Tuesday, September 8, 2026 — A Terrific Tuesday Debut! ❤️

0:00Welcome to Gene and Mike, do the New York Times Crossword. Hi, I'm Gene. And I'm Mike. And today we are doing the Crossword for Tuesday, September 8th, 2026. So, did you find this to be the fairest crossword of them all? The fairest crossword of them all. Yes. Ha, ha, ha. A slight nod to one of the answers in the grid. No, well, yes. But no. Oh, OK. It was a good grassword. I don't know if it was the fairest of them all. Yes, I don't know what that would entail exactly and who would make the judgment. No, but no. It was a good puzzle. Although, I did tear through it. I got done with it very quickly and used hardly any of the downcooked. So I was just, I guess in my wheelhouse, as you all we say. Right. I just knew all the answers.

1:01What? Not to brag, but isn't that it? I mean, it's only Tuesday. So that's not much bragging. But I did just get it down through this very quickly. Well, for instance, 47 across. Did you know immediately that that was hardest substance in the human body? Yes. Oh, OK. I guess maybe I knew that too. 60 or 15. I'm surprised our daughter that I knew that. Really? Yeah, but she was like, bone is something with the bone. I said, no, which is it to you? How about 53 across? The energy carrying chemical found in all living things and briefs. That was one thing I did not know. Ha ha. See, I took biochemistry. And I remembered ATP, a denocene triphosphate. I'm very proud of that fact. Well, very good. I mean, my professor at the time never said, remember this. You might need it in the crossword someday. Which they had? Did you know 19 across the lion bird with a reductative name?

2:04So I started to write it because of I think I had the crosses. And I thought, actually, I may have just had one letter. And I just kept going with this. Neenie. That was correct. I certainly knew. And I'm sure you did to 17 across blanks, Gosha. Yes. Yes. Yes, I did know that. That's a relief. I momentarily forgot how to spell because I was thinking of Nova Scotia 24 across soda bottle units. I went for leaders, LIT, R E S. But that meant that four down, clears a board would have been a rasser as opposed to erase. So I had to backtrack there. How about 18 across actress Judy with an Oscar and a Tony? Yep. I knew it was drenched, but I wanted to put an extra S in there somewhere. Oh, no, no. I guess between the N and the C, Dan Schuh.

3:06But it didn't need it because that C H was doing all the Schuh work that needed to be done. And it's right. I'm sure you got 45 down. That was the, let's see here, a shake and not stirred drink. Oh, yes. I think that has to be one of the most famous phrases in the English language. I bet you could go anywhere, talk to anyone who is even, they might be in like English as a second language and they got to the third day of classes. And they'd be able to say shake and not stirred martini. You think that is my theory could be could be 61 across was a little bit of an offbeat clue, milkshake flavor or yo. Yes. Have you ever had an Oreo milkshake? I don't believe I have. No. My understanding is that the New York Times Crossword meetings every day, they served them. Yes. One of the fringe benefits.

4:06Yeah. So there was a theme here. There was a theme and it all revolved around the clue right in the middle, 37 across CVS rival or a phonetic hint to the answers on this puzzle's perimeter. And the answer to that was of course Walgreens. Yeah. My favorite pharmacy. So and if you take a look around the edge of the puzzle, it is indeed four walls of green starting with one across prized gem in Chinese culture, which was Jade. And that was followed from left to right pine sage and then going down the right side emerald forest across the bottom mint line moss and then going back up to the top on the left side, see phone and jungle. Yes. All different shades of green walls of green wall.

5:10I'd like to point out that on xword info.com, a site that we often go to and always recommend, they colored in the green themed squares. Yes. I thought, yeah, I bet they could have done it. But now I just, I just wonder if this was the ultimate in product placement. No, it wasn't. It was just a great crossword. This was the debut by the way. Oh, really? By Sunny Maharjan. So he debuts with I just, you know, the fact that you could just look at wall greens and think, huh, green walls, I wonder what that would look like in a crossword. I think that takes a lot of effort. Very clever. Very, very clever. We had, let's see. So we already had a Nova of Nova Scotia. We also had 41 down most populous Canadian province, Ontario. That is correct. Do you know what the second most populous province is?

6:11And the second most populous, I would guess, I would guess Manitoba. No, that's like four, I think, maybe five. Oh, maybe Nova Scotia. No, that's pretty small. Oh, okay. Wasi, a hint. Oh, come back. Come back. Yes, that's the second. I think Ontario's got about like 1.6 or 1.7 million and Quebec's got 1.1 million or so. But Quebec is bigger for what that's worth. But they're talking about population here. Right. 42 down the 2014 nonfiction bestseller subtitle, a brief history of humankind, sapiens. Yes. Have you read sapiens? I have not. Me neither. It's sort of, I was looking it up and apparently some people thought it was, I mean, it was a bestseller. But, you know, all the people who follow the fine details of human evolution were sort of annoyed that it sounded, it was making conjectures sound like known facts.

