Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Both cohosts found today's crossword to be a jot crunchier than the typical Monday fare in places. It started off almost comically easy, but then seemed to put up more resistance in the middle of the grid. We found it endearing, and the theme in particular quite amusing. 
Besides the crossword, we have chosen our JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award), and we can say, with 100% confidence, that it was one of the crosswords of the previous week. 🙄 Check the episode for more detailed coverage.
Show note imagery: Canadian actor Ryan Gosling, attempting to save the Earth (as Canadians are wont to do).
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Today marks Peter Gorman's debut Sunday crossword. He has now published every day of the week except Friday and Saturday, but, based on how quickly he was able to get to 5 — his first crossword appeared in February of 2025 — we expect him to knock those out in short order. 
In the meantime, we have this fine puzzle to savor, with a rebus-ish theme and lively cluing throughout. Nicely done, Peter!
Show note imagery: LORELEI — the UNESCO World Heritage Site version, not the siren who lured sailors to their deaths.
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Saturday crosswords are, by tradition — at least since Will Shortz took over as editor — the toughest puzzles of the week, and today's definitely qualified. Both cohosts had to labor mightily to get to the happy music, but the journey was a joyous one. There were many, many delightfully deceptive clues in today's puzzle, just as it should be. Deets inside.
Show note imagery: The Netflix series CHEFSTABLE
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Today's crossword was a debut for Adam Shapiro — but it wasn't for a lack of trying. He has had 15 previous submissions to the NYTimes rejected, so today's puzzle is a monument to perseverance as well as crossword constructing excellence. An example of the latter may be seen in 39D, Holder of all the digits, from 1 to 0, KEYPAD (awesome!); 57A, Losing causes? DIETS (delectable!); and the astounding 17A, Mail-centric fiction, EPISTOLARYNOVEL (so that's how you spell it!). For the record, Jean found this puzzle much easier than Mike, but both agreed that it was a superb way to wrap up the work week.
Show note imagery: Dracula, Bram Stoker's seminal EPISTOLARYNOVEL
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Today's crossword was an absolutely terrific debut by McKay Fritz, with another one of those delightful and, as expected, thoroughly unexpected themes that the NYTimes is legendary for.  We'll pause here momentarily to give everyone, including us, a chance to parse that last sentence. 😀 
Besides the theme, we had clues such as 39D, Boom sticks?, TNT; 30D, Bubbles, e.g., ORBS; and, speaking of Ides, 32D, Political rival of Mark Antony, CICERO, to keep us entertained. Today's crossword was definitely worth 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, and we avidly await McKay Fritz's next puzzle!
Show note imagery: The Maple Leaf Rag, in AFLAT.
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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.

Also, we're on FaceBook, so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!