle. Intrigued? We thought you might be, but in the interests of keeping your IL (Intrig...
Monday, May 20, 2024 - A-tten-hut! CAPTAINOBVIOUS wants to say a few (obvious) words!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 21, 2024 01:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. A delightfully wry Monday theme courtesy of Jack Scherban, and if that name doesn't ring a bell that's because this crossword marks his debut in the NYTimes, so congrats, Jack! There were a few answers in the grid that haven't been seen in a while - 11D, Comic actress Ma...
Sunday, May 19, 2024 - Mmmm, pass the ADOBO!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 20, 2024 01:00 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Somewhat akin to Robert Frost's "two roads diverged in a yellow wood", Jean & Mike's solves diverged, with Jean tearing through today's crossword, and Mike coming to a screeching halt (with him supplying most of the screeching). The reason for this is, as long time liste...
Saturday, May 18, 2024 - Hey, where'd all the black squares go? 😀
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 19, 2024 01:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Today's crossword looked daunting - a sea of white squares, and two 3-stack sets of grid-spanning answers. But while our first reaction was 36A, [Uh-oh], GULP, and our second reaction was 59A, "I'm speechless", THEREARENOWORDS", we used our 15D, Spots for berets, TETES,...
Friday, May 17, 2024 - A Fast (but not Furious) Friday crossword
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 18, 2024 02:00 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. A relatively straightforward Friday crossword by Hermann Mehta, but an admirable addition to the pantheon nonetheless. Now, based on the Law of Conservation of Crossword Difficulty (first theorized by one A. Einstein, if memory serves), this means that Saturday's crosswo...
Thursday, May 16, 2024 - EDIE, LIEV, OWEN, ALEC and ISSA - this grid is *brimming* with actors!!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 17, 2024 01:00 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Although today's' theme has nothing to do with actors, quite a few of them popped up in today's grid.There were some LOL clues / answers as well, and let us not gloss over some very nice pairings in the grid -- EDIE v. EDDY, LIEV v. ALEVE, those surely can't ONE, um, we ...
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 - HAPPYBDAY -- which, statistically speaking, will apply to 1/365th of all of you reading this! 😉
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 16, 2024 01:00 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. A middle-of-the-road crossword for the middle of the week, MaryEllen Uthlaut has made a bbbbbedazzling puzzle -- and the reason for all those extra b's will bbbbbecome apparent as soon as you check out today's episode, so ... do it now! Show note imagery: A 10 BAHT coin...
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - Bring on the TRUNKSHOW!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 15, 2024 00:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Alex Eaton-Salners, a grizzled veteran with 67 (!) NYTimes crosswords to his credit, has produced a fine Tuesday crossword for our edification and entertainment. There was a fine theme and excellent surrounding cast of clues, including a few that we couldn't squeeze into...
Monday, May 13, 2024 - Fore!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 14, 2024 03:00 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. For those of you who can think of nothing better to do than spend a morning out on the links -- and if an image of giant sausages just sprung to mind, you are not the people we had in mind 😀 -- you are going to love today's puzzle, especially the theme (nudge, nudge, wi...
Sunday, May 12, 2024 - Happy Mother's Day!! 👩👧
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 13, 2024 01:00 - 19 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. A delectable Mother's Day present from Avery Gee Katz, a crossword that one of our cohosts found to be just a trifle difficult, and the other found to be like scaling Mount Everest barefoot, but harder. We will let you mull over who found what what, and then invite you t...
Saturday, May 11, 2024 - A Blissful Saturday Crossword
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 12, 2024 01:00 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. The author of today's crossword seems to specialize in Saturday puzzles - this is his 4th, out of a total of 8 published in the NYTimes - and the clueing is definitely what one would expect on a Saturday. Check out today's podcast, and you'll see what we mean. We also ...
Friday, May 10, 2024 - Woo-hoo, TRIESTE is in the grid ... for the 100th time!!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 11, 2024 01:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. A great debut crossword by Jesse Cohn - and debuting on a Friday is no mean feat, but one look at this puzzle will convince you that it is a fine addition to the pantheon, filled with a bevy of great clues and answers. Deets inside, all for your listening pleasure! Show...
Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Are you sure o' about the spelling of CHURRO? 🙄
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 10, 2024 01:00 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. A delightfully difficult Thursday crossword by Joe DiPietro, a constructor who has a reputation for precisely those sorts of puzzles. The theme? A+. The rest of the grid? A+. The entire crossword? A++, or as we like to say it, 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Beyond our ta...
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - The weather's looking iffy, better break out the ... ARCTICS??
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 09, 2024 01:00 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Yet another Michael Schlossberg crossword, and while we are certainly elated to see it, we can't help but ponder whether the good doctor is truly giving his patients all the attention that they deserve, or whether he might be thinking, "Let's see what theme could I make ...
Tuesday, May 7, 2024 - A crossword that's guaranteed to apPEAL 😉
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 08, 2024 01:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. The title of today's episode will make more sense, and seem even more hilarious - - we promise! -- once you've listened to today's episode, covering a fine debut crossword by Justin Werfel. So have at it, and after you've done so, either drop us a line at crosswordpodcas...
Monday, May 6, 2024 - Button, Button, who's got the Button?
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 07, 2024 01:00 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. The NYTimes crossword is, of course, a delight to try and solve, but we also appreciate the opportunities it offers to explore the nooks and crannies of language, culture, history, and the like. Today's episode is a case in point, where serendipity brings us to the door ...
Sunday, May 5, 2024 - Three, Two, One, Crossword!!! 🚀
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 06, 2024 01:00 - 24 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. For those of you who are of the space-faring persuasion, today's crossword is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, as the theme consists of a series of punny (of course: it's Sunday!), rocket-related entries. ELTONJOHN manages to make an appearance, he of ROCKETMAN fa...
Saturday, May 4, 2024 - WABISABI, beautiful to behold, a struggle to spell
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 05, 2024 01:00 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. A relatively straightforward Saturday compared to the last few, but we are not complaining! The clues were still a challenge, and the answers entertaining, with nary a drop of crosswordese to taint the grid. We approve, and indeed, approve so much that this crossword is ...
Thursday, May 2, 2024 - In praise of SISAL!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 03, 2024 01:00 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. As today's podcast makes abundantly clear, our cohosts had entirely different experiences solving today's puzzle. One of us (hint: the one with the higher voice) breezed through it, the other (hint: the one with the even higher voice when stressed) moved through it like ...
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - Happy May Day!!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 02, 2024 00:00 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. If you are allergic, you might want to brace yourself before tackling today's crossword, because it is quite flowery and fragrant, all in aid of a theme that we found ... flowery, fragrant, and fun. Deets inside, so have a listen, and let us know what you think! Show no...
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 - BREADFRUIT, definitely a food with an identity crisis
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - May 01, 2024 02:00 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. 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 ...
Monday, April 29, 2024 - No HUEANDCRY about this crossword, it was awesome!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - April 30, 2024 02:00 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. 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 ...
Sunday, April 28, 2024 - WIZKHALIFA, an unsurprisingly very tall rapper 😀 🗼
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - April 28, 2024 01:00 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. 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, Se...
Saturday, April 27, 2024 - EXTRAEXTRA, in the grid and how long it'll take to solve this magnificent Saturday crossword
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - April 28, 2024 01:00 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. 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, Li...
Friday, April 26, 2024 - This crossword was the CREMA de la CREMA!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - April 27, 2024 01:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. 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 (...
Thursday, April 25, 2024 - 🎶 The name's MCRAE ... Carmen MCRAE 🎶
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - April 26, 2024 01:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. 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! ...
Wednesday, April 24, 2024 - MAMMAMIA, this was an *awesome* Wednesday crossword!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - April 25, 2024 01:00 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Jeffrey Martinovic has graced the pages of the NYTimes before, and one glance at this crossword will tell you why he was invited back - a splendid piece of work, a brilliant (and helpful) theme, with an ARMY (60A, Host) of educational and entertaining clues. Those includ...
Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - ELVIS might've left the building, but he's still in the grid!
Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword - April 24, 2024 01:00 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 24 ratingsSend us a Text Message. Judy Bower's debut crossword has much to commend it, including 45D, Word with bad or blood, SPORT; 34D, Certain Scotsman, GAEL; 38D, "Ha, no surprise there!", IKNEWIT; and, of course, the awesome theme of which we have more to say inside, so to speak. Show note imagery...
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