Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Put on your sunglasses before attempting this crossword, because it's based on a BRIGHTIDEA -- literally! There were a few other answers that glowed, in a manner of speaking: 14A, What magma becomes when it's erupted, LAVA; 35A, Light on a nightstand, LAMP; and 52A, "Suns" of some breakfasts, EGGYOLKS. 

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Today's crossword featured a number of rare-ish answers, making this a bit crunchier than usual for a Sunday. Notable examples include 60A, Brooklyn art school, PRATT; 100D, Country that's more than 2,600 miles long, CHILE; 70A, Latin "Behold!", ECCE; and 20A, Character who lives on the "tippy-top floor" of the Plaza Hotel, ELOISE; and there's more, which you can see in the grid and hear about in today's podcast.

Just a reminder, solving the NYTimes Crossword is a proven strategy for reversing (and possibly learning how to spell) senescence, so wander over to nytimes.com/crosswords, subscribe, and you can start reversing today!

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Ryan McCarty does not hold back (much) in today's uber-challenging Saturday crossword, pegging both the difficulty and deceptivity meters multiple times. We have full coverage inside, so have a listen for that -- as well as the announcement of this week's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). Enjoy!

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A fine Friday crossword by Adrian Johnson, his 5th NYTimes Crossword contribution. Considering that 39A, Pub ________, TRIVIA, was one of the answers, it should not be surprising that quite a few factoids made their way into the grid. For example ... 19A, Novelist whose "Little Fires Everywhere" became a #1 best seller, CELESTENG (parsed as Celeste Ng, with the "Ng" being pronounced as "ing"). We also had 21A, Bird whose largest species is called the Goliath. HERON; and 46A, Romanian philosopher Cioran, EMIL.

For our Fun Fact Friday / Listener Mail Double-Dipping special, we also have a fascinating video of Justin Bieber's early drumming attempts.

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A fine Thursday crossword and a debut for John Donegan. That's why we didn't recognize the name, but we did recognize the tight quality control common to all NYTimes crosswords. Just take a look at a few awesome touches: 6A, Character who nails a doubloon to the Pequod's mast, AHAB, sitting right above 15A, Surfer's wish, WAVE (perfect!); and 17A, First name in cosmetics, ESTEE, crossing 3D, Salad, sometimes, but soup, rarely, ENTREE (brilliant!); and the thirst-quenching 42D, Slice, e.g., SODA (ha, we saw what you did there!). 

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Aimee Lucido has crafted an excellent Wednesday crossword, with a catchy theme and a plethora of superb clues, a truly outstanding work. Need proof? Have a listen to today's podcast and we are sure that you will agree, or, if not, your money will cheerfully be refunded 😀 

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Today we are presented with an amusing and well-timed Tuesday crossword by Daniel Grinberg (ably edited, as always, by Will Shortz, may his beard, if he has one, grow ever longer). It manages to STAYCLASSY and never has us thinking its TIMEFORACHANGE, for a variety of reasons outlined in today's grid. Beyond those, we'd like to give a shoutout to a few other fine clues, including 60D, Music genre that influenced The Clash, SKA; 37D, One whose taste buds may not crave Buds, BEERSNOB (nice!); and 9D, TV character George who says "I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I got it all!", COSTANZA (😀). 

In short, a great crossword, and clearly meriting the highest score, aka 5 squares, on the JAMCR scale.

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Today's crossword was the epitome of a marvelous Monday crossword - a cute theme,  and some fine clues. We particularly liked the juxtaposition of 1A, Handle difficult matters satisfactorily, COPE, and 1D, Club in a Barry Manilow hit, informally, COPA

We take our usual deep dive through the grid in  today's episode, so please subscribe / download / listen up / enjoy!

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A fine Sunday crossword, Robert Ryan's third in the NYTimes, with a punny theme surrounded by a fine supporting cast of clues, including 85D, Fox coverage?, FUR; 82A, Object with one hole or two, depending on who you ask, TUBE 😀 ; 68A, Head for business?, CEO 😀 😀; 64D, Shares ones bunk?, LIES 😀 😀 😀 ; and the list goes on, and on. To see that list in its entirety, checkout xwordinfo.com (if you haven't solved the crossword already). 

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A fine debut crossword by Kelly Morenus, which our cohosts solved in (choose one) 
a) comically different amounts of time 
b) exactly the same time
c) trick question: they got stuck, because neither knew how to spell IDOMENEO

The correct answer is ... ah, that would be telling! To find out, download today's episode, have a listen, and as usual, tell others about us on social media.

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