Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Today's crossword, a fine effort by Zachary David Levy, will not induce neuralgia, aka BRAINFREEZE, rather just the opposite:  it will cause those billions of neurons to put in time-and-a-half in order to get through this challenging but ultimately highly rewarding Friday crossword. Deets inside.

Besides the crossword, we have one of the shortest Fun Fact Friday segments on record, and an absolutely awesome piece of listener mail / feedback about yesterday's puzzle, by itself worth the listen.

Show note imagery: R.U.D.I., thinking it over ...

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Yesterday's crossword was all about sequels, and today's crossword is itself a sequel — the second for constructor Alex Murphy. That could be coincidence, or it could be another example of Will Shortz's untamable genius: we're betting on the latter. 

While the foundation of today's crossword was a splendid theme, it was supported by some other great clues. We loved 3D, See 4-Down, HALF, and 4D, Double 3-Down, ONE. The debut at 47D, Some online discounts, EBATES, also tickled our fancy. Finally, we certainly chuckled at 24D, Hold it!, REIN (cute!).

Show note imagery: Billy IDOL, who recorded a jaw-droppingly fabulous version of Mony Mony. 

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While Mike often has no idea what's going on with the theme, it is a blue moon day indeed when Jean also fails to get the gist of the thing. While the moon is currently set, we feel fairly confident that when it rises — at 3:35 AM, so we will not be personal witnesses to the event — it will appear blue.

But blue does not capture our mood when working on today's crossword, because even though we did not immediately suss out the theme, our failure to do so did not significantly impede our progress. Three cheers for the crosses. 😀

Show note imagery: A Lhasa APSO, a dog originally from Tibet and inspiration for the tales of that dreaded monster, Little Foot. 🙄😉

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Today's crossword, by Killian Olson, was funny, punny, and a subtle reward for those of you who paid attention in Art Appreciation 101. We loved it, and today's episode spells out why.

In honor of Tuesday, we have another Triplet Tuesday segment, and it is historic — as well as hysteric(al) — so be sure and check it out!

Show note imagery: The Buffet, by PAULCEZANNE

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There's a lot of pressure resting on a Monday crossword's black-and-white shoulders: welcome and educate new solvers, retain and entertain experienced ones, and above all, don't be boring. Today's crossword, a debut by Matthew Luter, bears that burden well, as today's podcast makes (we hope!) abundantly clear.

Beyond the crossword, we've picked our JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) for last week. Did we pick your favorite? Let us know in the usual way.

Show note imagery: Look, up there in the sky, it's ... um, a SKYE 😀 😉

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The very talented Alex Eaton-Salners is back with a cheery Sunday crossword engineered to lift your spirits (if they are sagging) or elevate you to almost Elysian heights (if you are already in a good mood) — and the good news, he succeeds magnificently. The proof is in the pudding ... er, podcast 😀

Shownote imagery: Nauru, purportedly the world's least visited country

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Today's crossword was replete with awesome clues — pretty much all of them were fresh, imaginative, and entertaining. We covered a slew of them in today's episode, but even though we used our "end-of-class-but-we-want-to-slip-in-one-more-slide" delivery style, we didn't have time to cover them all. We regret, in particular, not being able to squeeze in 36D, Stuck under a blanket, perhaps, SNOWEDIN (bravo!); 33D, They've been played!, ROLES (brava!); and as we can definitely attest based on this week's weather in NE Wisconsin, 27A, It's not nice to walk in this, SLEET.

Besides our analysis of today's crossword, the icing on the cake is some terrific listener mail, so check it out!

Show note imagery: Some of Jeff KOONS' steel balloon animals

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This marks Rafael Musa and Rebecca Goldstein's 4th NYTimes crossword collaboration, and it is a fine piece of work. Being a Friday, it was themeless, but there were oodles of admirable clues in today's grid. We particularly enjoyed 36D, Be a hero, say, COSPLAY (bravo!); 17A, Going against the grain?, GLUTENFREE (magnifique!); and the groan-worthy 26A, Fare way to go?, BUSRIDES (oy!) — but the rest of the grid was equally eloquent. We eagerly anticipate RM and RG's next collaboration.

Show note imagery: The world's longest river, the Nile, meandering through CAIRO

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Today's crossword was full of surprises. The theme? A surprise. The correct spelling of DADAIST? A surprise (at least to Mike). The fabulous 51D, Nation whose name sounds like a plea for seconds, SAMOA? Unsurprisingly, based on the lead-up to this sentence, a surprise. 

The only thing that we were not surprised by, at all, is that John Kugelman has crafted another fine Thursday crossword. That was completely expected.

Show note imagery: EUROPA, the smallest of Jupiter's Galilean moons, a possible source of alien life in its vast oceans, and a very popular tourist destination, we reckon, in the 2080s.

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Adam Vincent has turned in an ab fab Wednesday crossword. The theme was highly amusing, and the rest of the clues equally awesome. We cover a lot of them in today's podcast, because they definitely deserve their 15 minutes.

Show note imagery: Oreos that change color when dipped in milk? Truly we live in an age of wonders 😀 

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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, [email protected].

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