Master the NYT crossword from January 05, 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. U.S. soprano Gluck"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALMA
2A: "5. A Spaniard's home is his ___"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CASA
3A: "9. Kimono sash"
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
Answer: OBI
4A: "12. Brag"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that speaking of yourself in superlatives
- Similar words include: shoot a line, swash, blow
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BOAST
5A: "14. Rara ___"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AVIS
6A: "15. Change"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a circular segment of a curve
- Similar words include: round, crook, work
- Opposite of: unbend
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TURN
7A: "16. In trouble"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: UPTHECREEK
8A: "18. Of the ear"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that of or relating to near the ear
- Similar words include: auricular
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OTIC
9A: "19. Golfer's cheapest purchase"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the starting place for each hole on a golf course
- Similar words include: teeing ground, tee up, football tee
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TEE
10A: "20. Strap"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that leather strip that forms the flexible part of a whip
- Similar words include: lash, G-string, flip-flop
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: THONG
11A: "21. Regional animal and plant life"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that all the plant and animal life of a particular region
- Similar words include: biology
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BIOTA
12A: "22. Up and ___ (active)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that carry out or perform an action
- Similar words include: make out, arrange, practice
- Opposite of: unmake
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DOING
13A: "23. Ego"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that your consciousness of your own identity
- Similar words include: ego
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SELF
14A: "24. Circa"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that in the area or vicinity
- Similar words include: or so, close to, some
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AROUND
15A: "27. Warehouse"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a port where merchandise can be imported and then exported without paying import duties
- Similar words include: transshipment center, storage, storehouse
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ENTREPOT
16A: "31. Unaspirated consonant"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LENE
17A: "32. Boy singer of the 30's"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BREEN
18A: "33. A Tai language"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a member of a buddhist people inhabiting the area of the mekong river in laos and thailand and speaking the lao language; related to the thais
- Similar words include: Laotian
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LAO
19A: "34. Pugilist"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that someone who fights (or is fighting)
- Similar words include: fighter, combatant, scrapper
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BATTLER
20A: "37. Estate manager"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that someone who manages property or other affairs for someone else
- Similar words include: keeper, shop steward, flight attendant
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STEWARD
21A: "39. Berliner's "Alas!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ACH
22A: "40. "The Girl ___ Behind Me," Colonial song"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ILEFT
23A: "42. ___ tea"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that decorate with frosting
- Similar words include: frost, ice
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ICED
24A: "43. More hot and humid"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that filled with steam or emitting moisture in the form of vapor or mist
- Similar words include: turned on, ruttish, horny
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STEAMIER
25A: "45. Human beings, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an animal with two feet
- Similar words include: biped
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BIPEDS
26A: "47. Drones"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species
- Similar words include: be, live, comprise
- Opposite of: differ
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BEES
27A: "48. Poem by Cynewulf"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ELENE
28A: "50. Lithuanians, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BALTS
29A: "52. E.r.a., r.b.i., etc."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STATS
30A: "53. So, in Glasgow"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SAE
31A: "56. Thrill for the Met set"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an elaborate song for solo voice
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARIA
32A: "57. Extemporaneously"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OFFTHECUFF
33A: "59. Carry on"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
- Similar words include: blah, spout, ranting
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: RANT
34A: "60. ___ Centre, Minn."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a member of the algonquian people formerly living in wisconsin in the fox river valley and on the shores of green bay
- Similar words include: Sac
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SAUK
35A: "61. Negotiate"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that something considered choice to eat
- Similar words include: cover, care for, handle
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TREAT
36A: "62. Cuttlefish exudation"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a liquid used for printing or writing or drawing
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: INK
37A: "63. Spindle"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a shaft on which a wheel rotates
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AXLE
38A: "64. Hockey great's family"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that canadian hockey player (born 1948)
- Similar words include: Bobby Orr, Robert Orr, Orr
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ORRS
Down Clues - Strategic Hints (40 clues)
1D: "1. Border on"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
- Similar words include: edge, butt on, adjoin
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ABUT
2D: "2. ___ de Vega"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a slow pace of running
