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A short, fun and occasionally not unintentionally educational podcast in which two fans of the New York Times crossword describe their puzzle-solving travails.
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Talk Direction: The 1D (& Harry Styles) Podcast / SIGN OF THE TIMES / Ever Since New York / Sweet Creature / Kiwi / One Direction / Niall Horan / This Town / Harry Styles / Liam Payne / Zayn Malik / Louis Tomlinson / Just Hold On
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Talk Direction: The 1D (& Harry Styles) Podcast / SIGN OF THE TIMES / Ever Since New York / Sweet Creature / Kiwi / One Direction / Niall Horan / This Town / Harry Styles / Liam Payne / Zayn Malik / Louis ...
Caitlin and Lucia
We're Caitlin and Lucia, two gals who love music, feminism, and One Direction. Here on Talk Direction we discuss everything and anything 1D! This means that as Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik continue their paths as solo artists, we will be right there with them. We’ll be analyzing song lyrics for their deeper meanings, gushing about Harry's fashion evolution, and making predictions about future solo albums from the boys!
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In honor of Pride month, the NYTimes Crossword editors have broken out the ol' color palette. They may have previously embedded color (other than gray) in the grid , but not very often - so if this is not a debut, it certainly is a rare event. The colors were put to good use, though, in a theme that was both a celebration of Pride month and the ing…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A superb Saturday crossword by John Westwig, challenging -- as one would expect from the putatively hardest crossword of the week! -- but fair, with a merciful (from Mike's perspective) dearth of pop culture references (44A, Actress Sink of "Stranger Things", SADIE, being one of the rare exceptions; we'll give 10A, Winner of three Emmys for Outstan…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A much easier crossword than Thursday's, both cohosts were able to get through it without too much difficulty - a fact which Jean attributes to a (for her) novel solving technique. To find out what that entails, we cordially invite you to subscribe / download / listen up / enjoy. As promised, our poll -- in which you get to pick which should be the…
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A tricky Thursday crossword (as Thursday crosswords are wont to be), with the sort of highly ingenious theme that suggests the Steinberg CLAN might be involved, as, gasp(!), they were. And that theme was nestled within a constellation of clever clues, a goodly portion of which are discussed in today's episode, so download, listen up, and ... enjoy!…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A fine Wednesday crossword by Brandon Koppy, who has been known to crank it up to 11, but here keeps the difficulty level mercifully moderate. The theme was fun, the crosses entertaining and educational, what's not to like? Nothing, as far as we can tell, hence the perfect 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
If you've ever gone birding and had trouble actually spotting any birds, then today's crossword will seem familiar; eight of our winged friends, hiding in plain sight. Details within, as well as an epic Triplet Tuesday Contest, so download, listen up, enjoy ... and don't forget to tell all your friends about us, too! Contact Info: We love listener …
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
Any crossword that manages to work the phrase WHATTHEDEUCE into the grid (as this one does, 47A, Quaint cry of surprise), as well as JAMBAJUICE (60A, Smoothie chain founded in 1990) deserves some sort of recognition -- and so, we gladly give it, it being 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Bravo! Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, cross…
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One of our dynamic duo found today's crossword to be a major challenge - the other tore through it so quickly that her keyboard was smoking. And if the pronoun didn't give it away, then listening to this episode definitely will -- so do it now! Just a reminder, the NYTimes Crossword is an excellent way to keep your little gray cells sharp and keep …
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Woah, if you thought Friday's crossword was tough, better sit down for this one because it's a wild ride, with 13 debut answers, and the crossword itself is also a debut ... for the constructor, Samuel Smalley, from Ottawa, Canada 🇨🇦. All the deets are inside, so have a listen, and let us know what you think. Contact Info: We love listener mail! Dr…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
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Friday, May 26, 2023 - Three cheers for the MERCYRULE (and its application to tomorrow's puzzle 😀 😀 )
16:50
A challenging Friday crossword, especially the dreaded northeast corner, home to quite a few posers (31A, Tough nut to crack, POSER 😀), and one clue that required a lot of scholarship to suss out (10D, Knowledge, or a means to acquire it, SCHOLARSHIP 😀 😀). In short, this crossword was 14A, "Smart!", VERYCLEVER. Contact Info: We love listener mail! …
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
