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
1999 episodes
Saturday, March 28, 2026 - The Queen of Saturdays is Back!
Katie Hoody, the Queen of Saturdays, is back again with an excellent example of the genre. In today's puzzle, the clues were deliciously deceiving, but the amount of pop culture s...
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Season 16
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Episode 5
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9:56
Friday, March 27, 2026 - Siri's great, great, great, grandfather, R.U.D.I. π
Today's crossword, a fine effort by Zachary David Levy, will not induce neuralgia, aka BRAINFREEZE, rather just the opposite: it will cause those billions of neurons to put ...
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Season 16
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Episode 4
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22:56
Thursday, March 26, 2026 - A crossword that will make you soar, not sore π
Yesterday's crossword was all about sequels, and today's crossword is itself a sequel β the second for constructor Alex Murphy. That could be coincidence, o...
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Season 16
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Episode 3
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18:26
Wednesday, March 25, 2026 - π΅ Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers, jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those I's πΆ π
While Mike often has no idea what's going on with the theme, it is a blue moon day indeed when Jean also fails to get the gist of the thing. While the moon is currently set, we feel fairly confident that when it rises β at 3:35 AM, so we will n...
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Season 16
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Episode 2
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18:03
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 - A fabulous crossword, a Triplet Tuesday miracle, and much, much more!
Today's crossword, by Killian Olson, was funny, punny, and a subtle reward for those of you who paid attention in Art Appreciation 101. We loved it, and today's episode spells out...
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Season 16
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Episode 1
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16:19
Monday, March 23, 2026 - Alright, varmint, reach for the SKYE π π
There's a lot of pressure resting on a Monday crossword's black-and-white shoulders: welcome and educate new solvers, retain and entertain experienced ones, and above all, don't be boring.
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Season 15
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Episode 100
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11:45
Sunday, March 22, 2026 - A Spectacular Sunday Saga!
The very talented Alex Eaton-Salners is back with a cheery Sunday crossword engineered to lift your spirits (if they are sagging) or elevate you to almost Elysian heights (if you ...
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Season 15
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Episode 99
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26:39
Saturday, March 21, 2026 - An Elegant Saturday Solve
Today's crossword was replete with awesome clues β pretty much all of them were fresh, imaginative, and entertaining. We covered a slew of them in today's episode, but ev...
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Season 15
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Episode 98
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11:06
Friday, March 20, 2026 - Rafael Musa and Rebecca Goldstein, Together Again!
This marks Rafael Musa and Rebecca Goldstein's 4th NYTimes crossword collaboration, and it is a fine piece of work. Being a Friday, it was themeless, but there were oodles of admi...
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Season 15
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Episode 97
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15:17
Thursday, March 19, 2026 - Welcome to EUROPA, a *very* popular tourist destination (um, in the 2080s) π
Today's crossword was full of surprises. The theme? A surprise. The correct spelling of DADAIST? A surprise (at least to Mike). The fabulous 51D, Nation whose name sounds like a p...
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Season 15
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Episode 96
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16:03
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - A cracking good Wednesday crossword
Adam Vincent has turned in an ab fab Wednesday crossword. The theme was highly amusing, and the rest of the clues equally awesome. We cover a lot of them in today's podca...
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Season 15
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Episode 95
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12:21
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 - Finally, MADISON gets its 15 minutes of fame!
MADISON, Wisconsin is a wonderful city that has received many accolades over the years, but one has always eluded it: recognition in the NYTimes crossword. We are pleased to report that those sorrowful years are now in the past, for in...
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Season 15
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Episode 94
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14:07
Monday, March 16, 2026 - βοΈ π΅ Snowbody knows, the trouble we've seen, snownobody knows at all πΆ
This was a superb and somewhat crunchier than usual Monday crossword, a side-effect perhaps of an excellent, and about as NYTimes-ish as you can hope for, theme. For all those rea...
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Season 15
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Episode 93
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13:31
Sunday, March 15, 2026 - Beware, ARSENE Lupin is lurking in the grid π±π«π·
Today's crossword was a real deal β two themes for he price of one. But, here's the kicker (and the reason why this puzzle was worthy of the NYTimes): the two themes were slyly re...
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Season 15
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Episode 92
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16:15
Saturday, March 14, 2026 - GOTTA like a crossword with GOTTA and ATTA π
Kameron Austin Collins (aka KAC) has a reputation for writing streak-killing crosswords. Today, however, KAC is playing against type β and the result is a tough, doable puzzle tha...
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Season 15
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Episode 91
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12:12
Thursday, March 12, 2026 - One HARDCORE Thursday crossword!
Today marks Joe Marquez's sixth NYTimes crossword. Having started in 2023, that amounts to about 2 crosswords per year β not too shabby! This particular puzzle was particularly no...
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Season 15
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Episode 90
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15:43
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 - Eureka!
Today's crossword was an homage to proponents of the "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" philosophy, and it made for an awesome theme β tales of happy accidents t...
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Season 15
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Episode 89
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16:57
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 - Mmm, give us a bowl of that ol' BABAGHANOUJ π
Just like the dish in the title, today's crossword was yummy. We found the theme delicious, the clues tangy, and like all good crosswords it left us wanting more. Just to give you...
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Season 15
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Episode 88
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13:50
Monday, March 9, 2026 - May we have the envelope, please?
This was a fine Monday crossword, straightforward but with a wry theme and clues that spanned a wide gamut of years. For instance, 3D, Bobby, Peter or Greg, to Carol Brady...
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Season 15
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Episode 87
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9:48
Sunday, March 8, 2026 - Happy International Women's Day!!
Kelly Richardson has crafted a delightful and timely puzzle in honor of INTERNATIONALWOMENSDAY, in which all of the crosses are the names of famous women β all the way from I
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Season 15
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Episode 86
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15:20
Saturday, March 7, 2026 - Red Alert! There's a Saturday Streak Smasherβ’οΈ at 12 o'clock, closing fast!
If crosswords were animals, then today's, by Fritz Juhnke, would be Godzilla, smashing its way through streaks like nobody's business. Fritz was relentless, piling tough clue atop tough clue. From 28D, Dry streamed, WASH, to 66A, Ninny...
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Season 15
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Episode 85
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21:18
Friday, March 6, 2026 - Adrian Johnson dials it up to 11!
Ah, this was a rigorous Friday crossword β the kind that, after you've solved it (er, if you've solved it), makes you feel a little taller, and compelled to ...
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Season 15
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Episode 84
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17:24
Thursday, March 5, 2026 - Pee Wee REESE, champion of the oppressed and a *colossus* on the playing field
Making any crossword is challenging; but making a crossword like this one seems almost impossible. Fortunately, constructor Hanh Huynh doesn't know the meaning of the word...
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Season 15
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Episode 83
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17:15