7:12Just maybe pushing the boundaries a little bit too much. 30 across French cosmetics company founded in 1909, La Riale. La Riale. Did you get that one right away? Yes. How about, let's see, what else could have stumped you? 22 across, pest at a comedy club? Heckler. No, I got that right away. Wow. Well, you did say that you got them all right away. Yeah. I didn't get them all right away, but those I did. I am 100% sure that you got 66 across plastic wrap brand Seran. Yes, I got that one. Yes. That was not a surprise. When I didn't get right, was 65 across Blank Eye a Woman I put on. What did I put? Am I no? I didn't put aint right away, but that was the right one. I put a real one.

8:13Where I made me, where I a woman. Where I a woman? I knew something that it was aint a woman. All right, well, I think that is it for the crossword. But it is Tuesday, which means it's time for triplet Tuesday. And triplet Tuesday for new listeners is that segment where one of us reads three clues to the other. The answer to all three clues is one three letter answer. The object is to guess that answer in as few clues as possible. We do it three times, hence the name triplet Tuesday. Yes. I believe I will be one subject to the indignities today. You betcha. And listeners, you're invited to play along, by the way. As soon as Jean has read the clue, hit pause and see if you can get to the correct three letter answer before I do. Good luck. I'm going to need it. Okay, here we go, first clue. They're related. Kin. That is correct. That is correct. Very good.

9:13Thank you. Uh-huh. The second clue was people in a tree. People in a tree? Oh, you should have led with that. You think? I would have gone for ape. Oh, but they aren't people. No, that's true. Then the last one was next up blank. I wonder, I'll never know now if I heard that out of context if I would have gotten that. Oh, I bet you would have. What else would you put after next up blank? Next up. Next up. Good point. So well, very good. Got anyone? All right. Okay, here's your second set. Listen to us. Raise yourselves. Get ready to hit the pause button. Bub. Bub. Pow. No. That's a good good guess. I thought so. Uh-huh. Jobs offering. Jobs offering. Oh, this is tricky. This could be Steve Jobs. Or it could be a jobs offering. I'm going for it.

10:14I'm Mac. That is correct. The last clue was computer for Apple picker reviews. Yes. So I figured you'd better get this. Right. And by the way, a PSA for listeners, Apple is going to be releasing a whole bunch of new products tomorrow. You'll be surely you'll want to tune in as I will be in the middle of class. And yesterday I happened to walk by an Apple store in Walbatoza and they were having big sales. So hang, don't you want an upgrade now? So. So anyway, that was good. Okay. Here's your last one. All right. Inseparable. Inseparable. Okay. So if you're inseparable, you're stuck together, but it's only three letters. Inseparable. Wed.

11:15Oh, that was a good answer, but no, that's not right. Ah, that's right. Very good. Uh, answer there. Hang here. Okay. Half and half. Half and half. Well, one. Yes. I was going to go for, I always had you there. I was going to go for calf, but that didn't make any sense. Like a calf calf. No, half and half. One. All right. Okay. And your last clue was any number raised to the zero of power. Hmm. I knew you would get that. I think zero to zero to the zero with power might be a problem. But other than that, yes. Uh-huh. Very good. Well, you did quite well. One, two and two. Ooh. Very good. And you got me on a lucky day. Listeners, we hope you did well as well. Let us know how you did. Crossword podcast at iCloud.com or click on the send fan mail link. We have one bit of listener mail.

12:16Oh, we do. Thanks to Randall. And he writes in about a subject that I'm not going to actually say yet for reasons that will become clear in about two seconds. Hi, guys. Here I am for another edition of So That's How You Pronouncing. The only reason I know this, yes. The only reason I know this bit of information is because a good friend of mine worked for Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. And he did some renovations for the blank shop there. I'm keeping people in suspense. When I was admiring my friend's work, I mispronounced the vendor's name. I quickly learned that this Spanish fashion house with the German founder is pronounced Loa Vé. So what we had said was low. A low E, W, E is actually Loa Vé. Wow. Yeah, I know. There's no V in it though. Well, apparently I get maybe in Spanish, the W becomes a V. You are a Spanish expert here. I will not. I'm not a Spanish expert.

13:17I'm not sure. Don't remember that rule. Like it almost looks like Oive. But not quite. Loa Vé. Loa Vé. Oive. No, that would be the, I don't know, the basement part of the franchise. I did say I'd never heard of it. Right. And I thought it was interesting that it was a Spanish that's a fashion, but it had sort of a German sounding name. Well, yeah, Spanish fashion house with a German founder. Interesting. And Randall goes on to say, now we know. By the way, I'm attaching a link to their shop at Bergdorf's so that Jean can hurry out and get her order in for that $5,000 handbag. She's had her eye on it. That's going to have to wait until we start including ads in our podcast. I am sorry to report all the best of you both Randall. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yes, thank you for that very insightful edition of, so that's how you pronounce it. Thank goodness we have our listeners to keep us honest. On the straight, on the straight and narrow, yes.

14:18Yes. Okay. Well, if anyone else wants to do what Randall just did, I mean, don't write the same thing, but if you want to communicate with us again, it's crossword podcast at iCloud.com or click on the send fan mail link. That is it for today. We'll be back again with our in-depth cutting edge analysis of tomorrow's crossword tomorrow. Bye-bye.