On The Cross With Lucas Murphy

J. Keith van Straaten joins the boys and crushes not one but TWO New York Times Crosswords in under an hour. We discuss beans, homophones, the Electric Light Orchestra Rating System, the perils of doing commercials in the dot com boom, plus the exciting use of both the Dab and the Nae Nae in one crossword puzzle! Be sure to check out J. Keith's podcast GO FACT YOURSELF! If you're a fan of comedy and trivia (and of course you are) it's hilarious. 

On the Cross is recording on location at The Limbo tiki bar! It’s not a proper live show, but more of a podcast recording in a room with some confused hungover brunch-goers. Comedian and friend of the show Greg Welsh joins Lucas and Nathan as they solve a Monday puzzle from the New York Times. Along the way we discuss Charles Dickens’ wallet chain, that cocaine jackhammer lifestyle, ketchupade, things Snoop Dogg likes, Jeepers Critters, and the lesser mutant powers.   Don’t forget if you’re a listener, we’d love to hear what you think! Send us an email at crosswordfever@gmail.com, follow us on twitter @onthecrosspod, look us up on Facebook, review us on Apple Podcasts, or just tell your friends about the show.

Comedy person and educator Emilie Parker Strange joins the show to solve a “wordplay-themed” crossword puzzle from the New York Times app. We argue the validity of snarf v scarf, discuss our first ever fan mail which may or may not be a robot trying to give us a hearing test, Lucas explains scoliosis of the penis, Emilie tells a spooky story about a haunted dorm, and Nathan has a flashback to his time in Saigon.Don’t forget if you’re a listener, we’d love to hear what you think! Send us an email at crosswordfever@gmail.com, follow us on twitter @onthecrosspod, look us up on Facebook, review us on Apple Podcasts, or just tell your friends about the show.

Podcaster, producer, comic book store owner, and friend Brian Barrow swings by the studio for another New York Times crossword puzzle with a comic theme! We come up with a new possible strategy to avoid future holocausts, Brian tells us all about how he's friends with TV's Captain Worf: Levar Burton, and Nathan provides a much-needed counterpoint to dog whispering.   Point your browser over to www.destinationcomics.com to see our favorite comic book store, as well as Brian's own podcast empire, featuring many friends of On the Cross.

Lucas is no longer a part of the show. So please enjoy our new program: Run Through the Jumble with Kent Carney.

Comedian Shelley Hoblit and the ubiquitous Tyler Gooch join Lucas and Nathan live in front of a clamoring throng of New York Times crossword puzzle fans at Kaiju Bar in Louisville.  

TONIGHT! COME ON DOWN TO KAIJU IN LOUISVILLE AND SEE US LIVE AT 8 PM!   Call your Aunt ‘Tifah and tell her there’s a STAR STUDDED, AWARD WINNING PODCAST she needs to hear right now! That’s right, On the Cross with Lucas Murphy is the recipient of the coveted Kent Carney Award for Comedic Excellence. On the show this week we welcome back two old friends who also took home Carney awards: Standup of the Year Tyler Gooch, and Comedian of the Year Mandee McKelvey. We take a crack at another wordplay themed crossword puzzle from the New York Times, although the theme kinda turns out to be marijuana drugs. Mandee has our hottest take yet on pickles, Nathan wants those red hot dogs, Tyler recieves an ominous warning about exposing his future child to kangaroo meat, and Lucas gets swindled on some Mexican beer.

Comedian and house show host June Dempsey joins Lucas for a New York Times Crossword that promises “wordplay” or possibly misspells “swordplay”. We talk about digging holes, mannequin stuff, Lucas ruins the finale of This Is Us despite not having seen it himself, there’s some gummy smuggling, and a brief explanation on modern miracles.   DON'T FORGET! We'll be doing a very special LIVE On The Cross in Louisville Tuesday March 20 so if you're a fan come and feel the awesome power of words in person! CLICK HERE for all the details.

Solve the New York Times Crossword Puzzle with a little help from Doctor Sedgwick’s Brain Tonic. We discuss who the classiest of the drunks is, talk about Kate’s time in the slammer, debate the existence of Rush, and the existence of Soundcloud rappers.   Don’t forget to rate and review us on iTunes! and if you live nearby come see our first ever live show March 20th at Kaiju in Louisville!

