Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

If you have a fear of painful (aka good) puns then beware, this crossword is likely to cause nightmares. Exhibit A, 17A, "So this red thing, Mom? This is not good.", BEETREPORT, and exhibit B, 63A, "Wow, Mom, this is like at a restaurant! Dibs on the chocolate pudding!", MOUSSECALL. Ouch! We'd continue with exhibits C and D, but they are likely to trigger SOBS and perhaps an OATH or two: but if you are a glutton for pun-ishment, then download and listen up.

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Today's crossword is a panoply of colors: if you solve it correctly on an iPad or on the web, the answers RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO and VIOL:ET become appropriately colored. Even more impressively, they are arranged so that they sweep out an arc, like a rainbow, truly a work of art -- if you don't have access to the solution, do check it out at xwordinfo.com.

There were several new (to us) clues: 69A, Cal's game-winning kickoff return against Stanford in 1982, familiarly, THEPLAY; 89A, Oscar-winning song from "Slumgdog Millionaire", JAIHO; and the ODDLYSATISFYING (sorry, we could not resist reusing that answer from yesterday!) 108A, Harder to grasp, EELIER. 

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The toughest crossword of the week lives up to its reputation, with a stunning array of deceitful clues. Easily the best, and for which the crossword constructors should win either an award or jail time, is 3D, Answer that would be more apt at 10 Down, TOES. What makes this so sneaky is the writing of 10 Down rather than 10-Down. The latter is the NYTimes crossword's convention for clue references: the former, 10 Down, refers to a person's toes. Two other clues of note: 41A, Digital applications?, PRESSONS, 34A, Like popping bubble wrap, for many, ODDLYSATISFYING, not even close to what Mike had originally posited, HIGHLYADDICTIVE. All in all, a great crossword -- definitely a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale -- and for more details, download and listen up!

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In today's episode, Jean finds today's crossword to be a breeze, while Mike sees it as more of a tempest. Both ponder the meaning of 25A, Spirals out over the winter holidays?, HAMS, and their response is 20A, Acknowledgement with a shrug, WELLOK. In today's Fun Fact Friday segment, we learn about the joys of clerihews.

Remember, when listening to this podcast, we recommend you do so with a solved puzzle close at hand. If you don't happen to have one about your person, visit xwordinfo.com, where you can find the entire solved grid and clues -- very handy.

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Jean makes short order of today's crossword, whereas Mike gets tormented in a TANSY garden, nearly snookered  by SNOODS, menaced by MCCOO, and temporarily lured into believing that LECI  Eshkol was the third prime minister of Israel (for the record, it was the eminently more plausible LEVI Eshkol who occupied the office). Still it was a great crossword, we give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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Jean runs into a spot of bother at 41A, Tech that enables contactless credit card payments, RFID, while Mike almost needs the fainting couch upon uncovering the answer to 24A, Decorative items washed up on the beach, SEAGLASS. Also in this episode, the more loquacious of your co-hosts admires 44A, Loquacious, CHATTY, and both are intrigued by 10A, Fleeting romantic interest, FLAVOROFTHEWEEK. Yum!

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Jean attempts to set an indoor speed record for the Tuesday crossword, while Mike prefers to saunter his way through the grid. Both finished and lived to tell the tale, which is precisely what they do in today's episode. Also listen for another exciting Triplet Tuesday adventure, with Mike doing the pitching and Jean at bat.

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In today's crossword, we get a lesson in knowledge (Jean, discussing 2D, 1950's-60's singer Bobby, DARIN, and the tie-in to the Three Penny Opera), and ignorance (Mike, confessing that he thought 9D, Honorific for Gandhi, MAHATMA was in fact the great leader's first name -- rather than his actual first name, Mohandas).  Today's puzzle did have a nice theme to it, 52A, "Let's put things in perspective" ... or a title for this puzzle, ITSALLRELATIVE. For full details, and much more interesting analysis, download and listen up to today's episode.

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Jean tore through today's crossword like nobody's business. Mike, meanwhile, got through about 2/3 of the grid at a decent clip and then lapsed into slo-mo mode for the remainder, running into a sea of cruciverbal misery  bordered between 70D, Like fuschia and turquiose, MISSPELLED (nice!!), and 93D, Raw deal from a restaurant?, CEVICHE. However, this did let him spend quality time with clues like 78A, Actress de Armas writes "Mr. Gas" and "Ms. Rag", ANAANAGRAMSGRAMS, and 112A, Doctor acquires antibiotics, PROPROCURESCURES, so he does not regret it in the slightest.

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A challenging but fair Saturday crossword, with quite a few "today-I-learned" moments. For example, 10A, "The Metamorphosis" protagonist, SAMSA, the very interesting 15A, Person who will do anything for you, in modern slang, RIDEORDIE (!), 26D, Nintendo offering with more than 10 installments, MARIOPARTY, and the revelation that the answer to 20A, Bridge, e.g., PASTIME, is spelled with only one T. Who knew? Speaking of spelling, 37A, Birthplace of Ivan Turgenev, OREL, is spelled ORYOL according to Wikipedia, so, who knows?

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