Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

There were plenty of fireworks in this New Year's Eve crossword, some sparkling clues, and some brilliant answers (as always). Jean tore through it in good time, Mike took it a bit more sedately but still managed to emerge victorious. For all the deets, and a fascinating fun fact for Fun Fact Friday, download and listen up.

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On this New Year's Eve Eve, we have a fine crossword by John Ewbank -- starting with that always tricky question when it comes to 1A, Flatbread from India -- is it NAAN or ROTI?  (today it's ROTI) all the way to the slippery 68A, Coaster, SLED. Jean had to dig for the answer to 39A, Sounder, SANER, while Mike felt slightly vertiginous parsing 52D, Have because of, OWETO -- but fortunately he always solves crosswords sitting down, and recovered quickly.

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The perfect Wednesday crossword -- fun theme, some slightly tricky and in some cases LOL clues, who could ask for anything more?  To find out precisely why it deserves all this praise,  you know what to do -- download and listen up!

A reminder that these podcasts are easier to follow if you have the solved crossword in hand. If you don't, wander over to xwordinfo.com to see the clues and completed grid -- and tell 'em Jean & Mike sent ya!

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Opinions are divided on today's crossword - Jean thought it fine, and tore through it in about 7 minutes, whereas Mike didn't even understand the theme, and only managed to eke out a victory by channeling his deep knowledge of  Cuban dance moves. In other news, it's Triplet Tuesday, so to hear Jean strut her stuff, intellectually speaking, all you need to do is download and listen up.

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Adam Aaronson apparently looked within for inspiration, because today's grid is chock-full of answers that start with AA. If we were to grade this puzzle then, we'd definitely have to give it an A ... and then another A ... in short, an AA!

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An extra crunchy Sunday crossword, mainly due to a clever theme, recognition of which genuinely helped with the solve. Jean had a little trouble, being a little too HIP when the answer was merely HEP, and Mike struggled at 85D, One hanging around Queen Elizabeth?, trying to fit PRINCECHARLES into an answer that only had room for a solitary PEARL. Still, a goodly Sunday, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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A tough Saturday crossword: a stack of 3 15-letter answers at the bottom, and a stack of 9-, 11- and 13-letter answers at the top made for a formidable grid. Jean had issues in the top left, and Mike was temporarily enticed into thinking that 1A, Things you might snap on, nowadays, PHOTOAPPS, was PHONEAPPS -- as the crosses for both the T and O were (to him) unknowns. Very sneaky, Mr. Shortz! Still, a good crossword, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Since it's Saturday, that means its time for the JAMCOTWA (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award). To find out who won, simply download and listen up.

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A festively difficult Christmas Eve crossword -- there was no theme, but a bevy of tricky clues that made this a real challenge. Jean struggled in the top-left, but eventually her NEURALNET helped her figure out 13A, Artificial intelligence system based on the human brain, NEURALNET, as well as the rest of the crossword. Mike got temporarily waylaid in the bottom-right, originally answering 40A, Last _____ as CALL, rather than GASP, and he was getting desperate when, with a GASP, he realized the error of his ways.  

Also, it's Fun Fact Friday, and today's episode is simply, well, out of this world.

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Today's puzzle had a tad less of the verbal trickery that we're accustomed to seeing on Thursdays, but it made up for it with a series of puns of admirably bad (by which we mean good) quality. It also did educate, as good crosswords are wont to do -- 67A, What cynophobia is the fear of, DOGS, and 26A, Heath genus that's also a woman's name, ERICA -- are just a few of the examples. For all the deets, though, you'll need to do what countless others have done before -- download and listen up!

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For those who like to geek out on planetary science, you will love today's crossword; and even for those who don't, there's lots to enjoy and discover. We've culled the best clues and answers and included them in the podcast, of course, but on the cutting room floor we left the always dapper-looking 40A, Fist bump, DAP, and the truly great putdown, 50D, "Ridiculous", MYEYE. For all the deets, though, be sure and download and listen up to today's episode.

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