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Thursday, May 25, 2023 - Are WHIPPETS whippersnappers? Possibly not, but it's certainly fun to say 🙄
14:50
A clever Thursday crossword, with an inspired theme and virtually no crosswordese to sully its fine grid. We approve, and hereby, by the power vested in us by the state of Wisconsin (ed: that would be absolutely none, nada, nil 😀) we bestow upon it the much vaunted and fully-maxed-out 5 squares on the JAMCR scale. Contact Info: We love listener mai…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
If you're a fan of old-timey video games, then this crossword will be right up your alley, so to speak -- the only remaining mystery is, how old is "old-timey", and which particular video game do we have in mind. To find all that out, as well as to hear why the USPS and AP agree to disagree when it comes to state abbreviations, just tap download, t…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A deftly constructed crossword by Lee Taylor, with a nifty theme and a bevy of supporting clues that elevate it above the merely "good" to that loftier echelon, "good enough to get into the NYTimes". A few clues of note: 10D, Free, as a seat, UNTAKEN; 12D, Guernica painter, PICASSO; and (in keeping with a 2-day trend of expressing east in a foreign…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
Overall, a pleasing Sunday crossword, although Mike - in his capacity as founding member of the "Don't Drop Your G's Society" - did have a few things to say about the theme. Strike that, he had ATON of things to say about the theme, and to find out what those were, and to get Jean's alternate take on the same, you are cordially invited to download,…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A series of lively clues made for a vastly entertaining Saturday crossword. Notables include the debut 32A, Neuropsychological trait in which one might ascribe colors to numbers or tastes to words, SYNESTHESIA (!); the thought-provoking 32D, Capricorn's symbol, SEAGOAT 🐐; and the droll 38A, Don't do it, doc!, HARM 😀 All in all a fine Saturday, and …
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David Distenfeld is on a role. Last month he had a Monday crossword published, and today has weighed in with a tricky Friday puzzle -- just on the right side of impossible (although as always, YMMV depending on a) how long you've been doing the crossword and b) just how much trivia/lore you've managed to stow away). In today's puzzle, the number of…
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A tricky Thursday crossword - with, surprisingly, no rebus, but transformed by the unexpected appearance of the lowly comma. Jean tore through the crossword so quickly that she didn't even recognize that a theme was in play, whereas Mike had much more time to linger lovingly over the grid and savor the care that went into its creation. For those of…
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A perfectly balanced mid-week crossword, with a clever theme, and some novel words/phrases -- 12A, Body of water between Sicily and Greece, IONIANSEA; 53D, Popular booth in New York's Times Square, TKTS; and 45D, Stand that a speaker might take, PODIUM 😀. Another plus, there were almost no naticks (notable exception: 62A, San Bernardino suburb whos…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
Today's crossword is based on a suffusion of sneaky prefixes that underline the beauty, and the beautiful inconsistency, of the English language. Also, it's Tuesday, meaning it's time for yet another Triplet Tuesday segment in which Mike demonstrates his lack of, to put it succinctly, knowledge. Deets inside, so download, listen up ,and enjoy! Cont…
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A fun, font-dependent theme makes for an interesting Monday. The font-sizes are almost microscopic, so it may be time to break out that loupe and put it to the test. In other news, we have a Triplet Tuesday Contest Winner! Kudos and congrats to Lindsey, for having turned in a very respectable 7 (3,2,2, to be precise)!! Deets within. Apologies for h…
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A splendid Friday crossword by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano. Both your intrepid hosts, solving independently as always, found this to be a major struggle, with challenging but rewarding clues scattered throughout the grid. For example, 1D, Time to focus on oneself. MEDAY (not to be confused with the equally likely SPADAY -- equally likely in the sen…
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A challenging Thursday crossword, with a great EINSTEINIAN theme, all revolving around that famous equation, EEQUALSMCSQUARED. Deets are inside, so download, have a listen, and let us know what you think. 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 stri…
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If you like astronomy, you'll love today's crossword: it offers up some, um, heavenly cluing . The theme revolves (sorry) around a number of famous constellations, and the result is a very pleasing, perfect middle-of-the-week puzzle. All the deets are inside, so download, listen up, and ... don't forget to subscribe, so you'll never miss an episode…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A fun Tuesday crossword by Margaret Seikel, with a theme that involves (if you didn't already guess it from the title) a peace emoji. Besides our in depth analysis of this fine puzzle, today's episode also includes ... drum roll, please ... our Triplet Tuesday Contest™️. So, have a listen, join in the contest, and then let us know how you did - cro…
