This was an excellent debut crossword by Fritz Juhnke: the clues and answers were fascinating, offering plenty of opportunities for AHAMOMENTs. There were several answers that nei...

This was a delightfully crunchy crossword by Ginny Too - her third NYTimes crossword in about a year. There were a boatload of novel clues†, which made the solve just that much mo...

Joseph Gangi has had 4 NYTimes crosswords published, all of them Wednesdays. He clearly has the difficulty level down pat, and his themes are always inventive: today's crossword b...

In honor of the heatwave that some of you may be experiencing, Jeremy Newton has crafted a cool crossword to cool you down. ☃️ You are cordially invited to chill out...

Alright, here's a challenge: what word has appeared in the NYTimes crossword grid a whopping 926 times, counting today? We'll let you ponder that, and wait until the end of these show notes for the "big reveal".There were a lot of very f...

This was a fun crossword by Michael Schlossberg. The theme gave us an opportunity to -- at last! -- use the word "idiom" in a sentence without sounding like an idiot 🙄, and the cl...

In the pantheon of great cruciverbalists, there clearly needs to be a pedestal with Erik Agard's name on it. Why? Just check out today's crossword (and podcast!), or any of Erik's...

Kelly Morenus has crafted a superb Friday crossword, challenging but not overwhelming (although YMMV depending upon your life experiences, how many crosswords you have solved prev...

Thesauri will have to be cracked open to do justice to today's crossword, it was that extraordinary/astonishing/engrossing/ingenious/delightful. It was, of course, the theme th...

This was a highly elegant Wednesday crossword, featuring that most elegant of drinks (and one of the most famous letters in the English alphabet 😉). If you haven't figured it out ...

For those of you pondering the episode title, no, our quality control department has not dropped the ball, but rather made a wry (but not awry 🙄) joke that is highly germane to

This was a Monday crossword, which means that a) it should not be particularly difficult for experienced solvers, and b) entertaining. We are pleased to report that it met both cr...

Today's crossword had bells, whistles, and even an EHRU thrown into the mix. It was by Brandon Koppy, however, so at no time did the quality of the puzzle ever dip below 5 squares...

This was a terrific Saturday crossword, because the clues were just brilliant. Who could resist the allure of 58A, Member of a sub-Saharan matriarchal clan, HYENA; or the...

Kudos to James McCarron, on creating an excellent Friday crossword, a debut, no less. Among our favorite clues (not mentioned in the podcast) were 21D, Film star whose name consis...

This was an awesome Thursday crossword, courtesy of Emily Biegas and Sala Wanetick (with Will Shortz, as always, at the helm). The were oodles of cunning clues, some of which were quite educational. Par example (as the French like to s...

Just when you think the NYTimes crossword could not possibly come up with one more theme -- they've all been done before -- they prove you wrong (which, happily, seems to happen every day they have a themed crossword!...

This was a SERENE crossword -- and we say that not  because of the presence of SERENE in the grid, but because of the, well, SERENE theme -- one that ought to bring a smile to...

Today's crossword, the 39th (!) by Daniel Raymon, was replete with musical performers of various vintages, from composer Aaron Copland to a band that had its origins in the last ce...

Once again the NYTimes crossword has set a new high bar, thanks to the dynamic duo of Zhou Zhang and Kevin Curry. This magnificent opus featured a puzzle within a puzzle, surrounde...

Tracy Bennet is the driving force behind both Wordle and Strands, and the appearance of this crossword therefore means that an impressively large percentage of today's NYTimes...

Although there were not any literal fireworks in today's crossword, it was filled with innumerable flashes of brilliance and crackles of wit. Among our favorites not cover...

Today's crossword was by Adam Wagner, which means that you know, without even looking at it, that it's going to be good. The good cruciverbalist does not disappoint, provi...

Today's theme was great (as always), and there were oodles of appealing clues lurking in the grid today (see previous parenthetical remark 😉). A few of our favorites were 45A, Cabi...

For those of you wondering about the episode title, it is explored and explained, along with a multitude of other topics riffing off of today's excellent puzzle, in our "C...