Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

A pun-powered crossword, taking full advantage of the many homophones that involve the sound AIR / ERR / HEIR / EYRE. Beyond that, and beyond those discussed in today's episode, we would be remiss if we didn't pay homage to 12D, One of three in the foreground of "American Gothic", TINE. Nice!

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A splendid Tuesday crossword, with an interesting theme, lots of fun and educational clues, this might be the first winner of what we are inventing at this very moment, the well known (ha!) and very prestigious JAMCOTWA (that's the Jean & Mike Crossword of the Week Award). We'll let you know for sure on Sunday!

It's also Triplet Tuesday™️, so be sure to listen in and see how Jean fares.

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Traditionally, Mondays are the easiest crosswords of the week, designed to appeal to novice solvers, and today's puzzle certainly lives up to the tradition. It included a lot of old favorites, --  40A, Degs. for entrepreneurs, MBAS;  18A, Taj Mahal locale, AGRA; and 63A, Nintendo competitor, SEGA. It also had, once again, a clue that Mike fell for (insert analogy with Charlie Brown, Lucy, and football  right here), 12D, Prez dispenser?, ATM (ha!). One day he'll spot that ATM clue ... maybe ...

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A gentle Sunday crossword, for one of the dynamic duo (no prize if you  guess which one): the other had one teensy-weensy mistake that, well, if you want to hear the whole edda-esque saga, you know what to do -- download and listen up!

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Beyond the clues dissected in today's episode, there were a few surprising answers lurking in the grid: 41A, People credited with discovering mechanoluminescence, using quartz crystals to generate light, UTE (but still no word as who discovered how to spell it); 22A, Big gun, you might say, BICEP (not, as Mike originally hoped, GIANTSPACELASER); and the at first blush perplexing 4D, Schedule listings, FEES, which may (or may not) be an Ebay thing. Regardless, we liked the crossword overall, and give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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A Goldilocks of a Friday crossword - not too easy, not too hard, but just right - thanks to the talents of crossword constructor Kate Hawkins, aided and abetted, no doubt, by editor Will Shortz. Any grid that can include 50A, _______ Yaga (folklore villain),  BABA. deserves our respect, and we give it - 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

In other news, it's Fun Fact Friday, and for a refresher on just about everyone's favorite heavy metal band, aka IRONMAIDEN, download and listen up.

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True or false: this was a tricky crossword. True! And false! In fact the grid was littered with true and false answers, an ingenious gimmick courtesy of Chase Dittrich. To get the full 411, just hit the ol' download button and enjoy.

On a side note, without giving away the entire store, here's a page that may help with today's crossword: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/crosswords/yes-you-can-write-more-than-one-letter-in-a-square.html

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A crunchier than usual Wednesday puzzle, both Jean & Mike had trouble in the north central and southeast parts of the grid. Jean was particularly stymied by her nemesis, the rebus, while Mike was almost done in by his fixation on ELO. For the details of this epic struggle, and how it turned out, download and listen up to today's episode!

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Eric Bornstein simultaneously cashes in his chips and hits one out of the ballpark, with a financially-themed crossword with a baseball sub-theme (if two clues constitute a sub-theme, and we say yes). It's also Triplet Tuesday, so to find out if Mike got a single, double, triple, or just fouled out, you'll have to click on the ol' download button and the even ol'er play button.

As usual, feedback is welcome -- drop us a line at [email protected] to let us know what you think.

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A fine introduction to the problem solving week, Stella Zawistowski turns in a puzzle with some gentle cluing, and a cute theme, a great puzzle for those new to the New York Times crossword scene -- and if that's you, welcome!! 

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