Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A twisty sort of Sunday crossword, mainly because of the theme but enhanced by some rather diabolical (as always, in a good way) sort of clues, including 62A, A head, PER; 118A, Brown, for one, IVY ; and 47D, Goal that sends a game into overtime, EVENER. There was also a bevy of pop culture references that are definitely worth checking out, including the vintage 19D, Come on _______ (1982 hit), EILEEN, and the much more contemporary (and very funny) 32A, Boosler who was the first woman comedian to have an hour long comedy special on cable TV, ELAYNE. 

Definitely one of the more challenging Sunday crosswords we've seen in a while, although, as usual your mileage (or if you happen to be reading this in a pro-metric  country, kilometerage) may vary.

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A very sharp Saturday crossword, with sparkling clues / answers, and some LOL moments, including 38D, Whim whams, NERVES (that's a new one!); 12D, "So many _______, so little know" (proverb), ASSUME (see previous clue's comment); and 48D, Monthly releases?, OVA (nice!). We liked this crosswords a lot, hats off to Robert S. Gard for such a fabulous opus.

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A tough Friday crossword -- as Friday crosswords are wont to be -- with clues like 24A, "Skip it!", ROPE (heh, heh); 20D, "Nice to see ya today!", MORNIN (yikes!); and 61A, X, as in Ximenes? (quick, fetch the fainting couch!). 

There were also (for Mike, at least), some major spelling challenges, most notably 16A, Pasta whose names derives from the Italian for "little cakes", TORTOLLONI, er, we mean TORTALLENI, no, wait, that's not right,  .. TORTELLINI, ha!, got it in three 😀 

For Fun Fact Friday, we have a fortuitously timed piece of listener mail that resolves all the loose ends from the last few episodes! Have a listen, and let us know what you think - [email protected]!

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Today's crossword was rebus-free but humor-rich, with a wry undercurrent based on the world's current obsession with all things AI. We believe that this crossword was written by a human being, one Ryan Patrick Smith, and not an AI bot claiming to be Ryan Patrick Smith ... unless ... are all those claims of the former in the grid an example of "me thinks thou dost protest too much"??  To find out the answer (er, maybe), subscribe, download, listen up, and enjoy!

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A nice Wednesday crossword by Blake Slonecker, with a surprising number of answers that just raised more questions (all of which we cover, of course, in the podcast). There were a few great clues that didn't quite make into that episode, though, including 60A, In the public eye, SEEN (duh!); the droll 28D, Lights up?, IRRADIATES; and 37D, Dirt-digging research, for short, OPPO (fun to say, not quite as fun to contemplate).

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A noble Tuesday crossword, one that reminds us (multiple times) of the virtues of having a BFF. The grid was teeming with good clues, including 11D, End piece?, CODA (heh, heh); 40D, Ficus that produces sweets favored by a 44-across, FIGTREE (we just like the word ficus!); and 32D, "Ooh, tell us everything!", DOSAY (we can hear the poshness in the voice from 20 paces 😀).

In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday -- Jean's up to (FRUIT)BAT -- and we have listener mail, recommending a fine Ok Go video, so hit subscribe, download, and enjoy!

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Any crossword that works BLOOP,  DUPE and PEEKABOO  into the grid (4A, Baseball hit just over the infield;  46A, Pull a fast one on; and 37D, Game for an infant, respectively) has our sincere respect and admiration -- and even more because of a theme that is clearly in the ascendant, which will make more sense once you've heard the podcast or solved this fine puzzle by Tom Pepper and Zhouqin Burnikel.

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For those of you who spend waaaay too much time in front of a computer screen, you should have a leg up as you solve this crossword (especially if you're doing so in a hammock 🙄). Beyond the 21st century theme, there were some great clues, such as 118A, A little help around the holidays, ELF (heh, heh); 50A, It ain't just a river in Egypt!, DENIAL (ouch!); and 61A, Frozen yogurt mix-in, OREO (and a fond welcome-back to  the official cookie of the NYTimes Crossword!).

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A nice Saturday crossword by Rebecca Goldstein, with some curious clues such as 30A, Call from a server, maybe, ADIN (we're still trying to work that one out!!); the magnificent 44A, Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year in 2022, describing an unapologetically self-indulgent state, GOBLINMODE (delightful!); and the devious 28D, "Just the check", IMSET. All in all a great crossword, and Rebecca's debut Saturday puzzle (she's had 9, all told).

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This crossword, ITSABEAUT, and we're not just saying that because that happens to be the answer to 11D, "Would you look at that!". The grid is just effervescent,  and includes an amazing 10 debuts (including ITSABEAUT). It also includes what has become, within 30 seconds of starting to listen to it, Mike's favorite group, OKGO (4D, Indie group band whose name is a two-word command). There is, in short, a lot to love in today's crossword, definitely a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and definitely a contender for tomorrow's JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). 

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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, [email protected].

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