Master the NYT crossword from January 22, 1990 with our expert hint system. We provide synonyms, antonyms, and strategic clues to help you solve without spoiling the fun.
Puzzle Difficulty: Medium
Pro Tip: Start with the fill-in-the-blank clues - they're usually the easiest entry points!
Across Clues - Strategic Hints (40 clues)
1A: "1. TV series featured herein"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LALAW
2A: "6. Entertainer Falana"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LOLA
3A: "10. Zany"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that informal or slang terms for mentally irregular
- Similar words include: batty, whacky, loony
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DAFT
4A: "14. Attica's marketplace"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that 100 agorot equal 1 shekel in israel
- Similar words include: public square
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AGORA
5A: "15. Newspaper notice, for short"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a notice of someone's death; usually includes a short biography
- Similar words include: necrology, obituary
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OBIT
6A: "16. Understanding reply"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ISEE
7A: "17. College officials"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an administrator in charge of a division of a university or college
- Similar words include: dean, James Byron Dean, James Dean
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DEANS
8A: "18. Jummy Smits plays Victor ___"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SIFUENTES
9A: "20. Signifies"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that be a sign or indication of
- Similar words include: announce, denote, refer
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DENOTES
10A: "22. Groups of nine"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
- Similar words include: ennead, nine, IX
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ENNEADS
11A: "23. Deighton or Dykstra"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LEN
12A: "24. Deputy"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect
- Similar words include: federal agent, broker, agentive role
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AGENT
13A: "25. Retain"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the act of grasping
- Similar words include: time lag, handgrip, support
- Opposite of: disagree, let go of
Click to reveal answer
Answer: HOLD
14A: "28. Ballet skirt"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that south african prelate and leader of the antiapartheid struggle (born in 1931)
- Similar words include: ballet skirt, Desmond Tutu
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TUTU
15A: "30. Aquatic mammal"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the fur of an otter
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OTTER
16A: "34. Altar on high"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a constellation in the southern hemisphere near telescopium and norma
- Similar words include: genus Ara
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARA
17A: "35. Five: Comb. form"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PENTA
18A: "36. Grayish tan"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a very light brown
- Similar words include: ecru
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: BEIGE
19A: "37. "Kidnapped" author's initials"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: RLS
20A: "38. Jackie's second spouse"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARI
21A: "39. Electrical unit"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: REL
22A: "41. Land measure"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters
- Similar words include: be, make up, follow
- Opposite of: differ
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARE
23A: "42. Former big-game guns"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ROERS
24A: "44. Soup server"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle; frequently used to transfer liquids from one container to another
- Similar words include: laden, lade
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LADLE
25A: "46. Gun a motor"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that rate of revolution of a motor
- Similar words include: rev up, revolutions per minute, rpm
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: REV
26A: "47. Belgian W.W. I battle site"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that battle in world war i (1917); an allied offensive which eventually failed because tanks bogged down in the waterlogged soil of flanders; germans introduced mustard gas which interfered with the allied artillery
- Similar words include: second battle of Ypres, third battle of Ypres, battle of Ypres
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: YPRES
27A: "48. U.S. holly"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ASSI
28A: "49. Social engagement"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the specified day of the month
- Similar words include: escort, engagement, appointment
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DATE
29A: "50. Tilts sideways"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics)
- Similar words include: lean, list, name
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LISTS
30A: "52. Susan ___ plays Grace Van Owen"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DEY
31A: "54. High-school subject"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a particular branch of scientific knowledge
- Similar words include: skill, scientific discipline
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SCIENCE
32A: "57. Annual quartet"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a period of the year marked by special events or activities in some field
- Similar words include: time of year, flavour, mollify
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SEASONS
33A: "61. Collection of animals"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a collection of live animals for study or display
- Similar words include: zoo, zoological garden
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: MENAGERIE
34A: "63. Wooden shoe"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a shoe carved from a single block of wood
- Similar words include: patten, wooden shoe, geta
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SABOT
35A: "64. Sea eagles"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that bulky greyish-brown eagle with a short wedge-shaped white tail; of europe and greenland
- Similar words include: Haliatus albicilla, erne, grey sea eagle
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ERNS
36A: "65. Thurmond of N.B.A. fame"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NATE
37A: "66. Irregular"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that having an irregularly notched or toothed margin as though gnawed
- Similar words include: toothed, notched, jagged
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EROSE
38A: "67. First word of the Bay State motto"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ENSE
