Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

Kathryn Bale's absolutely fabulous debut crossword is in honor of a holiday that we had no idea existed until tackling Kathryn's puzzle. In our defense, the holiday first came into existence in 2020, and its appearance in today's crossword appears to be the first time it's been mentioned anywhere in the NYTimes. What is that holiday, you ask? Check out today's episode and all will be revealed!
Show note imagery: A pair of SPRINTCARS, based on a 410-cubic-inch, methanol-fueled engine, vroom!
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Kameron Austin Collins, aka KAC, specializes in tough Friday and Saturday crosswords. Today's is a perfect example, with cunning clueing everywhere you look in the grid. We can't say enough good things about it, but we gave it the ol' college try in today's episode, so ... enjoy!
Show note imagery: DIANFOSSEY, a real primatologist's primatologist!
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This was a perfectly crafted crossword to wrap up the work week — not too hard, not too easy, but juuuuust right. It included some awesome clues, for example:
57A, Figure with three faces, in Dante, SATAN (not, as Mike originally theorized, CERBEBUS); 
44D, Beads for an athlete, SWEAT (cool! ... which is sort of the point); and 
59A, They're stretched out before some workouts, MATS
And there were others, which we explore at length in today's podcast. 
To top it all off we have a tasty FFF (Fun Fact Friday) segment for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!
Show note imagery: Epictetus, a Greek stoic philosopher who was dead set against lying
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Jill Singer's fourth NYTimes crossword was a great way to start October, with a legion of edutaining clues — and if that's not a real portmanteau, let's just call it slang and move on 😀. We certainly were educated and entertained by 9D, Great Basin tribe, PAIUTE; likewise by the very witty 48A, Is long ago?, EST; and, more edu- and less -taining, 9A, Some instructors, for short, PROFS. 
Show note imagery: The Queen of Salsa, CELIA Cruz (no relation to TED, AFAWK). And if you are unfamiliar with Ms. Cruz, don't walk, run to your favorite music app and be prepared to be amazed!
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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!

Unsurprisingly, themed crosswords rise and fall on the strength of their themes. In this case the theme causes the crossword to rise, but there are a slew of other clues in the puzzle that make it soar. Besides the awesome ones covered in today's episode, there was a clue written for onomatopoeia-ists: 57A, Pie-in-the-face sound, SPLAT; another for the math majors in the crowd: 42D, Trig function that can output every real number, TAN; and a brilliant one for fans of all things Norse: 29D, God whose name has one "I," fittingly, ODIN.
tldr: A fabulous crossword by Joel Woodford, absolutely worth five squares on the JAMCR scale.
Show note imagery: The absolutely gorgeous Isle of IONA, in the Scottish Hebrides.
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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!