Crossnerds

Rebecca. Brooke. New York Times crossword puzzle reviews. August 30 thru September 5, 2021. EOM.

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Join Rebecca and Brooke and Oscular The Grouch as we crack up and open the last week in New York Times crossword puzzles! August 23-29, 2021.

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Whether you're a teehee, a tehee, a heh heh, har har, haha, or a ROFLcopter, all laughs are welcome this (and every!) week, as Rebecca and Brooke review the New York Times crossword puzzles from 8/16/21 - 8/22/21.

The Lollapuzzoola puzzles and Twitch stream are still available at bemoresmarter.com.

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Ponytails UP, headphones IN, pencils DOWN: it's HOT 'NERDS SUMMER, Crossbabes! BexVex and Bballstar09946 are back puzzling out the last week in New York Times crosswords (08/09/21 - 08/15/21). Featuring appearances by KEKE Palmer, UHH, and 😑!

Oh btw if you're free this Saturday, August 21, join Brooke, Sid, and Brian at Lollapuzzoola 2021.

Enjoying Crossnerds? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Rebecca Neipris and Brooke Husic review New York Times crossword puzzles from 7/26/21 thru 8/1/21 and talk about other Pressing Issues in Crossworld, but all you really need to hear is DJ Cummerbund & The B-52's "Love Shack (Tik Toxic Remix)." You are welcome.

Enjoying Crossnerds? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in iTunes! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either.

Word-upped:

• Themelesses by Brian Thomas: puzzlesthatneedahome.blogspot.com
• Matthew Stock's 21x's: happylittlepuzzles.com

⭐️✨Star stuff everywhere!✨⭐️ That is what you can expect from this stellar. New. Episode. Of. What? CROSSNERDS! Rebecca Neipris and--in-person in our NYC "studio"--Brooke Husic review the last week in New York Times crossword puzzles (7/19/21 - 7/25/21). Pardon the tangentialos...

If you like us, please rate us stars and comment in iTunes! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either.

Word-upped

• Lollapuzzoola: https://bemoresmarter.com/lollapuzzoola/
• Brooke's puzzle site: xwordsbyaladee.blogspot.com
• Adam Aaronson's puzzles: https://aaronson.org/crosswords/
• Ricky Cruz's Cruzzles: https://cruzzles.blogspot.com/

Ok um sooooo why didn't anyone tell us it's already 2021??? In honor of the [belated] New Year of the Ox, we mic'ed up Milo Beckman (@milobela), constructor of the January 1, 2021 New York Times crossword puzzle; author of the new book Math Without Numbers; and card-carrying try-hard (his words, not ours).

Observed:

• Singaporean chicken-rice is tasty
• Math is about to get schooled
• And more!

Milo's comparison of accepted vs. changed clues: https://twitter.com/milobela/status/1346893142210076672.

Have you ever wondered...

• What makes a crossword, like, good, from an editor's-eye view
• If Laura Braunstein (@laurabrarian) is good at karaoke
• What Laura Braunstein's favorite emoji is
• Whether there is a more graceful option than crying yourself to sleep at night when you've had your a** handed to you at a crossword puzzle tournament?

YES? ME TOO THAT'S SO AMAZING THIS PODCAST IS FOR YOU!!!!!!!

Welcome to Crossnerds' SERENITY NOW special! To distract you from living your worst nightmares, we hit the (digital) books and get absolutely learnt with Laura Braunstein: accomplished constructor, speed-solver, and commentator, plus founder and editor of The Inkubator, which publishes puzzles exclusively by women (cis, trans, and woman-aligned).

Looking for MORE FUN STUFF TO DO?

1. VOTE
2. Wear a mask
3. Subscribe to The Inkubator (@InkubatorXWords) at inkubatorcrosswords.com
4. Take Laura and Jesse Lansner's free online crossword-constructing classes on November 17, 2020 or December 15, 2020.

XOXOXO,

Xnerds.

Welcome to Crossbirds! We've ALIT beside Sid Sivakumar (@sid_sivakumar) who, in just the last three months, made his debut (6/22), dibut (8/8), and tribut (9/3) in the New York Times; celebrated the yearniversary of his indie crossword blog, Sid's Grids; and contributed puzzles to several charity packs and to xword tournament Lollapuzzoola. Meanwhile, I was eating a popsicle. We gab about the wonders of the crossword community, the beauty of indie publishing, and Important Topix such as:

• Lexical gatekeeping
• The dangers of specialization
• Constructor credit as a commodity
• Crosswords vs. Scrabble
• Sizeism (in puzzles, ahem)
• Cryptics in India, Britain, and the US

SUPPORT Crossnerds ON PATREON!

Then visit some of the indie sites word-upped in this episode:

• Themelesses: Bryan Thomas on Puzzles That Need A Home
• Clues to make you smile: Amanda Rafkin's Brain Candy
• Freshest fill: Adam Nicolle, luckystreak xwords
• Puzzles by Crossword Jesus: A-Frame Games
• Brain-benders: Stella Zawistowski's Tough As Nails
• Liz Gorski's Crossword Nation
• Brendan Emmett Quigley
• Happy Little Puzzles by Matthew Stock
• Paolo Pasco's Grids These Days
• Master puzzle newsletter by Matt Gritzmacher

What's it like to write a crossword puzzle for the New York Times, and why does it matter? Co-constructors of Saturday's puzzle and frequent collaborators (and FRIENDS) Brooke Husic and Sid Sivakumar spill the crossbeans on:

• Authorship in crosswords
• The editorial process at the NYT
• The joy of synchronized puzzling
• Plus ever so much more!

Check out Brooke's and Sid's puzzles at Lollapuzzoola 13 (this Saturday, 8/15!) and on Sid's indie puzzle site, sidsgrids.com. They're also active on crossword Twitter: @xandraladee and @sid_sivakumar.

Masks up, ducklings!