Friday, March 20, 2026 - Rafael Musa and Rebecca Goldstein, Together Again!

Welcome to Jean and Mike to the New York Times crossword. Hi, I'm Jean and I'm Mike

And today we are doing the crossword for Friday March 20th

2026

so on the first day of spring and a day in which there is a lot of melting action taking place on the streets

Great, mm-hmm. Just been great. Did this crossword melt your heart?

No, didn't even was cold as ice

No, no, I don't think I want to associate it with any type of weather. Okay

But how did you find it? I thought it was a good puzzle. Mm-hmm

I am sure that people on Word and Play probably said it was too easy. Yes. Did they say that? There were hundreds of people

Many of many of whom were equipped with pitchforks. Oh, no, folks. And torches too easy. They said

I would never say a puzzle is too easy or too hard, you know, they're just a puzzle and and you can take it

Whatever way you want. Yeah, but I would never just say oh, that was too hard. Mm-hmm

It shouldn't have done that or oh, that was too easy

It wasn't enough of a

Just think that's so funny. I have lots of crosswords that that come to mind that have been too hard

But

No, I I mean if they want to make the crossword harder just do it when they're more tired. Yeah

That's right. I haven't alarm go off at two in the morning and then let's just see how mentally acute they are

That is right. That's right. But no, it was a fun fun puzzle. Mm-hmm

And it had some fun clues. Yes. I enjoyed I enjoyed the clues and who who was it by it was by

Raphael Musa and Rebecca Goldstein. Yes

Rebecca Goldstein she always does a good puzzle, I think

But but no, I thought it was fun. Right

Yeah, and you know, it did take me less time and it usually takes on a Friday

I did it with our daughter. So of course that always cuts it on the time too, but I don't know she does and vice versa

I think but um, but yeah, no, we had fun solving it. Mm-hmm

I usually find a way to make enough mistakes to keep the crossword interesting and not solved in two sort of time

Yes, uh, for example 31 across farm female isn't that a cow?

And apparently the answer here was sour. I guess they're both female farm females

There are many different kinds of females on a farm. Yes

In fact, there was another one that crossed that 27-down farm female. Yeah, are you? Uh-huh

But I went for cow and didn't give it up. Well a cow

Is female right? Right. I'm pretty sure yeah, but

And again is a female

We see I already had the own the w

So it's just that matter of that first letter and because seven down the answer turned out to be the answer for seven down

With the clue being things that send people into hiding surprise party. Yeah, that was one of my babies

It was quite good, but you see I had that scene there. So I thought it had something to do with price parties

And I was trying to figure out what's a price party? It's sort of like where the Tupperware people come by and try and sell you stuff

So and I you know, I didn't know that as of surprise would turn out to be surprise parties

Came out of five across political commentator Piker Hassan Hassan. Yeah, I didn't know. I never heard that

Yeah, it's like come on. How am I supposed to know? I guess I guess they're like an influencer on some social media site

Probably like has 10 million views every day anyway. I did not recognize the name but not for me

Yeah

Ministers so uh-huh. So that was sort of sort of tricky. Um

Let's see we had some good I liked 10 across like a workhouse horse shod. Yes, that was certain cute

And then 11 down Zillow data at first. I thought it was gonna have something to do with housing

Yeah, but it turned out to be home sales right

So I mean do people sell homes or don't they sell houses? It's the physical building

That's the house right. Yeah, it's the home because

They're hanging their hat there. Yeah, I don't know

I mean, they're used interchangeably in real in real estate speak. I mean

They're trying to find you your dream home right at your dream house. I want my dream house

A little more generic, but I'll make you think oh, yeah, this is mine. Yes, it does have that cozy

Feel to it. So

I the one next to it was funny 12 down dramatic outerwear for the theater and I put

Opera cape. I said I know this one. It's opera cape

Because because we've had it before it was opera cape but it turned out it was opera coat

Yes, I'm wearing one right now by the way. No, you're not. Yes, I am. This is my opera coat

listeners can't tell the advantages of doing a podcast

That is a debut incidentally opera coat. Oh, okay. Even if opera cape has shown up. Yes

I know the cape has shown up

I like the one next to it 13 down very old-fashioned sort. I'm like, okay

Like some stead gentle moon or something like that dinosaur dinosaur. Yes. That was good

I thought it might have related to the drink old-fashioned. Oh

Because those are you know, that's a very popular drink up in Wisconsin at the

Separal club. So that's it's a

Comment drink that you get the dinner of an old-fashioned and old-fashioned, but no, it was

Funny if they served you a dinosaur. Yeah, who's your old-fashioned

Serve a little umbrella head a little dinosaur

In that area we had 28 across law with an individual mandate provision for short

ACA right the what the American care actor something

Um

Affordable care affordable care act there we go. Yeah, yeah, Obamacare. That's whatever right sure. Obamacare

Yeah, I you know, I completely forgot about it. It doesn't show up in the news hardly at all anymore. So

No, but need that we had a terrific one giant Jesus. Yes

And I'm thinking of that statue in Rio we thought of that too, but it's like it's it's got a longer name

Yeah, I didn't know what the name was but right

But it was aloo. Yes, the giant uh-huh. He was a great baseball player

That was a fabulous I think the whole crossword was worth it. He's oops. Yeah, yes

Yeah, but yeah, that was the best. That was the best

Although I also liked um

41 across philosophy of a devil's advocate Satanism. Yeah

That was also pretty good. Uh-huh

I enjoyed 33 across it went the whole length of the puzzle and it was words before confirming something