- Similar words include: canter, trot, jog
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LOPE
3D: "3. One of a pair"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the officer below the master on a commercial ship
- Similar words include: Ilex paraguariensis, checkmate, married person
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: MATE
4D: "4. Tough, elastic wood"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the residue that remains when something is burned
- Similar words include: ash tree
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ASH
5D: "5. "Gigi" star"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CARON
6D: "6. Nemesis"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that someone who takes vengeance
- Similar words include: retaliator
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AVENGER
7D: "7. Victory, to Hans"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SIEG
8D: "8. Request"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that inquire about
- Similar words include: take, need, call for
- Opposite of: obviate
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ASK
9D: "9. Inappropriate"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OUTOFPLACE
10D: "10. Englishman, for short"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a native or inhabitant of great britain
- Similar words include: Britisher, britt, Briton
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BRIT
11D: "11. Quechuan"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a ruler of the incas (or a member of his family)
- Similar words include: Inka, Incan
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: INCA
12D: "13. Wyo.'s ___ Range"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a member of the large western branch of sioux people which was made up of several groups that lived on the plains
- Similar words include: Lakota, Teton Sioux, Teton Dakota
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TETON
13D: "15. Sheer fabric"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TOILE
14D: "17. Reproved"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that censure severely or angrily
- Similar words include: call down, chew up, scold
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CHID
15D: "21. He wrote "Games People Play""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the capital of switzerland; located in western switzerland
- Similar words include: Bern, capital of Switzerland
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BERNE
16D: "22. MacDonald-Eddy specialty"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that two items of the same kind
- Similar words include: distich, dyad, pas de deux
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DUET
17D: "23. Galley word"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that printing: cancel, as of a correction or deletion
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STET
18D: "24. Aubades"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALBAS
19D: "25. Respond to a stimulus"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that show a response or a reaction to something
- Similar words include: respond, oppose
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: REACT
20D: "26. Out of order"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ONTHEBLINK
21D: "28. Raven's haven"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
- Similar words include: nestle, snuggle, draw close
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NEST
22D: "29. Propelled a gig"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OARED
23D: "30. Lincoln's in-laws"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that scottish chemist noted for his research into the structure of nucleic acids (born in 1907)
- Similar words include: Sir Alexander Robertus Todd, Sweeney Todd, Lord Todd
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TODDS
24D: "32. Jane Fonda's Oscar-winning role: 1971"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BREE
25D: "35. Citrus fruits"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a caustic substance produced by heating limestone
- Similar words include: calcium oxide, birdlime, slaked lime
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LIMES
26D: "36. Ancient site of Olympia"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ELIS
27D: "38. Dry the dishes"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the act of rubbing or wiping
- Similar words include: pass over, rub
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: WIPE
28D: "41. Peevish"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that nervous and unable to relax
- Similar words include: itchy, querulous, antsy
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: FRETFUL
29D: "44. Aged: Lat. abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AETAT
30D: "45. One of the March girls"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the 2nd letter of the hebrew alphabet
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BETH
31D: "46. Map part"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small picture inserted within the bounds or a larger one
- Similar words include: insert, gusset
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: INSET
32D: "49. Jewish potato pancake"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that made of grated potato and egg with a little flour
- Similar words include: potato pancake
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LATKE
33D: "50. Italian seaport"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that capital city of the apulia region on the adriatic coast
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BARI
34D: "51. Irish isle"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARAN
35D: "52. Tunisian seaport"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the second largest city in tunisia; located in eastern tunisia near a phosphate region
- Similar words include: Safaqis
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SFAX
36D: "53. Plaintiff"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a man who courts a woman
- Similar words include: wooer, petitioner, suitor
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SUER
37D: "54. Distantly"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (old-fashioned) at or from or to a great distance; far
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AFAR
38D: "55. Newts"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a newt in its terrestrial stage of development
- Similar words include: eft
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EFTS
39D: "57. Spanish she-bear"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OSA
40D: "58. ___-Magnon"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that electronic equipment that provides visual images of varying electrical quantities
- Similar words include: scope, cathode-ray oscilloscope, oscilloscope
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CRO
Puzzle Stats
38 Across
40 Down
78 Total