Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

It's hard not to like a puzzle that manages to work in 63A, Final creature encountered in "Dr. Seuss's ABC", ZIZZERZAZZERZUZZ, on its way to working a grand total of 40 (count 'em) Z'S into the grid, a genuine tour de forze, um, we mean force. Jean had trouble in the upper right, in particular with 33A, Jurisdiction of a Catholic Church official, DEANERY crossing with 34D, Kilt-wearing Greek infantryman, EVZONE (really?). Mike, meanwhile, worn out by having worked on this puzzle for an embarrassingly large number of hours ( listen to the podcast if you really want to know!),  totally missed the point of 86A, Opportunities to win a vacation on "Wheel of Fortune", PRIZEPUZZLES, instead going for PRICEPUZZLES, unfamiliar, as he was, with the crossing 87D, Victoria Falls river, ZAMBEZI, thinking instead that it was CAMBEZI. 

So, a tough puzzle, with a lot of naticks, but with bonus points for so much RAZZLEDAZZLE, it still earns a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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A thoroughly pleasurable Saturday crossword. Jean got through it fairly expeditiously, never thinking that she'd hit a brick wall anywhere in the grid. Mike flailed around for a time in the lower left corner before MNEMOSYNE heard his prayers and reminded him that, among other things, there never was and never will be any such game as CORNDART. A fine crossword, we give it a happy 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

Just a reminder - to enjoy these podcasts to their fullest, we recommend trying the crossword yourself (nytimes.com/crosswords) first, or if you get stuck, you can find a full solution at xwordinfo.com. But don't peek until you've either peaked or have become piqued 😀 

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A fun Friday crossword, tough but fair, with just a few potential natick sites -- all of which Mike managed to find, and details in this week's episode.

Today's Fun Fact (it is, of course, Fun Fact Friday) was about ambigrams, those wonderful works of art that look the same after being rotated / reflected.

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A very sound Thursday crossword -- and sounds are at its heart, with a number of clues that require you mash sounds together to get an answer. Jean's favorite was 26A, [Lightsaber] + [Impatient fingers] = Boring, HUMDRUM, while Mike was partial to 48A, [Cow] + [Thunder] = Snake eyes, e.g., LOWROLL, not only for the humor but because that was where he cottoned on to the gimmick. A fun solve, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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It's always a good sign when Alex Eaton-Salners' name is on the puzzle, and he does not disappoint today, with a puzzle built to AMUSE. There are multiple answers that when deprived of the circled letter in their midst become their opposite, e.g., 13A, Stay in power, RESIGN (with the S circled), becomes REIGN; and 23A, Hold on to, HEAVE (with the E circled), becomes HAVE. Very cute! There were some other examples of Alex's word-play-prowess at work: 32D, Perfumes with a thurible, CENSES (oh my!), and 52D, Lead-in to self, HER. A pleasant diversion, we give this 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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A geometrically themed crossword, with various ANGLEs making an appearance, at, as one might expect, an angle. Jean solved the crossword in almost record time, but Mike, alas, fixated on the name DEBDUBOIS for considerably longer than he ought to have before finding the correct answer to 7D, Co-founder of the NAACP and author of "The Souls of Black Folk", WEBDUBOIS. A few other noteworthy grid entries include the occurrence of both ALBA (1D, Actress Jessica), and ELBA (12D, Actor Idris with an OBE); and one of our favorite quotes from one of our favorite scientists, 34D, Scientist who said "Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dust", SAGAN. 

It's Triplet Tuesday, so to hear how Mike fared, download and listen up.

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A fun Monday, with a droll theme, revolving around 61A, Guaranteed ... or where you can find the ends to 17A (POLEVAULT), 23A (PENNANDTELLER), 37A (DAYLIGHTSAVINGS), and 50A (BOTTLEDEPOSIT), INTHEBANK. One of the more interesting clues was 51D, River of forgetfulness, in myth, LETHE, interesting because just two days ago we had a reference to the Greek goddess of memory, MNEMOSYNE. Coincidence? Ha! More likely the work of  clever and indefatigable editor Will Shortz. Thank you, Will!

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Most crossword answers are black-and-white - but today's grid had a slew of them in gray, as part of an intricate theme involving cut classes (listen to Jean's stellar explanation for all the deets). There seemed to be a plethora of people populating the grid, such as 117A, Michael _______ of "Ugly Betty", URIE, 125A, "Spy Kids" actress Hatcher, TERI, 115D, Children's book author Blyton, ENID, 16D, Thompson of "Sorry to Bother You", TESSA, 51D, Muralist Riviera, DIEGO, 94D, Human rights lawyer Clooney, AMAL, and the list goes on and on and on! Fortunately, for those not up on modern(ish) culture, the crosses were genuinely helpful. For that truly gray (um, we mean great) theme, we  give this a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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If spelling is not your forte, then perhaps you might want to brace yourself before trying today's crossword. Between 33A, Site of the impact of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, CHICXULUBCRATER,  18A, Greek goddess of memory, MNEMOSYNE, and 33D, Mexican dish named after a small boat, CHALUPA, there were a lot of serious spelling challenges. Jean had issues all over the grid, whereas Mike's were focused in the top-right, having temporarily confused 11D, W.W. II spy grp., OSS, the predecessor of the CIA, with the OSI, a department of the CIA. If only MNEMOSYNE had been willing to help! 

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A gentle Friday, Jean did it in slightly less time than usual, whereas Mike cleaved off 3h5m (if only we were kidding!) from his cataclysmically bad Thursday time.  Jean started off slowly and picked up steam as she went along; Mike found most of the puzzle firmly planted in his wheelhouse, with the exception of the top-right corner (with 16A, Lustrous shell compound, NACRE, and 10D, What genes do, biologically, ENCODE (not, with apologies to biology teachers everywhere, DIVIDE), causing some temporary grief. Kudos to creator Stella Zawistowski, we give this a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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