Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

For the of you who are feeling nostalgic for Muzak, you have two choices: this crossword, or Urgent Care 😀. We recommend the former, because Jeff Chen and Stephan Prock have put together a wonderful Monday offering, as we discuss in today's episode.
We are also pleased to announce our JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) for this week, namely [REDACTED: SEE PODCAST FOR ALL THE DEETS].
Show note imagery: Regardless of how you spell it, ODES(S)A is one cool city!
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John Kugelman has written 24 crosswords for the NYTimes, including an impressive 17 Sundays. Today's was novel, in that for the first time it featured color illustrations — Gray Lady indeed! 
Both cohosts found the puzzle to be a challenge, definitely crunchier than usual for a Sunday — filled with fascinating clues and quite a few bedeviling naticks*. We loved it, and thereby bestow upon it 5 squares on the JAMCR scale.
Show note imagery: Aww, it's a SHIHPOO ❤️
*A natick consists of two clues whose answers cross and are both unknown to the solver.
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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.

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Both cohosts found today's crossword easier than yesterday's, but just as entertaining. It featured some phenomenal clues, including those discussed on today's episode, but here are a few more to whet your appetite:
29A, European landmark whose name begins with an "A" in classical literature, ETNA (curious!)
1A, Made chitchat, SCHMOOZED (curiouser!!)
31A, Reduced price?, AMT (curiousest??)
We also have a poker aficionado set us straight on the question of poker rivers in today's listener mail.
You'll definitely want to check out all that, and you can do so, very easily, by clicking on the ol' play button, somewhere in the vicinity of where you are reading these words.
Show note imagery: Definitely not your typical African lions, doing the lion dance in Qinhuangdao, China.
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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!

Both cohosts struggled mightily with today's crossword, the third from Julian Xiao since 2024. Here are just a few clues, to give you a taste of the difficulty level (spoiler alert: it's high):
28A, Cooking term whose name is composed of two synonyms for "criticize", PANROAST (excellent!)
57A, System by which all speech is protected?, SECURELINE (tricky and a debut)
23D, First country to elect a female prime minister (1960), SRILANKA (nice!)
We cover quite a few more in today's podcast, and have a terrific Fun Fact Friday segment / game for your enjoyment, so get it now, hot off the presses (um, so to speak)!
Show note imagery: The Shanghai Maglev, the fastest passenger train in the world
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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.

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If it seems like you've been seeing Zhou Zhang's name in the crossword a lot, lately, you are not imagining things: her name has appeared in the masthead a whopping 7 times ... and the year's not over! 
The reason she is appearing so frequently is as obvious as today's crossword was sublime — she writes clever, quirky clues that make you think, smile, and feel great once, or if, you've figured them out. Check out today's podcast for a profusion of examples. 
Show note imagery: An example of Labanotation, a dance notation used by choreologists to capture dance moves.
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!