Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A short, fun and occasionally not unintentionally educational podcast in which two fans of the New York Times crossword describe their puzzle-solving travails.
Episodes
1476 episodes since 2020
Tuesday, September 17, 2024 - OOOOOOH, the places you'll go!
There were a boatload of O's in today's grid, but they were there for a reason, that being to flesh out a wonderful debut crossword by Howard Neuthaler. A good crossword ...
September 17, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 72
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16:36
Monday, September 16, 2024, -- Huzzah, EDNA Mode is in the grid 😀
This is Robert Corridan's debut crossword, and a fine debut it is, one that may induce you to sing, perhaps something along the lines of LA, LA, LA, in which case you will be in a very good place to start solving this crossword!&n...
September 16, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 71
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9:41
Sunday, September 15, 2024 - Nothing PROFORMA about *this* crossword!
Aimee Lucido is both a children's author -- check out "Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta" - and cruciverbalist - check out today's excellent example. This crossword was not hugely difficult...
September 15, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 70
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16:35
Saturday, September 14, 2024 - When it comes to this crossword, we are PHANATICS!
A tough Saturday crossword (of course!) by Christina Iverson, with the northwest corner being particularly tough. But the clues were fair and fun, making for an enjoyable solve. D...
September 14, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 69
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15:03
Friday, September 13, 2024 - Turns out, Cotton-Eyed Joe is a dance, not an optic emergency 😏
Today's crossword was a debut for Boaz Moser, and it was a fine one - challenging but VALID, including familiar clues like 15D, Beverage steeped in bright daylight, SUNTEA, lesser...
September 13, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 68
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15:10
Thursday, September 12, 2024 - Finally, we can say that the NYTimes crossword is BRAT 😀
A historic first, "BRAT" used in the sense of 52D, 2024 Charli XCX album with a lime green color -- as opposed to all the 179 previous times, when it was a reference to an annoying small child. The rest of the crossword, by Parker Higgins, was ...
September 12, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 67
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13:09
Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - Three cheers for New Mexico's GILA National Forest
A decidedly crunchy Wednesday crossword, Jean managed to chew through it expeditiously, Mike broke a tooth 😉. The theme took a while for both cohosts to grok, after which solving the puzzle became much easier. Deets inside, you ar...
September 11, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 66
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10:23
Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - HEMINGWAYESQUE, fun to say, a challenge to spell, and impossible to work into casual conversation 😀
Today's theme was about as NYTimes-esque as they come, just a fun exploration of attributes of the English language, and something that almost surely could not have been construct...
September 10, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 65
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12:43
Monday, September 9, 2024 - You know it's a classy puzzle when Dame Judi DENCH is in the grid
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 donk...
September 09, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 64
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10:20
Sunday, September 8, 2024 - A crossword that definitely gives it The Ol' College Try
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
September 08, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 63
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20:10
Saturday, September 7, 2024 - Why do spammers always call on the heckelphone? 😂
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
September 07, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 62
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20:01
Friday, September 6, 2024 - CITI never sleeps ... but it does zone out from time to time 😀 🏧
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 wi...
September 06, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 61
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24:23
Thursday, September 5, 2024 - Yoinks, it's a ZEDONK! 😀
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...
September 05, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 60
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17:23
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 - No ELAND is an ELAND unto itself 😂
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...
September 04, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 59
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14:54
Tuesday, September 3, 2024 - 🎶 Oh, we've got TUPLE, right here in River City! 😁
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 ...
September 03, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 58
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16:06
Monday, September 2, 2024 - Another marvelous Monday crossword!
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 ...
September 02, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 57
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11:25
Sunday, September 1, 2024 - Happy Labor Day Eve!!
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 ...
September 01, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 56
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22:52
Saturday, August 31, 2024 - YASQUEEN!
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 o...
August 31, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 55
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11:16
Friday, August 30, 2024 - Three cheers for OSSIE Davis, legendary actor and civi rights leader
A fine Friday crossword and the second by Colin Adams (just half a year after his first, on February 16th), so kudos! The clues were very well written, making for an intriguing an...
August 30, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 54
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22:03
Thursday, August 29, 2024 - Featuring ... a ZOOT suit 😍
Opinions were divided as to the difficulty of today's crossword - Jean found it to be a pleasant Thursday, Mike found it to be more suited for the heretofore undiscovered Impossiday™️, a day that lies between Saturday and Sunday, one suit...
August 29, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 53
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26:15
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 - TROI and KLINGON? Sensors detect a Star-Trek mini-theme, cap'n!
A delightfully complex theme by Jesse Goldberg, cleverly finessing the rule that the answer to a clue should not appear in the clue. Highly original and entertai...
August 28, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 52
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18:09
Tuesday, August 27, 2024 - Benoit MANDELBROT was a genius, and that's a f(r)act!
A clever Tuesday crossword by Julia Hoepner, with a theme that was as good as it was bad, which we promise will make sense once you've listened to the podcast! It's also Tuesday, ...
August 27, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 51
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20:16
Monday, August 26, 2024 - Triple your pleasure!
It is hard to find fault with a crossword that has LULU Lemon in the grid, so we will not even try, rather we will simply TOUT it for being what it is, a FUNFUNFUN puzzle, which w...
August 26, 2024
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Season 10
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Episode 50
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11:29