Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

This marks John Kugelman's fifth NYTimes crossword of the year, and it's only May! The man is clearly the embodiment of prolific, but it's not just quantity, it's quality, as today's crossword clearly illustrates. We have all the deets inside, so have a listen, and don't forget to leave us a 5 star review on your favorite podcast app.

Show note imagery: The Houston Colt .45s (from 1962 to 1964: in 1965 they were rebranded as the Houston Astros)

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This was a clever mid-week crossword by Dario Salvucci. The theme was fun, there was just the right number of "huh, who knew?" clues for a Wednesday, and Dario deserves bonus points for throwing in one of our favorite words —Rapscallion — into the mix. Bravo!

Show note imagery: The Chrysler Building, which for 11 months reigned as the tallest building in the world.

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Today's crossword is by Brad Lively, who now has one crossword in each of the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday slots. We're placing our bets that his fourth crossword will be a Friday (but we have absolutely no inside knowledge, promise!). We found Brad's puzzle to be straightforward, but replete with several fascinating factoids that we detail in today's podcast (no spoilers here!).

In today's Triplet Tuesday segment, Mike's in the hot seat ... but not necessarily on fire 😉

Show note imagery: The Invisible Hand of the Free Market, something you'd definitely learn about while studying the dismal science.

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Timed just perfectly to match the mini-heatwave about to ravage NE Wisconsin (temperatures might get up to 90°F😱), Anthony V. Grubb has shown up with a crossword that is, in its own way, on fire — thanks to clues like 68A, Back of a car or front of an elephant, TRUNK (nice one!); 45D, Gimmicky routines, SCHTICKS (oy vey!); and the terrific 70A, Place of buzziness?, HIVE (BEEauty 😀).

Besides today's crossword, we also have our weekly JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) segment. Check it out to see if your favorite(s) won.

Show note imagery: The Scoville Scale, always handy when you're dining at Chipotle 😀 

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David Steinberg is definitely a child prodigy when it comes to crosswords. His first NYTimes crossword was published in 2011, when he was (does some math) approximately 14 years old. Constructing any crossword is a challenge — constructing one, while a teen, that can get into the NYTimes ... is extraordinary. David didn't rest on his laurels, though: this is his 113th(!) NYTimes crossword.

Show note imagery: Some of the apps you might be using if you're ONTHEAPPS

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Kameron Austin Collins specializes in end-of-the-week-and-nigh-well-impossible crosswords. His talents are on full display today, a crossword with very few black squares, a lot of longish-answers, and a whole host of highly cryptic clues designed to obfuscate and bamboozle. We may need some time to recover before tackling our next KAC puzzle, but we look immensely forward to it whenever it shows up.

Show note imagery: The Gashlycrumb Tinies, by Edward GOREY

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This was Gene Louise De Vera's sixth NYTimes Crossword, and his Friday debut. Both cohosts found the clues to be quite lively — fun but not fraught, as far as streaks are concerned. Apart from those clues covered in the podcast, we would like to draw your attention to a very NYTime-ish sort of clue, 17D, Carnivora or Lagomorpha, ORDER; the retro 33A, "Neato!", OHCOOL; and the implicit spelling challenge wrapped into 51A, Philosopher William of _________, OCCAM.

Besides the crossword, we have a great Fun Fact Friday™️ segment for your enjoyment, so have a listen, and let us know what you think!

Show note imagery: Some scrumptious CAKESICLES

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This was a good mid-week crossword by Kathleen Duncan — her second for the NYTimes. We liked many of the clues in today's puzzle, but our favorites had to be 28D, Big to-do, HOOHA; the old-timey 63A, "Seems right," folksily, RECKONSO; and a debut, 38D, Epitome of slowness, MOLASSES.

Show note imagery: CLARA Bow, silent movie star in, among other works, Wings, which in 1929 won the very first Academy Award for Best Picture.

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For those of you keeping track, Brad Wiegmann, author of today's very fine puzzle, has as of today published an NYTimes crossword every day of the week except ... Saturday! So, he's just one acceptance letter away from "hitting for the cycle", and we imagine that, at this very moment, Brad is trying to think up some dastardly difficult clues. In the meantime, the clues that he dreamt up for today's crossword were excellent — as you will hear in today's podcast.

Show note imagery: Behold, a PENTATONICSCALE

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How she does it remains a mystery, but Rena Cohen has a definite knack for crafting wonderfully clever and gentle themes, embedded in a grid with some fine answers — today's crossword being an excellent case in point.

We were shocked by 54D, Marsupial often mistermed a "bear", KOALA (wait: you mean all those zoo signs are lying to us?!); inspired by the phlegmatic 46A, "___ Calm and Carry On", KEEP (yay, Britain!); and another useful factoid, 56D, There are 100 of these in every Scrabble game, TILES (and at least twice that many behind the sofa 😀).

Show note imagery: The Code of Hammurabi, written about 1753 BC, evidently before "leniency" had entered the Babylonian lexicon.

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