Master today's NYT crossword with our expert hint system. We provide synonyms, antonyms, and strategic clues to help you solve without spoiling the fun. Perfect for crossword lovers who want that satisfying "aha!" moment.
Quick Navigation - Table of Contents
- Today's Puzzle Difficulty
- Across Clues Table (37 clues)
- Across Clues - Detailed Hints
- Down Clues Table (37 clues)
- Down Clues - Detailed Hints
- Expert Solving Strategies
- Today's Puzzle Statistics
Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Moderate
Pro Tip: Start with the fill-in-the-blank clues - they're usually the easiest entry points!
Across Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1A | 1. Creator of Beats Electronics, familiarly | 3 |
| 2A | 4. Key of Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" | 5 |
| 3A | 9. ___ ball | 5 |
| 4A | 14. Classic cartoon dog with the catchphrase "You eediot!" | 3 |
| 5A | 15. Prefix with Roman | 5 |
| 6A | 16. Ancient calculation tools | 5 |
| 7A | 17. Bygone org. for the Houston Oilers | 3 |
| 8A | 18. Lacks | 5 |
| 9A | 19. Her Majesty, for one | 5 |
| 10A | 20. Sure ___ | 10 |
| 11A | 23. Rogue | 3 |
| 12A | 24. Frighteningly monstrous sorts | 5 |
| 13A | 25. More than a chart-topper | 7 |
| 14A | 28. What "!" is used for, in coding | 8 |
| 15A | 32. Political rival of Mark Antony | 6 |
| 16A | 33. Genesis | 4 |
| 17A | 34. Southern California city with a Spanish name | 4 |
| 18A | 36. Some undergrad conferrals, in brief | 3 |
| 19A | 37. Put under ___ | 9 |
| 20A | 40. One who's left, for short? | 3 |
| 21A | 41. Overzealous fan, in modern slang | 4 |
| 22A | 42. Paradise | 4 |
| 23A | 46. Big fuss | 6 |
| 24A | 49. Make the most of | 8 |
| 25A | 51. Useful tips for writers? | 7 |
| 26A | 53. What's close to the bone? | 5 |
| 27A | 54. Possible translation of "y" | 3 |
| 28A | 55. One way to start a race ... or a hint to understanding seven clues in this puzzle | 10 |
| 29A | 59. Clear molding material | 5 |
| 30A | 62. Aquarium fish with "neon" and "emperor" varieties | 5 |
| 31A | 63. Ramadan's end | 3 |
| 32A | 64. Cease ___ | 5 |
| 33A | 65. Have leftovers, say | 5 |
| 34A | 66. Actor Stephen of "V for Vendetta" | 3 |
| 35A | 67. Promotes | 5 |
| 36A | 68. Tempo | 5 |
| 37A | 69. Foxy | 3 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Creator of Beats Electronics, familiarly"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRE
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2A: "4. Key of Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFLAT
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3A: "9. ___ ball"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (astronomy) a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COMET
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4A: "14. Classic cartoon dog with the catchphrase "You eediot!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REN
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5A: "15. Prefix with Roman"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that spanish painter (born in greece) remembered for his religious works characterized by elongated human forms and dramatic use of color (1541-1614)
- Similar words include: Domenikos Theotocopoulos, El Greco
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRECO
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6A: "16. Ancient calculation tools"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a tablet placed horizontally on top of the capital of a column as an aid in supporting the architrave
- Similar words include: abacus
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABACI
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7A: "17. Bygone org. for the Houston Oilers"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a federation of north american labor unions that merged with the congress of industrial organizations in 1955
- Similar words include: American Federation of Labor
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFL
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8A: "18. Lacks"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HASNT
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9A: "19. Her Majesty, for one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a heading that names a statute or legislative bill; may give a brief summary of the matters it deals with
- Similar words include: championship, statute title, form of address
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TITLE
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10A: "20. Sure ___"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that give surety or assume responsibility
- Similar words include: assure, vouch, insure
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GUARANTEED
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11A: "23. Rogue"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that someone who is morally reprehensible
- Similar words include: bounder, computer-aided design, heel
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAD
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12A: "24. Frighteningly monstrous sorts"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a cruel wicked and inhuman person
- Similar words include: ogre, monster, devil
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGRES
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13A: "25. More than a chart-topper"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an unusually successful hit with widespread popularity and huge sales (especially a movie or play or recording or novel)
- Similar words include: blockbuster, smash hit
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEGAHIT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14A: "28. What "!" is used for, in coding"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a negative statement; a statement that is a refusal or denial of some other statement
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEGATION
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15A: "32. Political rival of Mark Antony"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a linear unit of the size of type slightly larger than an em
- Similar words include: Tully, Marcus Tullius Cicero
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CICERO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "33. Genesis"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small hard fruit
- Similar words include: semen, come, cum
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEED
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17A: "34. Southern California city with a Spanish name"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BREA
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18A: "36. Some undergrad conferrals, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group; found in barite
- Similar words include: Artium Baccalaurens, barium, Bachelor of Arts
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAS
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19A: "37. Put under ___"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that beat with a cane
- Similar words include: scold, bawl out, lecture
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAMBASTED
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20A: "40. One who's left, for short?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIB
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "41. Overzealous fan, in modern slang"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STAN
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22A: "42. Paradise"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
- Similar words include: paradise, heaven, Shangri-la
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDEN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23A: "46. Big fuss"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that blatant or sensational promotion
- Similar words include: plug, ballyhoo, hype
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOOPLA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "49. Make the most of"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that make optimal; get the most out of; use best
- Similar words include: optimise
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPTIMIZE
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25A: "51. Useful tips for writers?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an implement used to erase something
- Similar words include: eraser
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERASERS
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26A: "53. What's close to the bone?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment
- Similar words include: heftiness, muscularity, brawniness
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINEW
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27A: "54. Possible translation of "y""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AND
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28A: "55. One way to start a race ... or a hint to understanding seven clues in this puzzle"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FIREBLANKS
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29A: "59. Clear molding material"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of a class of solid or semisolid viscous substances obtained either as exudations from certain plants or prepared by polymerization of simple molecules
- Similar words include: rosin
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RESIN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30A: "62. Aquarium fish with "neon" and "emperor" varieties"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that brightly colored tropical freshwater fishes
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TETRA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31A: "63. Ramadan's end"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EID
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32A: "64. Cease ___"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a state of peace agreed to between opponents so they can discuss peace terms
- Similar words include: cease-fire, armistice
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRUCE
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33A: "65. Have leftovers, say"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EATIN
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34A: "66. Actor Stephen of "V for Vendetta""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35A: "67. Promotes"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that blatant or sensational promotion
- Similar words include: plug, hoopla, ballyhoo
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HYPES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36A: "68. Tempo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that distance travelled per unit time
- Similar words include: cannonball along, fastness, belt along
- Opposite of: decelerate, linger
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPEED
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37A: "69. Foxy"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that marked by skill in deception
- Similar words include: tricksy, foxy, dodgy
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLY
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Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. ___ breathers | 7 |
| 2D | 2. Asylum seeker | 7 |
| 3D | 3. Swell | 7 |
| 4D | 4. Shocked | 6 |
| 5D | 5. "Metropolitan Life" author Lebowitz | 4 |
| 6D | 6. In case | 4 |
| 7D | 7. Possible puberty problem | 4 |
| 8D | 8. Emblem with an Ojibwe name | 5 |
| 9D | 9. Hipster of times past | 3 |
| 10D | 10. Belt with a kimono | 3 |
| 11D | 11. ___ starters | 7 |
| 12D | 12. Pastry whose name is French for "lightning" | 6 |
| 13D | 13. Associated with | 6 |
| 14D | 21. Eavesdrop from afar, maybe | 8 |
| 15D | 22. When N.Y.C. tourism is typically high | 3 |
| 16D | 26. Taunt | 4 |
| 17D | 27. Professor's world | 8 |
| 18D | 29. Tech co. that was integral to early computer science | 3 |
| 19D | 30. Bubbles, e.g. | 4 |
| 20D | 31. "Groovy!" | 5 |
| 21D | 35. "Hurry!" | 4 |
| 22D | 38. Proficient | 4 |
| 23D | 39. Boom sticks? | 3 |
| 24D | 40. Fills, as a buffet plate | 7 |
| 25D | 43. Things that might be provided with grace? | 7 |
| 26D | 44. Book after Lamentations | 7 |
| 27D | 45. Tabloid that's one of the 10 highest-circulation papers in the U.S. | 7 |
| 28D | 46. ___ place | 6 |
| 29D | 47. Cantankerous | 6 |
| 30D | 48. Rover's sound | 3 |
| 31D | 50. Card that's the source for "blue mana" in Magic: The Gathering | 6 |
| 32D | 52. Plots | 5 |
| 33D | 56. Gather from the field | 4 |
| 34D | 57. Suffix with kitchen | 4 |
| 35D | 58. Wheel that comes apart easily? | 4 |
| 36D | 60. Treatment for a bruise | 3 |
| 37D | 61. Platform for Duck Hunt, in brief | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. ___ breathers"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a creature of teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings
- Similar words include: Draco, Dragon, firedrake
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRAGONS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. Asylum seeker"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an exile who flees for safety
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REFUGEE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. Swell"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that make larger
- Similar words include: expatiate, flesh out, expand
- Opposite of: reduce, contract
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENLARGE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. Shocked"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that struck with fear, dread, or consternation
- Similar words include: shocked, dismayed, appalled
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGHAST
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. "Metropolitan Life" author Lebowitz"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRAN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. In case"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that being ten more than forty
- Similar words include: l, 50, fifty
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEST
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. Possible puberty problem"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an inflammatory disease involving the sebaceous glands of the skin; characterized by papules or pustules or comedones
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACNE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Emblem with an Ojibwe name"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a clan or tribe identified by their kinship to a common totemic object
