Master the NYT crossword from January 12, 1990 with our expert hint system. We provide synonyms, antonyms, and strategic clues to help you solve without spoiling the fun.
Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging
Pro Tip: Start with the fill-in-the-blank clues - they're usually the easiest entry points!
Across Clues - Strategic Hints (38 clues)
1A: "1. Following"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that located farther aft
- Similar words include: later on, subsequently, afterward
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AFTER
2A: "6. Droop"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a shape that sags
- Similar words include: flag, swag, droop
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SAG
3A: "9. Baby"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small amount (especially of a drink)
- Similar words include: tote up, add, sum
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TOT
4A: "12. Clamorous"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that full of or characterized by loud and nonmusical sounds
- Opposite of: quiet
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NOISY
5A: "13. Mariposa lily"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SEGO
6A: "14. Japanese wrestling"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a japanese form of wrestling; you lose if you are forced out of a small ring or if any part of your body (other than your feet) touches the ground
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SUMO
7A: "15. How to make a belt catch a rod tightener"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an oblong metal coupling with a swivel at one end and an internal thread at the other into which a threaded rod can be screwed in order to form a unit that can be adjusted for length or tension
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TURNBUCKLE
8A: "17. Review: Colloq."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CRIT
9A: "18. Toward shelter, at sea"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that on or toward the lee
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALEE
10A: "19. Gael's republic"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a republic consisting of 26 of 32 counties comprising the island of ireland; achieved independence from the united kingdom in 1921
- Similar words include: Irish Republic, Republic of Ireland, Ireland
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EIRE
11A: "20. Lone Ranger's sidekick"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TONTO
12A: "21. Record"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a long thin piece of cloth or paper as used for binding or fastening
- Similar words include: mag tape, taping, videotape
- Opposite of: erase
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TAPE
13A: "22. Severs"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a share of the profits
- Similar words include: undercut, cutting off, cut back
- Opposite of: switch on, expand
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CUTS
14A: "23. Kind of cross"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the 19th letter of the greek alphabet
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TAU
15A: "25. Bart or Brenda"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that rock star and drummer for the beatles (born in 1940)
- Similar words include: Richard Starkey, Ringo Starr, Starkey
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STARR
16A: "27. Ratite bird"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism
- Similar words include: Dromaius novaehollandiae, electromagnetic unit, Emu novaehollandiae
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EMU
17A: "30. Imitates a partridge"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that make a vibrant sound, as of some birds
- Similar words include: whirr, churr
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CHURRS
18A: "33. Ornamentations on costumes"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that adornment consisting of a small piece of shiny material used to decorate clothing
- Similar words include: diamante, bespangle, sequin
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SPANGLES
19A: "35. Spouse"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a person's partner in marriage
- Similar words include: married person, mate, better half
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PARTNER
20A: "37. Mounted"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that with one leg on each side
- Similar words include: astraddle
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ASTRIDE
21A: "38. More cantankerous"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ORNERIER
22A: "40. Fries, in a way"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a dish of sauteed food
- Similar words include: saute
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SAUTES
23A: "41. But, to Britannicus"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SED
24A: "42. Finished"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical
- Similar words include: over, complete, stop
- Opposite of: begin
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ENDED
25A: "44. Fallen into disuse: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a major river of western siberia; flows generally northward and westward to the gulf of ob and the kara sea
- Similar words include: tocology, Ob, OB
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OBS
26A: "45. Part of St. Patrick's Cathedral"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the central area of a church
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NAVE
27A: "47. Soft mineral"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a fine grained mineral having a soft soapy feel and consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate; used in a variety of products including talcum powder
- Similar words include: talcum
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TALC
28A: "49. A Neptune neighbor"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a cartoon character created by walt disney
- Similar words include: Hades, Aidoneus, Aides
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PLUTO
29A: "51. Take on"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a newly hired employee
- Similar words include: charter, employ, engage
- Opposite of: fire
Click to reveal answer
Answer: HIRE
30A: "52. In ___ (positioned)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SITU
31A: "56. Potato or carrot"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground
- Similar words include: steady down, antecedent, ascendant
- Opposite of: descendant
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ROOT
32A: "57. How to make a tortoise capsize"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TURNTURTLE
33A: "59. Cather's "One of ___""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OURS
34A: "60. Eras"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that how long something has existed
- Similar words include: historic period, age, old age
- Opposite of: rejuvenate
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AGES
35A: "61. Solo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that isolated from others
- Similar words include: unparalleled, unique, solo
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALONE
36A: "62. Boise's county"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an enzyme found in mammals that can catalyze the deamination of adenosine into inosine and ammonia
- Similar words include: adenosine deaminase
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ADA
37A: "63. Garden plot"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
- Similar words include: have sex, hump, turn in
- Opposite of: get up, turn out
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BED
38A: "64. Ice-cream holders"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any cone-shaped artifact
- Similar words include: strobilus, con, rook
