Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Today's crossword was a great start to our puzzle-solving week. The theme was très amusant, as the French like to say, definitely worth the price of admission. The clues were designed for novice crossword solvers, but still had a certain joie de vivre (as the French also like to say) about them — we're looking at you, 31A, Hair parter, COMB; 27D, Paves the way?, TARS; and speaking of French, 58D, French possessive, SES. C'est bon!
Show note imagery: The gloriously beautiful Emerald Isle, EIRE
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Tracy Gray has had 38 crosswords published in the NYTimes, including 13 Sundays. We'd call today's work a typical TG puzzle, except for the fact that there is no such thing: her creations are all unique. The only thing that they have in common is a bevy of novel clues, and a theme that you probably didn't see coming. We discuss the latter, at length, in today's episode. Just to give you a taste of the former, we present for your consideration 100A, Part of SCOTUS, THE (a fabulous way to clue a somewhat ordinary answer); 103D, State with only three counties: Abbr., DEL (news to us!); and 106D, Star football player?, TEXAN (hike! 😀)
Show note imagery: Nicola Amati, creator of some of the world's finest violins
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Contact Info:
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!

This was a lively Saturday crossword, thanks in part to Hannah Slovut's talent at working exciting new answers into the grid: there were a total of 10 debuts, not too shabby at all.
Even the non-debut answers were exciting. There were at least 4 that neither cohost had ever heard of before, for which we are quite grateful.
There's more inside, so have a listen, and please don't forget to leave us a 5-star review wherever you get your podcasts.
Show note imgagery: Ventriloquist Shirley Dinsdale and Judy Splinters — jointly awarded the first Emmy award ever given. History does not record who delivered the acceptance speech ... 😀 
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Contact Info:
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!

Ryan Mathiason's third NYTimes crossword, and his first Friday, was an elegant piece of cruciverbial magic. We like clues that educate —13A, Modern tech aid whose design was inspired by a Go board, QRCODE; clues that make us think — 31D, Act like yourself, perhaps?, DOACAMEO, and especially clues that allow us revel in the joys of English — 40A, Two in a row?, FOES. There were, manifestly, many such clues in today's puzzle. For that reason we are proud to give Ryan's oeuvre a full 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.
After a highly analytical, um, analysis of the crossword, we have a Fun Fact Friday segment, and a fabulous Fan Mail message. You can check that all out, for the low, low price of $0.00, right now!
Show note imagery: TED Chiang, sci-fi writer extraordinaire.
We love feedback! Send us a text...
Contact Info:
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!

According to BuzzSprout, our podcast has had over 250,000 downloads, and so, to celebrate, we're ... going to do another podcast 😀 
Your cohosts had slightly different impressions of today's crossword. Jean, who used her wits to power through the top of the crossword despite the total absence of down clues in the region, found it to be a major challenge. Mike, who completely ignored the top of the crossword until the rest of the grid was filled out, found it ... considerably easier.
For all the color commentary, check out today's episode (and get us to 250,001 downloads 😀).
Show note imagery: LINDT chocolates, mmm, mmm, good!

We love feedback! Send us a text...
Contact Info:
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!