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A debut crossword by Catherine Cetta, and a fine one it is, with a theme that'll make you want to smile, and fairly gentle cluing (as one would expect for a Monday). There were a few exceptions, including several clues that are on the rarer side, including 3D, Picture frames, usually, RECTANGLES (makes sense); 16A, Thomas Jefferson's religious beli…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A great Sunday crossword by Will Nediger, with a brilliant theme surrounded by an equally brilliant cast of supporting clues and answers. Will is a professional crossword constructor, and based on today's delightful puzzle we can see exactly why people would be willing to pay him for his art. Deets inside, so download, listen up, and enjoy! Contact…
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A remarkable Saturday crossword, not so much because of the clues - they were fabulous, as you would expect based on the NYTimes incredibly strict quality control - but because of the grid, a virtual ocean of white with almost no black squares. Making a crossword with such an open grid is no mean feat, but Carter Cobb's cracked the code, as we deta…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A crossword so good that adjectives fail us -- but we still have nouns, verbs, and alliterations at our disposal to heap praise as the author fires a furious fusillade of fabulous, funny clues. This is truly a masterclass in great crossword construction. The author, Jacob McDermott, has "only" had 5 crosswords published in the NYTimes, but this one…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A very challenging Thursday crossword by a veteran NYTimes cruciverbalist, aka David J. Kahn. Jean managed to get through it in close to her usual time, hardly breaking a 25D, Drops in the gym?, SWEAT; Mike did eventually solve the puzzle, but was surprised when he finally stumbled upon the final, vital correct answer in the SE corner, never a good…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A slightly sticky Wednesday crossword, possibly because of all the alcoholic products, many of them SECO, that have dripped into today's grid - CUPS of beer, KIR, RIOJA, and even DEW. We have the deets inside, so download, listen up and enjoy! Also, we wish to highlight that we'll be having YATTC (Yet Another Triplet Tuesday Contest), this coming T…
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Today's crossword, by Lucido ... Aimee Lucido, is an homage of sorts to one of the most famous fictional British spies of all time. We can't reveal his name here (he's a spy, after all), so if you want to find out who, and what was being, um, homaging, check out today's episode, which also includes another fabulous edition of Triplet Tuesday™️. Our…
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A crossword that's 99 44/100% pure, and if that phrase doesn't resonate, then you, most definitely, need to listen to today's podcast, at which point all will become clean, um, we mean clear 😀 Tomorrow is Triplet Tuesday, so if you're interested in seeing if you can do better than your co-hosts, have a listen, and let us know how you fared! Remembe…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
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Sunday, April 30, 2023 - Not to overly HEROIZE today's constructors, but this puzzle was NONSTOP fun!
19:44
This crossword is really -- to borrow from 54A, Baseball slang for home run -- a TATER (our favorite new word for something fabulous). What elevates this NYTimes Crossword from merely brilliant to something stratospherically stunning is the theme: but the surrounding cast of characters, aka the non-themed clues, are themselves terrific. Definitely …
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Crosswords have moods - some make you laugh; some (especially the insanely hard ones) make you want to cry; this one was just infectiously joyous. You'll see (er, make that hear) why when you listen to today's episode, so please subscribe, download, listen up and enjoy! To see today's crossword in all its glory, check it out here To listen to 1A, y…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
Considering the day of the week and the names of the constructors -- Malaika Handa and Erik Agard -- it was not surprising that the cohosts had to dig for pretty much every clue: from 49A, Where the first five counting numbers are "üks kaks kolm neli viis", ESTONIA, to 50D, Man known for his morals, AESOP, to 56A, Lead in to MAIL or BOX, VOICE, it …
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A splendid Thursday crossword by Michael Schlossberg -- and somehow "splendid" and "Michael Scholossburg" seem to appear together quite frequently, this being his 7th NYTimes crossword since 2020. The theme was a rebus with a twist, and if that sounds intriguing, wait 'til you hear the details. Ah, but you don't need to wait, you can download and l…
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If you're a HITCHCOCK fan, or a Jimmy STEWART or Kim NOVAK stan, then today's crossword will be right up your alley, as the theme revolves around HITCHCOCK's most famous (?) work, VERTIGO. Both cohosts found this puzzle to be, aptly enough, somewhat dizzying, but they did manage to (eventually) puzzle it out. Deets inside, so download, have a liste…