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CONES
Down Clues - Strategic Hints (40 clues)
1D: "1. Pier of a sort"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ANTA
2D: "2. Noisome"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an act that violates the rules of a sport
- Similar words include: filthy, smelly, revolting
- Opposite of: fair, unclog
Click to reveal answer
Answer: FOUL
3D: "3. Radial, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that hoop that covers a wheel
- Similar words include: fag, run down, outwear
- Opposite of: refresh, interest
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TIRE
4D: "4. Feudal serf"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ESNE
5D: "5. It crosses the bar"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the seed of the cereal grass
- Similar words include: Secale cereale, rye whiskey, rye whisky
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: RYE
6D: "6. Arcana"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that something that should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on)
- Similar words include: secret, enigma, arcanum
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SECRETS
7D: "7. Chills and fever"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a fit of shivering or shaking
- Similar words include: acute accent, chills and fever, acute
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AGUE
8D: "8. Tar"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a man who serves as a sailor
- Similar words include: sea dog, maw, Jack
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: GOB
9D: "9. How to make rural crossings subway entrances"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a gate consisting of a post that acts as a pivot for rotating arms; set in a passageway for controlling the persons entering
- Similar words include: turnstile
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TURNSTILES
10D: "10. Leave out"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that prevent from being included or considered or accepted
- Similar words include: miss, except, leave out
- Opposite of: include, attend to
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OMIT
11D: "11. Oz dog"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TOTO
12D: "13. Omits"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a gait in which steps and hops alternate
- Similar words include: bound off, skitter, pass over
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SKIPS
13D: "14. Macbeth, for one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a native or inhabitant of scotland
- Similar words include: Scotsman, Scotchman
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SCOT
14D: "16. Meadow"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of length of thread or yarn
- Similar words include: pasture, grazing land, pastureland
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LEA
15D: "20. How to make a jacket for a traitor"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.
- Similar words include: ratter, renegade, apostate
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TURNCOAT
16D: "21. How to make a cricket series a dessert"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the ratio of the number of workers that had to be replaced in a given time period to the average number of workers
- Similar words include: dollar volume, upset, employee turnover
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TURNOVER
17D: "22. Unrefined"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (of persons) so unrefined as to be lacking in discrimination and sensibility
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CRASS
18D: "23. How to make more or less a traffic circle"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that time need to prepare a vessel or ship for a return trip
- Similar words include: change of mind, flip-flop, turnround
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TURNAROUND
19D: "24. Comedian Johnson"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARTE
20D: "26. River on Paraguay's border"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: APA
21D: "28. Ancient Iranian"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: MEDE
22D: "29. Employs"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the act of using
- Similar words include: role, the States, America
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: USES
23D: "30. Certain U S N men"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CPOS
24D: "31. Loser of a fabled race"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that swift timid long-eared mammal larger than a rabbit having a divided upper lip and long hind legs; young born furred and with open eyes
- Similar words include: rabbit
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: HARE
25D: "32. Net"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a french river that flows through the heart of paris and then northward into the english channel
- Similar words include: Seine River
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SEINE
26D: "34. Chow"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that informal terms for a meal
- Similar words include: eats, bum, chuck
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: GRUB
27D: "36. Cincy player"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
- Similar words include: redness, loss, cherry-red
- Opposite of: gain
Click to reveal answer
Answer: RED
28D: "39. Abed"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position
- Similar words include: turn in, crawl in, pull back
- Opposite of: get up, advance
Click to reveal answer
Answer: RETIRED
29D: "43. Repairs socks"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that something of little value
- Similar words include: tinker's damn, hoot, mend
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DARNS
30D: "46. Members of an A.B.A."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ATTS
31D: "48. Confederate immortal"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that united states filmmaker whose works explore the richness of black culture in america (born in 1957)
- Similar words include: Robert Edward Lee, Rose Louise Hovick, Robert E. Lee
- Opposite of: windward
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LEE
32D: "49. Outrigger of Malay"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PROA
33D: "50. Stentorian"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that characterized by or producing sound of great volume or intensity
- Similar words include: tatty, cheap, aloud
- Opposite of: soft, softly
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LOUD
34D: "51. Immense"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; - w.r.inge
- Similar words include: immense, Brobdingnagian, vast
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: HUGE
35D: "52. W W II battle site"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STLO
36D: "53. Mashie or niblick"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood
- Similar words include: iron out, press, Fe
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: IRON
37D: "54. Melody"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
- Similar words include: strain, melodic phrase, tune up
- Opposite of: untune
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TUNE
38D: "55. Western Indians"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a member of the shoshonean people of utah and colorado and new mexico
- Similar words include: Ute
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: UTES
39D: "57. Bill"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the bill in a restaurant
- Similar words include: check, yellow journalism, chit
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TAB
40D: "58. Varnish ingredient"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects; used in e.g. varnishes and sealing wax
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LAC
Puzzle Stats
38 Across
40 Down
78 Total