Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

How she does it remains a mystery, but Rena Cohen has a definite knack for crafting wonderfully clever and gentle themes, embedded in a grid with some fine answers — today's crossword being an excellent case in point.
We were shocked by 54D, Marsupial often mistermed a "bear", KOALA (wait: you mean all those zoo signs are lying to us?!); inspired by the phlegmatic 46A, "___ Calm and Carry On", KEEP (yay, Britain!); and another useful factoid, 56D, There are 100 of these in every Scrabble game, TILES (and at least twice that many behind the sofa 😀).
Show note imagery: The Code of Hammurabi, written about 1753 BC, evidently before "leniency" had entered the Babylonian lexicon.
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This was an excellent Sunday crossword by Derrick Niederman, a man who heretofore has only published on Sundays, a precedent that he laid down when he first started, in 1983!
The crossword was terrific, the theme novel, and there was a plethora of crunchier than usual clues. It made for a fun solve, and is therefore definitely in the running for tomorrow's JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword of the Week Award).
Show note imagery: Nope, definitely not PISMO Beach.
Show note URL: Ali Baba Bunny
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This was a highly challenging crossword by Byron Walden, each clue a masterpiece of misdirection, with a dash of obscurity thrown in for good measure. Both cohosts had to fight mightily for each answer in a grid that contained an incredible 13 debuts.
There were so many amazing clues that while we squeezed as many as we could into the podcast, we regretted having to omit 2A, They're hard to pull off, FEATS (wow!); 6D, Wind pipe?, CHIME (yikes!); and finally 31A, Capital of Greenland, NUUK (yowzer!). 
tl;dr; a brilliant crossword that dances on the edge of impossible.
Show notes imagery: Beautiful (but chilly) downtown NUUK, capital of Greenland
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This was Maddy Ziegler's second NYTimes crossword. Her first appeared on Saturday, so it will very interesting to see on what day her third (which, based on her second, we are sure is going to appear sooner or later) pops up. With absolutely no insider information, we're betting on another Saturday. 
This was a pleasing Friday crossword — no theme to bedazzle, all the clues had to pull their weight, and they did so here. We had a debut at 31D, Dangerous ocean phenomenon, ROGUEWAVE; a blast from the past at 33A, MacMurray of "Double Indemnity", FRED; and the second time in  2 days that we've seen the answer to 13D, "I can't believe that price" bargain, STEAL.
All in all, this was a fine puzzle: we give it a full 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.
Show note imagery: Ah, the ol' Chevrolet 490: yours for the low, low price of $490 😀 😀 
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While we didn't have too much difficulty with today's crossword, there were a few clues that made us pause and wonder. We were intrigued by 42D, Seven-stringed instrument that gave the guitar its name, KITHARA; awed by the memorable 11D, Prolifically posting about one's kids online, in a neologism, SHARENTING; and dutifully impressed by 4D, September to April, in the oyster industry, RMONTHS.
All in all, another fine crossword by Simeon Siegel.
Show note imagery: DRACO, an Athenian lawyer responsible for some highly draconian laws.
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