39A: "68. ___ Rachins plays Douglas Brackman"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ALAN
40A: "69. Precipitous"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a steep place (as on a hill)
- Similar words include: exorbitant, engulf, extortionate
- Opposite of: gradual
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STEEP
Down Clues - Strategic Hints (38 clues)
1D: "1. Alan or Cheryl"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LADD
2D: "2. Askew"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that united states novelist (1909-1955)
- Similar words include: James Agee
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: AGEE
3D: "3. Bank transaction"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the temporary provision of money (usually at interest)
- Similar words include: lend, loanword
- Opposite of: borrow
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LOAN
4D: "4. Corbin Bernsen plays ___ Becker"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that english poet and literary critic (1822-1888)
- Similar words include: Benedict Arnold, Matthew Arnold
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ARNOLD
5D: "5. Squander"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
- Similar words include: waste product, wasteland, languish
- Opposite of: conserve
Click to reveal answer
Answer: WASTE
6D: "6. Deprivation"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that something that is lost
- Similar words include: exit, red ink, release
- Opposite of: gain
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LOSS
7D: "7. 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
8D: "8. Pool attendants"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an attendant employed at a beach or pool to protect swimmers from accidents
- Similar words include: lifeguard, lifesaver
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LIFEGUARDS
9D: "9. " ... I am incapable of ___": Lamb"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ATUNE
10D: "10. Small room off a kitchen"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small area off of a kitchen that is used for dining
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DINETTE
11D: "11. Nick Charles's dog"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ASTA
12D: "12. Nourish"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that food for domestic livestock
- Similar words include: flow, prey, fertilise
- Opposite of: starve
Click to reveal answer
Answer: FEED
13D: "13. Hardy heroine"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TESS
14D: "19. Dignify"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that confer dignity or honor upon
- Similar words include: gentle, entitle, dignify
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ENNOBLE
15D: "21. Enroll"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that to come or go into
- Similar words include: recruit, figure, insert
- Opposite of: exit, drop out
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ENTER
16D: "24. Lawyer: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ATT
17D: "25. ___ Hamlin plays Michael Kuzak"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that annoy continually or chronically
- Similar words include: chivy, provoke, beset
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: HARRY
18D: "26. Lowest deck"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the fourth or lowest deck
- Similar words include: orlop deck, fourth deck
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ORLOP
19D: "27. Intense beam"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; an optical device that produces an intense monochromatic beam of coherent light
- Similar words include: optical maser
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: LASER
20D: "29. One-sided"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that involving only one part or side
- Similar words include: one-sided
- Opposite of: multilateral
Click to reveal answer
Answer: UNILATERAL
21D: "31. Coronet"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a jeweled headdress worn by women on formal occasions
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: TIARA
22D: "32. Wading bird"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of various usually white herons having long plumes during breeding season
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EGRET
23D: "33. Superman portrayer"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that female ruff
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: REEVE
24D: "35. Making the grade"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (american football) a play that involves one player throwing the ball to a teammate
- Similar words include: release, expiration, super
- Opposite of: running, fail
Click to reveal answer
Answer: PASSING
25D: "40. Slur over"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that leave or strike out
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ELIDE
26D: "43. Free"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that merchandise issued for sale or public showing (especially a record or film)
- Similar words include: issue, loose, sacking
- Opposite of: confine, block
Click to reveal answer
Answer: RELEASE
27D: "45. Fool"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
- Similar words include: buttocks, seat, tooshie
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ASS
28D: "49. Richard ___ plays Leland McKenzie"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer
Answer: DYSART
29D: "51. Part of an opera"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SCENA
30D: "53. Mitigates"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort
- Similar words include: comfort, alleviate, relieve
- Opposite of: difficulty
Click to reveal answer
Answer: EASES
31D: "54. Pintail duck"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SMEE
32D: "55. Decide: Rom. law"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: CERN
33D: "56. Guest houses"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
- Similar words include: hostelry, hostel, inn
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: INNS
34D: "57. Observed"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
- Similar words include: figure, visualize, understand
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: SEEN
35D: "58. Hautboy"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a slender double-reed instrument; a woodwind with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece
- Similar words include: hautbois, hautboy
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: OBOE
36D: "59. Proboscis"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
- Similar words include: intrude, poke, scent
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: NOSE
37D: "60. Pace"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
- Similar words include: stair, maltreat, whole tone
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer
Answer: STEP
38D: "62. Give ___ go (try)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer
Answer: ITA
Puzzle Stats
40 Across
38 Down
78 Total
