Master the NYT crossword from January 11, 1990 with our expert hint system. We provide synonyms, antonyms, and strategic clues to help you solve without spoiling the fun.
Puzzle Difficulty: Moderate
Pro Tip: Start with the fill-in-the-blank clues - they're usually the easiest entry points!
Across Clues - Strategic Hints (37 clues)
1A: "1. ___ Rivera, suburb of L.A."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PICO
2A: "5. Ale ingredient"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a milkshake made with malt powder
- Similar words include: malted milk, malt liquor, malted
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: MALT
3A: "9. Actresses Eichhorn and Eilbacher"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LISAS
4A: "14. Jewish month"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the sixth month of the civil year; the twelfth month of the ecclesiastic year in the jewish calendar (in february and march)
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ADAR
5A: "15. Brainchild"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
- Similar words include: estimation, estimate, mind
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: IDEA
6A: "16. "___ mio""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OSOLE
7A: "17. Wood measure"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a line made of twisted fibers or threads
- Similar words include: corduroy, electric cord
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CORD
8A: "18. Runnymede document: 1215"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: MAGNACARTA
9A: "20. Animal lacking in color"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a person with congenital albinism: white hair and milky skin; eyes are usually pink
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALBINO
10A: "22. Avaricious person"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an unpleasant person who grabs inconsiderately
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: GRABBER
11A: "23. In ___ (as one)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that corresponding exactly
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: UNISON
12A: "26. Prill is one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a mineral that contains metal that is valuable enough to be mined
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ORE
13A: "27. Turtle's upper shell"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
- Similar words include: shell, cuticle, shield
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CARAPACE
14A: "29. Save"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: UNLESS
15A: "33. Journalist ___ Rogers St. Johns"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ADELA
16A: "34. An acid"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the radical -nh2
- Similar words include: aminic, amino group
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AMINO
17A: "36. Poker player's kitty"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that metal or earthenware cooking vessel that is usually round and deep; often has a handle and lid
- Similar words include: green goddess, Mary Jane, flowerpot
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: POT
18A: "37. Opp. of long."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a broad flat muscle on either side of the back
- Similar words include: latissimus dorsi
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LAT
19A: "38. McCarthy's fellow traveler"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SNERD
20A: "39. U.N. labor org."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the united nations agency concerned with the interests of labor
- Similar words include: International Labour Organization, International Labor Organization
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ILO
21A: "40. See 61 Across"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
- Similar words include: egotism, self-importance, self
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EGO
22A: "41. "___ porridge hot ... ""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that seed of a pea plant used for food
- Similar words include: pea, pea plant
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PEASE
23A: "42. Tropical tree"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that tropical american tree producing cacao beans
- Similar words include: chocolate tree, cacao tree, Theobroma cacao
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CACAO
24A: "44. Actress Senta"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BERGER
25A: "46. Pit surrounding a plum seed"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the hard inner (usually woody) layer of the pericarp of some fruits (as peaches or plums or cherries or olives) that contains the seed
- Similar words include: pit, stone
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ENDOCARP
26A: "48. "___ was saying ... ""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ASI
27A: "49. Welder, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SEAMER
28A: "50. Highly disciplined"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a resident of sparta
- Similar words include: ascetic, severe, austere
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SPARTAN
29A: "54. Scandinavian"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the northern family of germanic languages that are spoken in scandinavia and iceland
- Similar words include: North Germanic language, Scandinavian language, Scandinavian
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NORDIC
30A: "57. Red varieties of quartz"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a translucent red or orange variety of chalcedony
- Similar words include: carnelian, cornelian
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CARNELIANS
31A: "60. Radamès's beloved"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AIDA
32A: "61. With 40 Across, a second self"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
- Similar words include: falsify, interpolate, change
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALTER
33A: "62. Singer Laine"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CLEO
34A: "63. Calendar abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the third day of the week; the second working day
- Similar words include: Tuesday
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TUES
35A: "64. Convenes"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a meeting at which a number of athletic contests are held
- Similar words include: fill, conform to, converge
- Opposite of: diverge
Click to reveal answer
Answer: MEETS
36A: "65. N.C. college"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ELON
37A: "66. Austen novel: 1816"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EMMA
Down Clues - Strategic Hints (37 clues)