Just so we're clear

Yes

Those are good words to say people are clearing something

And you know, once you see the answer you think of course, uh-huh

Yeah, it certainly didn't come to me right away. No, uh-huh

I had to warm up with a lot of crosses

Like 29 down drinking game pub trivia. Yep

We had 23 across world capital split by the world's longest river

So I forgot and thought the world's longest river was the Amazon

And so I was trying to do something with Rio de Janeiro and fitted into five letters. Yeah, it wasn't going well

No turned out it was Cairo. That's right. I bet you knew that right away. No

What did you think was the longest river? I thought the Amazon really? Oh good. I don't like that

There's some seeing something

I don't know but yeah, the Nile is longer

I wonder how it compares to the Mississippi. Well, it might not be not. Maybe it's a different river and there's a lot of rivers

They go to Africa. Oh, no, it's gotta be that. I mean the Nile is the big one, right? I mean that just

In in each of that thought it was the biggest river, but I don't know my geography of rivers in Africa

So I don't know my geography of rivers around here. All I know is we're gonna have a large one in our backyard

Sometimes see

20 across let's see pesos or euros denaro

I probably need that explain to me

Well denaro means money oh

I see and that would be the language of Spanish correct. That's right. Yeah, once again my lack of Spanish

Does me in although I mean I didn't get it through the crosses very good

So I've got 42 down was funny viral

2010s dance that Hillary Clinton performed on TV

Nene yes, I wish I could have seen that did you do that like during one of her committee

appearances

Mrs. Clinton will you please answer the question and Nene

And then she just started going to a little dance there. Yeah, that would be that would be something to see

Yeah, and then probably get hauled away by the bailiff or whoever manages those things

So I'm trying to think and in the 2010s

She was yes, she would have been secretary of state there. So maybe she did it in some foreign country and thinking that we wouldn't know about it right

Oh, anyway, I thought that was very interesting. Yes, yeah, so yeah, just a fun fun class

One last one and then we'll wrap it up 45 down

that was

poker hand known as a Wayne Gretzky. Yes, 9s 9s because apparently 2 9s. He was number 99. Oh really

I thought I thought probably had something to do with his uniform right yeah

So if you have 2 9s you have a Wayne Gretzky there you go

And I want to look this up on on poker zone and they have like 10 million words

They're this huge vocabulary of of of poker terminology

Just like there's no way I could do I couldn't play poker because I wouldn't know

A Wayne Gretzky from a bobby haul. I don't know who knows

Anyway, that is it for the crossword. Okay, but it is Friday

Which means it's time for fun fact Friday

That was a very spring-like rendition

I'm thinking spring here. Yes, all right

Do you have a fun fact for fun for fun? I do have some fun facts

We had a themed puzzle about the eyes of March on the eyes of March, right?

Eyes of March and and they they looked at

Caesar as in Caesar salad as well as Caesar as in Julius Caesar. Yes, so I have found five

Key facts about Julius Caesar and five key facts about Caesar salad

So anyway Julius Caesar who was born in 100 BC and died in 44 BC

Of course was a Roman general and dictator and here are five key facts about him

He was kidnapped by pirates at age 25

He was captured by Sicilian pirates and they said his ransom at 20 talents

But he insisted he was at worth at least 50

And nice after he was released he hunted them down and had them crucified. Oh, he conquered gall

He conquered gall and actually he kind of ruled in gall with he co-ruled with this other guy named Pompeii

But he conquered gall and in spite of all those great asterisks and obelis. I was about to say

That said, you know, they never let him come. There's this one little gall-ish village

That he never got but he actually had conquered all of gall

Yeah, I think that's true carry on he crossed the Rubicon the Rubicon river in 49 BC

He defied the Senate and his co-leader Pompeii by marching his army across the Rubicon river into Italy

Which was considered a forbidden act and triggered the civil war against Pompeii and the Senate

Which eventually I guess he won because it led to his dictatorship

But that phrase crossing the Rubicon is used

Still today meaning going to the point of no return

You know they've crossed the Rubicon

He created the calendar the Julian calendar the 365 year sick day year with one leap year every four years

We did that and of course he was assassinated on theites of march

So

By the senators who did not like his dictatorship?

Okay, so some facts about Caesar salad. Oh good

It was created by

Caesar

Cardini or his brother Alex

um

And 1924 wait a minute it could have been are you saying it could have been the Alex salad?

Yes, because it was not named after Julius Caesar. It was named after his creator Caesar Cardini

I think they chose well because I think it's easier to say Caesar salad than Alex salad

Yeah, you have to stop after that X and reload the tongue as it were

You wonder if that caused a rip between them

Anyway, it was during prohibition and he he created it in Mexico

For American tourists no doubt going down there to drink because they couldn't drink in the US or have a salad

Maybe they were going down for that the original version did not include anchovies

Which you know it's kind of a common

Ingredient in Caesar salad. Mm-hmm. The savory flavor came from Worcestershire sauce

Which does have anchovies

But not the real thing

Okay, um it was dubbed the most talked about salad in the early 1950s

Oh, and it does provide nutrients like vitamin A

But it is very high in calories

550 plus due to the dressing and all the cheese that is in it. Wow

It has a raw egg in the dressing which carries a minor risk of seminella

And because it was invented on the 4th of July

It

For the July is also known as the National Caesar salad day

Huh the largest Caesar salad ever created weighed over three tons

Wow, that's one big salad

That has been quite the wedding party. Yes

Anyway, so a few facts about Caesar and Caesar. Well, thank you. You are welcome

I am now seized of the need to study up on this. Uh-huh. Very good

But I won't do it now because that is it for today's podcast

Thanks everyone for listening. Yes

We will be back again with our cutting edge analysis of what might be a more difficult Saturday quest for it

It will be mm-hmm. We'll be back to talk about that tomorrow. Bye. Bye