Crossnerds

What even IS a Thursday crossword these days? Is a Thursday crossword, like time itself, "only a stubbornly persistent illusion"? A memory? A fable? 😱 Whatever it is, we're talking about the last "week" of xword puzzles in the New York Times (12/6/21 - 12/12/21). 

NPR on "POC"

The Trouble with Tribe ... and the glory of Quest.

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Gratitude, greetings, and Happy Chanukah/Hanukkah 5782! R&B here, gifting you the miracle of our thoughts on the New York Times crossword puzzles from 11/22/21 - 11/28/21. Including:

• Baby's first rebus
• The next installment of the "who ate the last cookie" drama
• Rosalind Franklin was a Boss
• Big crossnews from the American Values Club!

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! @ us on Twitter! Support us on Patreon! Or just keep listening. Or all. Ideally all. But we'll take any. Please and thank you!

To Bork, or not to Bork? That is not the question. The question is, what will Rebecca and Brooke SAY about the last week (11/15/21 - 11/21/21) in New York Times crossword puzzles? A sampling:

• The Great Alfred Nobel Obituary Mixup
• How to make grid art
• CHEETO: implications for Mento?

Happy [Un]Thanksgiving! Namaste.

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! @ us on Twitter! Support us on Patreon! Or just keep listening. Or all. Ideally all. But we'll take any. Please and thank you!

You and your lawn decorations better get into Crosstume: Rebecca and Brooke are Rebacka, reviewing New York Times crossword puzzles from 10/25/21 thru 10/31/21. Included: the Great David S. Pumpkins SNUB of 2021, the NYT's Amazon Alexa obsession, urchin injuries, and guff. More worms, mama!

Read about zombies' Haitian roots here, in the Atlantic.

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What do you get when a meta 4 meets the right pants leg?  While you're coming up with the answer, please enjoy this list we compiled based on New York Times crossword puzzles from 10/18/21 thru 10/24/21.

Are They Out There?:

• Aliens
• Santa (Lapland??)
• The "d" in "handsome"

We also talk about other conspiracies, such as themes that appear vertically (in the Downs).

Sleep tight, sweet humans.......👽 👽~~

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! @ us on Twitter! Support us on Patreon! Or just keep listening. Or all. Ideally all. But we'll take any. Please and thank you!

From Beelzebub and the shillelaghs we're esporting to lead pipes, "so-what" clues, and that blasted Off!: it's a whirlwind tour of New York Times crossword puzzles from 10/11/21 thru 10/17/21. 

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts!  Comment @ us on Twitter! Support us on Patreon! Or just keep listening. Or all. Ideally all. But we'll take any. Please and thank you!

Rebecca and Brooke reunite IRL to bulk up our crossword podcasting r*sum*s by discussing New York Times puzzles from 9/27/21 - 10/3/21. We ask Important Questions Of Our Time (WHO IS EATING THE COOKIES???), explore kangaroos (mutual sniffing), the history of diagonal symmetry in the NYT (abridged), and how to use the puzzle as a platform (if you want).

Will Nediger's indie puzzle roundups are on his blog, Bewilderingly Puzzles.

Ready the snow scythes and bring in the beakers! Rebecca and Brooke review the New York Times crossword puzzles from 9/20/21 - 9/26/21. 

• The Crossword Collaboration Directory is a beautiful thing!!
• Among other sources, here is CNN's piece on Ole Miss.

Go forth and clue responsibly.

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

L'jai alai'm! In this episode of New York Times crossword puzzle reviews: lovin' on some diagonal symmetry, crossword cocktails*, RiRi, and GAY PORN. Cruciverbs from 9/13/21 thru 9/19/21. 

Join the crossword Discord (d/b/a Crosscord)!

*Cocktails suggestion box: @Crossnerds.

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In the words of the Backstreet Boys: "Oh my God, we're back again." Rebecca and Brooke, that is. Reviewing the New York Times crossword puzzles from 9/6/21 thru 9/12/21.

Support equality and women's rights here.

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Rebecca. Brooke. New York Times crossword puzzle reviews. August 30 thru September 5, 2021. EOM.

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Join Rebecca and Brooke and Oscular The Grouch as we crack up and open the last week in New York Times crossword puzzles! August 23-29, 2021.

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Whether you're a teehee, a tehee, a heh heh, har har, haha, or a ROFLcopter, all laughs are welcome this (and every!) week, as Rebecca and Brooke review the New York Times crossword puzzles from 8/16/21 - 8/22/21. 

The Lollapuzzoola puzzles and Twitch stream are still available at bemoresmarter.com. 

Enjoying "Crossnerds"? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Ponytails UP, headphones IN, pencils DOWN: it's HOT 'NERDS SUMMER, Crossbabes! BexVex and Bballstar09946 are back puzzling out the last week in New York Times crosswords (08/09/21 - 08/15/21). Featuring appearances by KEKE Palmer, UHH, and 😑!

Oh btw if you're free this Saturday, August 21, join Brooke, Sid, and Brian at Lollapuzzoola 2021.