1D: "1. S.A. rodent"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that large burrowing rodent of south america and central america; highly esteemed as food
- Similar words include: Cuniculus paca
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PACA
2D: "2. Adored one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a material effigy that is worshipped
- Similar words include: perfection, beau ideal, matinee idol
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: IDOL
3D: "3. Auto part"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that mixes air with gasoline vapor prior to explosion
- Similar words include: carburettor
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CARBURETOR
4D: "4. Kind of number"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the number designating place in an ordered sequence
- Similar words include: no., ordinal number
- Opposite of: cardinal
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ORDINAL
5D: "5. Tree or cocktail"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that evergreen australasian tree having white or silvery bark and young leaves and yellow flowers
- Similar words include: Acacia dealbata, buck's fizz, silver wattle
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: MIMOSA
6D: "6. Okla. city"
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
7D: "7. Part of a journey"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
- Similar words include: peg, pegleg, wooden leg
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LEG
8D: "8. Zip"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a tart spicy quality
- Similar words include: Fucus serratus, sapidity, savour
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TANG
9D: "9. Site of a 1925 peace conference"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LOCARNO
10D: "10. Juan Perón's successor: 1974"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ISABEL
11D: "11. Kind of apple"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that acid gritty-textured fruit
- Similar words include: take up, sorb apple
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SORB
12D: "12. Der ___ (Adenauer)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALTE
13D: "13. Gunlock part"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that make very hot and dry
- Similar words include: scorch, blacken, dried-up
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SEAR
14D: "19. On all sides"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that in the area or vicinity
- Similar words include: or so, close to, about
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AROUND
15D: "21. Asiatic palm"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that monotypic genus of palms of australasia
- Similar words include: genus Nypa, Nypa, genus Nipa
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NIPA
16D: "24. City in N Colombia"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OCANA
17D: "25. Waterloos"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (greek mythology) the goddess of divine retribution and vengeance
- Similar words include: nemesis, bane, curse
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NEMESES
18D: "27. Israelite leader: Deut. 1:36"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CALEB
19D: "28. Saying"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
- Similar words include: saw, proverb, byword
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ADAGE
20D: "30. Part of a sac surrounding the heart"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the innermost of the two layers of the pericardium
- Similar words include: visceral pericardium
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EPICARDIUM
21D: "31. Of the sun"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that relating to or derived from the sun or utilizing the energies of the sun
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SOLAR
22D: "32. Condescend"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an inclination of the top half of the body forward and downward
- Similar words include: bow, condescend, stoup
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STOOP
23D: "35. Actress Papas"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: IRENE
24D: "38. "Dynasty," for one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a serialized set of programs
- Similar words include: successive, nonparallel, consecutive
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SERIAL
25D: "41. Annoys"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that annoy persistently
- Similar words include: beleaguer, badger, bug
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PESTERS
26D: "42. Lake or singer"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: COMO
27D: "43. Needle-shaped"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that narrow and long and pointed; as pine leaves
- Similar words include: needle-shaped, acicular, acerose
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ACERATE
28D: "45. Jan. birthstone"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of a group of hard glassy minerals (silicates of various metals) used as gemstones and as an abrasive
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: GARNET
29D: "47. Actor in "Cheers""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DANSON
30D: "50. Confidence game"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a fraudulent business scheme
- Similar words include: goldbrick, con, nobble
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SCAM
31D: "51. Ashen"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a wooden strip forming part of a fence
- Similar words include: blanch, blench, sick
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PALE
32D: "52. Commedia dell'___"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARTE
33D: "53. Pleasant French city?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a city in southeastern france on the mediterranean; the leading resort on the french riviera
- Similar words include: squeamish, dainty, courteous
- Opposite of: nasty
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NICE
34D: "55. Footnote abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: IDEM
35D: "56. House, in Spain"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CASA
36D: "58. Everything"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that quantifier; used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
- Similar words include: totally, altogether, wholly
- Opposite of: partly, some
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALL
37D: "59. Modernist"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (used as a combining form) recent or new
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NEO
Puzzle Stats
37 Across
37 Down
74 Total