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOTEM
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. Hipster of times past"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
- Similar words include: hombre, computerized tomography, true cat
- Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Belt with a kimono"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (west indies) followers of a religious system involving witchcraft and sorcery
- Similar words include: obeah
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBI
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. ___ starters"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that lighter consisting of a thin piece of wood or cardboard tipped with combustible chemical; ignites with friction
- Similar words include: catch, twin, equalise
- Opposite of: disagree
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MATCHES
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12D: "12. Pastry whose name is French for "lightning""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that oblong cream puff
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ECLAIR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. Associated with"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIEDTO
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14D: "21. Eavesdrop from afar, maybe"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: READLIPS
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15D: "22. When N.Y.C. tourism is typically high"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the last (12th) month of the year
- Similar words include: declination, celestial latitude, December
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEC
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16D: "26. Taunt"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect
- Similar words include: dig, barrack, flout
- Opposite of: disagree
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIBE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "27. Professor's world"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the academic world
- Similar words include: academe
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACADEMIA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18D: "29. Tech co. that was integral to early computer science"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IBM
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "30. Bubbles, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye
- Similar words include: revolve, ball, globe
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORBS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "31. "Groovy!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEATO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "35. "Hurry!""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that as soon as possible
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASAP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "38. Proficient"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (usually followed by `to') having the necessary means or skill or know-how or authority to do something
- Similar words include: able-bodied, capable
- Opposite of: unable
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABLE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23D: "39. Boom sticks?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that explosive consisting of a yellow crystalline compound that is a flammable toxic derivative of toluene
- Similar words include: trinitrotoluene
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TNT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "40. Fills, as a buffet plate"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOADSUP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "43. Things that might be provided with grace?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the main meal of the day served in the evening or at midday
- Similar words include: dinner party, dinner
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DINNERS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "44. Book after Lamentations"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a hebrew prophet of the 6th century bc who was exiled to babylon in 587 bc
- Similar words include: Book of Ezekiel, Ezechiel
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EZEKIEL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "45. Tabloid that's one of the 10 highest-circulation papers in the U.S."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEWSDAY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "46. ___ place"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built
- Similar words include: open fireplace, fireside, fireplace
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEARTH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "47. Cantankerous"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that having a difficult and contrary disposition; - dorothy sayers
- Similar words include: cantankerous, crotchety
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORNERY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "48. Rover's sound"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARF
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "50. Card that's the source for "blue mana" in Magic: The Gathering"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISLAND
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "52. Plots"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located)
- Similar words include: pose, seat, website
- Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SITES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "56. Gather from the field"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that gather, as of natural products
- Similar words include: harvest, draw, glean
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REAP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "57. Suffix with kitchen"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETTE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "58. Wheel that comes apart easily?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that soft creamy white cheese; milder than camembert
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRIE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "60. Treatment for a bruise"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
- Similar words include: internal-combustion engine, frosting, sparkler
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "61. Platform for Duck Hunt, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a colorless odorless gaseous element that give a red glow in a vacuum tube; one of the six inert gasses; occurs in the air in small amounts
- Similar words include: Cornhusker State, neon, nor'-east
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Expert Solving Strategies
Start Smart
Begin with fill-in-the-blank clues and short 3-4 letter words. These are your foundation.
Decode the Clues
Question marks indicate wordplay or puns. "Maybe" suggests multiple interpretations.
Use Cross-References
Let intersecting letters guide you. One correct answer unlocks several others.
Build Vocabulary
Common crossword words repeat. Learning them speeds up future solving.
Today's Puzzle Stats
37 Across Clues
37 Down Clues
74 Total Clues
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