Enjoying Crossnerds? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in Apple Podcasts! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either. Please and thank you!

Rebecca Neipris and Brooke Husic review New York Times crossword puzzles from 7/26/21 thru 8/1/21 and talk about other Pressing Issues in Crossworld, but all you really need to hear is DJ Cummerbund & The B-52's "Love Shack (Tik Toxic Remix)." You are welcome.

Enjoying Crossnerds? Give us five ⭐️s and comment in iTunes! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either.

Word-upped:

• Themelesses by Brian Thomas: puzzlesthatneedahome.blogspot.com
• Matthew Stock's 21x's: happylittlepuzzles.com

⭐️✨Star stuff everywhere!✨⭐️ That is what you can expect from this stellar. New. Episode. Of. What? CROSSNERDS! Rebecca Neipris and--in-person in our NYC "studio"--Brooke Husic review the last week in New York Times crossword puzzles (7/19/21 - 7/25/21). Pardon the tangentialos...

If you like us, please rate us stars and comment in iTunes! Or just keep listening. Or both. Ideally both. But we'll take either.

Word-upped

• Lollapuzzoola: https://bemoresmarter.com/lollapuzzoola/ 
• Brooke's puzzle site: xwordsbyaladee.blogspot.com 
• Adam Aaronson's puzzles: https://aaronson.org/crosswords/ 
• Ricky Cruz's Cruzzles: https://cruzzles.blogspot.com/

Ok um sooooo why didn’t anyone tell us it’s already 2021??? In honor of the [belated] New Year of the Ox, we mic’ed up Milo Beckman (@milobela), constructor of the January 1, 2021 New York Times crossword puzzle; author of the new book Math Without Numbers; and card-carrying try-hard (his words, not ours).

Observed:

• Singaporean chicken-rice is tasty
• Math is about to get schooled
• And more!

Milo’s comparison of accepted vs. changed clues: https://twitter.com/milobela/status/1346893142210076672.

Have you ever wondered...

• What makes a crossword, like, good, from an editor's-eye view
• If Laura Braunstein (@laurabrarian) is good at karaoke
• What Laura Braunstein’s favorite emoji is
• Whether there is a more graceful option than crying yourself to sleep at night when you’ve had your a** handed to you at a crossword puzzle tournament?

YES? ME TOO THAT'S SO AMAZING THIS PODCAST IS FOR YOU!!!!!!!

Welcome to Crossnerds' SERENITY NOW special! To distract you from living your worst nightmares, we hit the (digital) books and get absolutely learnt with Laura Braunstein: accomplished constructor, speed-solver, and commentator, plus founder and editor of The Inkubator, which publishes puzzles exclusively by women (cis, trans, and woman-aligned).

Looking for MORE FUN STUFF TO DO?

1. VOTE
2. Wear a mask
3. Subscribe to The Inkubator (@InkubatorXWords) at inkubatorcrosswords.com
4. Take Laura and Jesse Lansner's free online crossword-constructing classes on November 17, 2020 or December 15, 2020.

XOXOXO,

Xnerds.

Welcome to Crossbirds! We've ALIT beside Sid Sivakumar (@sid_sivakumar) who, in just the last three months, made his debut (6/22), dibut (8/8), and tribut (9/3) in the New York Times; celebrated the yearniversary of his indie crossword blog, Sid's Grids; and contributed puzzles to several charity packs and to xword tournament Lollapuzzoola. Meanwhile, I was eating a popsicle. We gab about the wonders of the crossword community, the beauty of indie publishing, and Important Topix such as:

• Lexical gatekeeping
• The dangers of specialization
• Constructor credit as a commodity
• Crosswords vs. Scrabble
• Sizeism (in puzzles, ahem)
• Cryptics in India, Britain, and the US

SUPPORT Crossnerds ON PATREON!

Then visit some of the indie sites word-upped in this episode:

• Themelesses: Bryan Thomas on Puzzles That Need A Home
• Clues to make you smile: Amanda Rafkin's Brain Candy
• Freshest fill: Adam Nicolle, luckystreak xwords
• Puzzles by Crossword Jesus: A-Frame Games
• Brain-benders: Stella Zawistowski's Tough As Nails
• Liz Gorski's Crossword Nation
• Brendan Emmett Quigley
• Happy Little Puzzles by Matthew Stock
• Paolo Pasco's Grids These Days
• Master puzzle newsletter by Matt Gritzmacher

What's it like to write a crossword puzzle for the New York Times, and why does it matter? Co-constructors of Saturday's puzzle and frequent collaborators (and FRIENDS) Brooke Husic and Sid Sivakumar spill the crossbeans on:

• Authorship in crosswords
• The editorial process at the NYT
• The joy of synchronized puzzling
• Plus ever so much more!

Check out Brooke's and Sid's puzzles at Lollapuzzoola 13 (this Saturday, 8/15!) and on Sid's indie puzzle site, sidsgrids.com. They're also active on crossword Twitter: @xandraladee and @sid_sivakumar.

Masks up, ducklings!