Sean Smith's recent appearance was so much fun we kept goofing around for hours and some of that conversation was so good we just kept rolling the tape and so now here for you. Sean and Nathan sing some songs, there's a lot of board game talk, and a story about Sean being frightened and humiliated by evil clowns. It's all here on On The Cross: Nights!

Our good friend Sean Smith from Bout Time stops by the show to help us solve an especially tricky New York Times crossword puzzle. Unfortunately Steve Urkel shows up and, of course, he naturally takes over and dominates the entire show.  Also don't forget next month we're doing our first ever LIVE SHOW! March 20th at Kaiju!

Come along on an oddysseyy of words! Kate Sedgwick stops by the show to help solve the New York Times Crossword, Lucas reveals his secret past life as a roadie, we all take a turn at trying to remember the Family Ties theme song, Kate invents a new cartoon frog for politics, and we try and fail to name a famous historical pork lover. Look up Kate on social media for more, and why don't you go ahead and give this show a little ol' review on Apple Podcasts? It's on your dang phone, just go do it. On the Cross is also doing our first live show next month! If you're a fan of the show, come see us in person March 20th at Kaiju in Louisville. There's gonna be guests, audience participation, prizes, and more!

Recurring guest friends Daniel Tilford and AJ Estes had time for a quick mini episode, but then Lucas asked Daniel what his favorite band was and it turned into a whole hour long thing. We talk a lot about The Starlight Express, Nathan can't remember the name of a Jadakiss song that nobody else even remembers existing, we learn about the relationship between Pearl Harbor and our very own podcast, and AJ turns out to be surprisingly good at the olden-times version of the crossword puzzle. 

Jake Reber doesn't just play a comic book nerd on TV, he's got the hot takes on the West Coast Avengers to prove he's the real deal. They try to solve the New York Times Crossword Puzzle but they keep getting distracted talking about jazz music, professional wrestling, and how Lucas grounded his son for his views on Russian military tactics. Also Jake thinks "turkey" is a secret Taliban code word for bomb or something, we couldn't figure it out. If you live in Louisville come see Jake along with Lucas, Nathan, and other past guests at the 7th Annual Kent Carney Awards for Comedic Excellence live March 3rd at the Cure Lounge. Or if you live somewhere else, watch Jake play a fictional version of himself on Bagged and Bored.

Our buddy Greg Welsh returns to the studio for another New York Times Crossword Puzzle! He talks about his love for the Puff Daddy original "Come With Me", Atlas Shrugged, Weird Al's competitors, tar and feathering, and much much more. 

Comedian Dan Alten visits the show to try and explain why he keeps putting the year "2014" on all his posters. We solve the New York Times crossword puzzle, but mostly we talk about Shaq's rap career, loosie jerky, pizza drag racing, airline chili, and Lucas' peculiar curiosities about Reba McEntire. Truly a show with something for everyone. You can find Dan Alten on all the things if you search his name, or pick up a copy of his latest CD: https://lafffest2014.tumblr.com/

Zac Carman returns to the show for a New York Times crossword puzzle that's heavy on the Scrabble trivia. We talk Dad's Rules, Zach Braff's Prank Gaffes, loose sausage, and Jason Alexander's Godzilla movie.

The Rowdy Boys are back again, doing a puzzle that may or may not be written by a Mr. Joe Fagliano, definitely ISN'T from 1993, and covers everything from an hovering Popeye's chicken to DIY euthanasia. 

Hey there sailor, we got a real doozy of an episode for you today: from the lost archives of On The Cross comes an experimental episode from the cutting room floor. Our good friend and practical co-host at this point Tyler Gooch was in the neighborhood and we decided to try out some different smaller show formats. There's two (count 'em TWO) crosswords solved in this episode, plus all the dumb conversation you've come to love: an acapella rendition of a classical impressionist masterpiece, a Where Are They Now: The Shining Edition, the completely unnecessary sexualization of Terry Gross, and Lucas Tries out a new music review segment: Playlist Party!

Andy Fleming returns after a couple months (has it been that long? It almost feels like his episodes were recorded back-to-back) with lots of facts about Kid Rock, the Addams Family, the golden age of rap music, the California Raisins, fetish horse racing, Lord of the Flies ASMR, D programming, and Milo Vanilli.