Jean & Mike Do The New York Times Crossword

For those of you seeking a change of pace from the wall-to-wall coverage of the election that you are likely being inundated with on every other platform known to human kind, good news! We're here to talk about today's crossword, an excellent bit of work by Victor Schmitt. The theme was unexpected, and the "puzzle-within-a-puzzle" aspect was particularly fun. Deets inside.
Show note imagery: Remember that camera your parents or grandparents owned? It's now a collector's item, so, quickly, hie thee to the attic! 😁
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This was a well-above-mid Monday crossword, the second by Max Schlenker, coming not too long after his debut on 5/5/26. The clues were zesty, which is just slightly to the left of "crunchy", and perfectly apropos for a Monday. There was no  Election Day theme  to speak of — so for those of you seeking a REFUGE from all the political news, the NYTimes crossword has your back.
Show notes imagery: KIRBY and the Forgotten Land, a game which no self-respecting Nintendo Switch owner should be without
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In a highly apt bit of Halloween scheduling — thanks, Will! — today's crossword was built by two of the scariest constructors on the NYTimes' roster, Erik Agard and Brendan Emmett Quigley. Fortunately, they did not put the pedal to the metal today — we'd rate the puzzle as about halfway between the speed of sound and the speed of light. We would also rate it a full and enthusiastic 5 squares on the JAMCR scale, for reasons that we lay out in today's episode.
Show note imagery: The magnificent Garden of the Morning Calm, in the Land of the Morning Calm, KOREA.
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Individually, Robyn Weintraub and Rafael Musa can write great crosswords, but put them together and we have the living embodiment of the axiom that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, i.e., today's puzzle. The clues were terrifically fun and thought provoking, in a word, fabulous; and the grid contained 6 very nice debut answers. We can't say enough about this crossword, but rather than rehash today's episode we'll just step aside and let you have at it.
Show note imagery: Oberon, the second largest moon of Uranus, as photographed by Voyager 2 in 1986. 
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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.

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Sam Ezersky usually shows up on Saturdays, so it's a bit of a surprise, and unnerving, to see him here on a Thursday. Fortunately, he left most of his heavy cruciverbial artillery at home, and shown up instead with an excellent but eminently solvable puzzle, with a very amusing theme. Deets inside.
Show note imagery: The quintessential TORY, Winston Churchill
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We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.

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