Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Tim D'Alfonso has constructed an excellent Monday crossword -- his debut! -- with a smile-inducing theme and some fun cluing, including 42D, Your of yore, THY; 43D, Start of a donkey's bray, HEE; and the nostalgia-inducing 25D, ________ Sketch (classic toy), ETCHA. This was a great puzzle and likely a confidence-builder for those just starting to do the NYTimes crosswords, we approve: 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

Show note imagery: Dame Judi DENCH, as M, in Skyfall

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Occasionally at JAMDTNYTC HQ, the cohosts opinions are so divergent that one might be inclined to think they are talking about different puzzles: but they most definitely were talking about one puzzle today, that of 9/8/2024, which Jean found to be a piece o' cake, and Mike found to be ... not that. Deets inside, so have a listen, and, as always, we welcome listener feedback!

Show note imagery: Assumption of the Virgin, by TITIAN

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After last Saturday's killer crossword we were hoping that Joel might give us a break, but nooooooo, he still had the pedal to the floor, cruciverbially speaking. There were almost no gimmes in the grid, but a plethora of head scratchers, characteristic of David P. Williams, who has written 5 NYTimes crosswords -- 1 Friday, and the rest -- Saturdays. Definitely tough, definitely worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.

Show note imagery: a heckelphone, aka an OBOE

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A challenging Friday crossword, more so in the top-left, less so in the bottom-right. There were a plethora of awesome clues in today's puzzle, including 5A, They often have multiple horns, SKABANDS (what, not TRICERATOPS?); 62A, Competition with many missions, SPACERACE (nice!); and the outstanding 11D, Chicken or mashed potato, DANCE (ha!)

Show note imagery: A Rembrandt, by ... Rembrandt!

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We had an exceptional Thursday crossword -- no rebuses (rebusae(?)), but an inspired theme from the most brilliant Joe Deeney. We cover it in detail in today's episode, and you can see Joe's oeuvre at xwordinfo.com as well.

Show note imagery: Look, ma, it's a ZEDONK!

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A witty Wednesday crossword by Kareem Ayas, his fourth for the NYTimes since 2023, so he is on a roll! The theme was surprising, especially for a Wednesday, and we'll just let that sentence hang in the air rather than go into the deets here -- but rest assured that the podcast does just that.

Besides our in-depth dive through the grid, we also have a spot of listener mail, so to get in on all of that, download now!

Show note imagery: For the record, SERRANOS are mid-orange

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This is Alex Eaton-Salner's 70th NYTimes crossword, and it got to be their 70th, in part*, because of an ingenious theme, and in part because of the superstition that to turn down a crossword with BORIC in the grid (8D, Kind of acid used to make Silly Putty) is exceptionally unlucky**

Show note imagery: PEI, in its place

*we suspect: editor Joel Fagliano plays his cards pretty close to the vest

**hey, it's just a superstition 😀 

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Sala Wanetick and Emily Biegas have collaborated on a fine Monday crossword, with a theme that we won't spoil in the show notes -- but most definitely will in the podcast -- other than to say that we are spoiled ... by the consistently high quality of the NYTime's crosswords.

Shownote imagery: For the record, the stars of Vanderpump Rules are not dressed like your typical restaurant workers!

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Today's crossword was clearly a labor of love and mathematics, for reasons that will become clear as soon as you either check out the crossword, or today's episode. It did seem to have a rather large number of, well, 96A, Brief glimpse of stars, say, CAMEOS -- except in this case the CAMEOS were from a vast array of fields, from art, 81D, Surrealist James, ENSOR; to cinema, 54A, Oscar-winning actor in Farmers Insurance ads, JKSIMMONS; to sports, 124D, Golfer Jon, RAHM; to 111D, Ned who composed the operatic version of "Our Town", ROREM. As they used to say in Gotham City, Quickly, to the Wikipedia-mobile, Robin!

Show note imagery: MARIECLAIRE, which does appear en français (in French)

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Sam Ezersky is well known for writing exceptionally cryptic crosswords, and today he's cranked it up to 11. From clues like 1A, Liquid found in some pens, VAPEJUICE, to 14A, The old man?, CROMAGNON, to 64A, It's pressed for time, STOPWATCH, Sam did not give an inch. Of course, this was a Saturday, so we would expect no less!

Show note imagery: YASQUEEN, modern words of encouragement

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