Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Yesterday we ran into ANUBIS, and today we have 40A, Supreme Egyptian deity, AMONRA -- so tomorrow's forecast is for OSIRIS, with a chance of ISIS later in the week. Speaking of AMONRA, apparently there are multiple spellings -- AMONRA, AMENRA and AMUNRA are all acceptable variants. That caused Mike no end of grief, as it naticked with 36D, Base of an arch, which he took to be an arcane architectural term, SELE, rather than, as Jean readily discovered, SOLE. 
There were some interesting names in the grid today -- 77, _________ Schomburg, Harlem Renaissance figure, ARTURO, 87A, First ruler of a united Hawaii, KINGKAMEHAMEHA, and 17D, Guy who hosts "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives", FIERI.
We give today's crossword a 4 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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Today's crossword was a tad easier than yesterday's -- Jean did it somewhat more quickly, and Mike cleaved an astonishing 2h30m off of his Friday time 😎.

While not as difficult as some Saturdays, the clues were still quite interesting -- 17A, Marked by stately beauty, JUNOESQUE, 19A, Accessory that might have a netsuke attached, OBI, and the possibly contractually-obligated Simpsons reference, 46D, __________ Hayden, actress who voices Milihouse on "The Simpsons", PAMELA. [If they start asking about animators, we are going to be in serious trouble!]

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn't note the  nice juxtaposition of 35D, Everyman, JOESCHMO, and 66A, Nil, JACKSQUAT.

A fine Saturday, thanks to excellent writing and eagle-eyed editing by Trenton Charlson and Will Shortz, respectively.

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We kickoff  our second season -- well, to be precise, the second episode of our second season -- with a challenging (of course!) Friday crossword. Jean got through it relatively easily, aided and abetted by her encyclopedic knowledge of women's cosmetic products. 

It's fun-fact Friday, and in today's episode we take an in-depth look at the (un)official cookie of the New York Times crossword, the Oreo -- first sold (and presumably eaten) on March 6, 1912, in Hoboken, New Jersey.

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This was a crossword WITHATWIST, or as the crossword constructors would have it, WIXXXXWIST, that made for a very exciting Thursday solve. Jean tore through it blazingly quickly, as usual, whereasMike took forever, no, STRIKETHAT, a tad longer. 1D seemed to be a bit of a stretch -- Sunburn cause, for short, UVWAVE -- but considering the virtuoso-performance everywhere else, we'll cut Matthew Stock and Sid Sivakumar a break. Definitely a 5 squares on the JAMCR scAle.

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Today's crossword WASA SWEET one. Jean learned about FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out - while that ROGUE Mike was delighted that his last Tip Tuesday tip -- memorize television networks -- applied to 59A, "Impractical Jokers" channel, TRUTV. We give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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Multiple celebs - singers, writers and actors - made it into today's crossword and thence this podcast. Two dogs (1A, Petite pooch, familiarly, POM, and 15A, Lassie, for one, COLLIE) also made an appearance in today's crossword, ironically in the same grid as 4D, Condo restriction, NODOGS. We appreciated 44D, Trial stages, BETAS, adjacent to 46D, Trial stages, TESTS, that was a BIGHIT as far as we're concerned. 

For Tip Tuesday, Jean suggests enjoying a beverage to keep those neurons well hydrated while puzzle solving. Mike recommends reading *all* of your television provider's channel guide, to familiarize yourself with the myriad networks that make an appearance in the New York Times crossword (e.g., TMC, TNN, ESPN, HGTV, PBS, GSN, to name just a few).

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A surprisingly crunchy Monday crossword, it took both Jean & Mike a little while to find traction.  There were lots of DCCOMICS references, involving WONDERWOMAN / DIANAPRINCE (played in the movies by GALGADOT and on television by LYNDACARTER). There were two new-to-or-possibly-fogotten-by-us words -- 2D, Property recipient, in law, ALIENEE, and 39D, Some delivery people, ROUTEMEN. 
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ODDSARE you'll enjoy this crossword, we MEANIT. Jean SPED through it in near record time, while Mike ADEPTLY ... didn't, although he did eventually solve it as well. A series of dances, each cleaved by a letter in the phrase MAYICUTIN made for a very clever theme. A few other clues of distinction were 54A, Document that never lacks a title, DEED, and 61A, It's ground breaking, FAULT -- which, coincidentally, we could not find in this puzzle - it was perrfect!

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Today's crossword was a toughie. Jean valiantly struggled through it, as is her wont.  Mike, in contrast, is wearing a SASH of mourning  to honor his LATE streak.
There were some terrific clues -- 42A, Artificial object in orbit?, GLASSEYE, 46A, Shade from the sun, TAN, and 12D, Fits in between?, HALFSIZED. 

We give it a 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

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Happy New Year! And in case you've forgotten what year it is, today's crossword conveniently writes out 2021 in approximately the center of this oversized (16x16, versus the usual 15x15) grid. There were a few tough clues, Jean had trouble getting traction in the top-left corner and Mike spent most of his solve trying to spell SRIRACHA, before realizing that it wasn't the answer to 21A, You might get a kick out of this at a restaurant, HOTSAUCE.

Remember, you can always subscribe to the New York Times crossword at nytimes.com/crosswords, and to follow along as we discuss the crossword, you can find the entire solved puzzle, including clues, at xwordinfo.com.

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