Friday, May 22, 2026 — Don't be a fool, mate, and succumb to the FOOLSMATE 🙄😀

This was Gene Louise De Vera's sixth NYTimes Crossword, and his Friday debut. Both cohosts found the clues to be quite lively — fun but not fraught, as far as streaks are concerned. Apart from those clues covered in the podcast, we would like to draw your attention to a very NYTime-ish sort of clue, 17D, Carnivora or Lagomorpha, ORDER; the retro 33A, "Neato!", OHCOOL; and the implicit spelling challenge wrapped into 51A, Philosopher William of _________, OCCAM. Besides the crossword, we have ...