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A fun Tuesday crossword, and we had fun talking about it, as even a perfunctory listen to today's episode will reveal. So have a listen, and, as always, let us know what you think, and please do something to make this episode go viral! Want to see the entire crossword, solved? Here you go. Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crossw…
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There appeared to be, along with the explicit and enjoyable main theme, there is a sub-theme involving Star Wars - witness 9D, Humanoid robot who appears in all nine "Star Wars" episodes, informally, THREEPIO, 17A, Childhood nickname for Darth Vader, ANI, and 52D, Decide one will, OPTTO (which has a decidedly Yoda-ish sound to it). So, two themes f…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
A crossword that's sure to be a hit with English teachers everywhere, today's rather subtle -- almost to the point of invisible -- theme reminds us of the importance of proper punctuation. There were numerous other noteworthy gems in the grid, including 97A, Twisted do, LOCS ; 92A, Muppet bear, FOZZIE; and 40D, Oviform:egg :: pyriform:____, PEAR (h…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
The only thing that was 46A -- A piece of cake, SOEASY -- about this puzzle was, well, 46A. The rest of the grid was crackling with fiendishly clever and often quite arcane clues, such as 61A, Dead letter in a mail sorter's vernacular, NIXIE (woah!); 39D, One with an "If You Choose the Lesser of Two Evils -- You Are Still Choosing Evil" bumper stic…
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We would need to break out the thesaurus to do justice to today's crossword, an absolutely brilliant theme. We'd say more here, but we don't want to spoil the surprise, so download, listen up, and be prepared to be amazed. The crossword can be seen, in all its glory, right here. Contact Info: We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@…
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For all you poetry aficionados, your time has come -- a crossword theme built around an octad of famous (?) poets. This was definitely a crunchier than usual crossword, Jean had to work slightly harder than was the norm, while Mike feared for his streak , almost done in by his completely erroneous conviction that "How Firm a Foundation" was an adve…
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As the week progresses, the crosswords tend to get more difficult, and while Tuesday is therefore on the easier side, this puzzle did have a few crunchier clues, including: 19D, Showy basket, DUNK (hah!); 10A, Hip-hop subgenre pioneered by Gucci Mane, TRAP (one word, for the record); and 47D, Comma, colon or apostrophe, MARK (probably lonely becaus…
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Last Tuesday, MONDEGREEN made its way into the grid for the very first time, and so we were delighted to find an example of that -- ODETOJOY -- make an appearance today: first because we just adore ODETOJOY, and second because we love to work MONDEGREEN into a sentence, as many times as we can possibly get away with it -- so far, our record is two.…
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We found a lot to like in today's crossword -- a debut by Chicago real estate agent Mike Hobin -- as well as a few fascinating mysteries lurking in the grid. Intrigued? Want to know more? In that case, subscribe / download / listen up and prepare to be entertained and educated! Also, here's today's puzzle, fully solved, for your viewing pleasure. C…
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Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword
Anytime you see Kameron Austin Collins in the byline, be afraid, be very afraid ... of having a really great and epic time doing battle with the master of opaque cluing. Today's crossword was perfect, and to find out why, have a listen. Also, we're curious to know -- based on our JAMCOTWA award this week -- what's your favorite MC Hammer episode. L…
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An excellent Thursday crossword, with a theme that, once again, requires we metaphorically doff our hats in awe and astonishment at the creativity of constructors such as today's -- Robin Yu -- for whom this is a debut. Deets are inside, so download, listen up, enjoy and ... don't forget to write! (crosswordpodcast@icloud.com) Today's solved crossw…
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An ingenious theme made today's crossword slightly crunchier than usual (and we're not just saying that because NUT appeared in the grid). Fortunately the theme did not detract from the rest of the puzzle, which included such notable clues as 67A, Tempeh alternative, TOFU, immediately atop 70A, Like forgiving lighting in photography, SOFT (😀); 37A,…
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A nice Tuesday crossword by Taylor Johnson and the indefatigable Jeff Chen, with an almost-under-the-radar theme, and some quality clues, including 25D, Jackapoo or schnoodle, DOG (in the running for the best-clue-involving-a-DOG award, which we just totally made up but still want to confer on the authors); the educational 52D, The "Z" of ZIP code,…
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