This was a crunchy Sunday crossword, with much of the crunch coming from Michael and Oliver Schlossbergs' dizzyingly brilliant theme. As fans of both crosswords and roundabouts, we were absolutely delighted by today's fare. Check out today's episode for all the deets.

Show note imagery: Gertrude EDERLE, the first woman to swim the English Channel. She did so in 14h34m, demolishing the old record of 16h33m.

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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 sufficiently tamped down to give pop-culture-challenged solvers like Mike a fighting chance.

Just to give you a taste of Katie's talents, take a gander at 3D, Add to a columbarium, say, INURN (ye gads!); 48D, Former M.L.B. team with the mascot Youppi!, EXPOS (yippee!); and 41A, Start of a Christmas carol in Latin, ADESTE (a reminder, in case you needed it, that this is a Saturday NYTimes crossword).

tldr; A crossword that hits the sweet spot for Saturdays, we loved it!

Show note imagery: Youppi!, the former mascot of the Montreal Expos, current mascot of the storied Montreal Canadians, and one of only 3 mascots in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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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 in time-and-a-half in order to get through this challenging but ultimately highly rewarding Friday crossword. Deets inside.

Besides the crossword, we have one of the shortest Fun Fact Friday segments on record, and an absolutely awesome piece of listener mail / feedback about yesterday's puzzle, by itself worth the listen.

Show note imagery: R.U.D.I., thinking it over ...

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Yesterday's crossword was all about sequels, and today's crossword is itself a sequel — the second for constructor Alex Murphy. That could be coincidence, or it could be another example of Will Shortz's untamable genius: we're betting on the latter.

While the foundation of today's crossword was a splendid theme, it was supported by some other great clues. We loved 3D, See 4-Down, HALF, and 4D, Double 3-Down, ONE. The debut at 47D, Some online discounts, EBATES, also tickled our fancy. Finally, we certainly chuckled at 24D, Hold it!, REIN (cute!).

Show note imagery: Billy IDOL, who recorded a jaw-droppingly fabulous version of Mony Mony.

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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 — at 3:35 AM, so we will not be personal witnesses to the event — it will appear blue.

But blue does not capture our mood when working on today's crossword, because even though we did not immediately suss out the theme, our failure to do so did not significantly impede our progress. Three cheers for the crosses. 😀

Show note imagery: A Lhasa APSO, a dog originally from Tibet and inspiration for the tales of that dreaded monster, Little Foot. 🙄😉

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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 why.

In honor of Tuesday, we have another Triplet Tuesday segment, and it is historic — as well as hysteric(al) — so be sure and check it out!

Show note imagery: The Buffet, by PAULCEZANNE

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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. Today's crossword, a debut by Matthew Luter, bears that burden well, as today's podcast makes (we hope!) abundantly clear.

Beyond the crossword, we've picked our JAMCOTWA™️ (Jean And Mike Crossword Of The Week Award) for last week. Did we pick your favorite? Let us know in the usual way.

Show note imagery: Look, up there in the sky, it's ... um, a SKYE 😀 😉

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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 are already in a good mood) — and the good news, he succeeds magnificently. The proof is in the pudding ... er, podcast 😀

Shownote imagery: Nauru, purportedly the world's least visited country

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