NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for December 12, 1997

Q: Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive .

Friday, December 12, 1997

By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated Nov 3, 2026 at 4:34 PM ETHow we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, December 12, 1997. The daily crossword is the classic: a 15×15 grid on weekdays and a larger Sunday puzzle, with difficulty rising from a gentle Monday to a fiendish Saturday. Hints come first and the solution stays hidden until you ask for it.

66 clues · jump to Across or Down. Tap a tile for one letter, or Answer for the whole word.

Across clues & answers

Down clues & answers

Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.

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Thursday, December 11, 1997

across

1. Twaddle: PAP
4. Sears one's steers: BRANDS
10. Binge: TOOT
14. Gompers's grp.: AFL
15. American hardwood: REDOAK
16. "Aunt" with a 1979 best seller: ERMA
17. Letters often followed by a number: IOU
18. Coolness: APATHY
19. First name?: ADAM
20. Bouquets: NOSEGAYS
22. Holography needs: LASERS
24. Con jobs: STINGS
25. "Consider Yourself" musical: OLIVER
27. Stew: FRET
28. Mergenthaler patent of 1884: LINOTYPE
31. Atlanta's Bill Campbell, e.g.: MAYOR
33. Guys who use come-on lines?: ADMEN
34. Masseur's need: OIL
35. Tautomeric compound: ENOL
36. Acts like a quidnunc: PRIES
37. Nonexistent: NULL
38. St. Anthony's cross: TAU
39. Trigger pullers?: REINS
40. Essential parts: CORES
41. Heights: STATURES
43. Kitties: POTS
44. Léger, e.g.: CUBIST
45. Moving to the rhythm: INSTEP
48. Card catalogue entries: TITLES
50. Personally: ONETOONE
52. Trollope's "Lady ___": ANNA
53. "Ars Poetica" poet: HORACE
55. Cause of some shaking: DTS
56. "Put ___ my tab": ITON
57. Soccer squad: ELEVEN
58. Quaker verb: ART
59. "The Outsiders" actor: LOWE
60. Rub' al Khali, e.g.: DESERT
61. Sycophant's response: YES

down

1. Special effort: PAINS
2. What the game may be: AFOOT
3. Come-on line: PLUSIFYOUACTNOW
4. Rodomontade user: BRAGGER
5. Meal: REPAST
6. Start of a Marx Brothers title: ADAY
7. Come-on line: NOTSOLDINSTORES
8. Morse bit: DAH
9. Postcard scenes, sometimes: SKYLINES
10. Afternoon service: TEASET
11. Come-on line: ORDERYOURSTODAY
12. "ER" actor Epps: OMAR
13. Dundee toppers: TAMS
21. Sign up: ENROL
23. River at Bristol: AVON
26. Bartender's "twists," maybe: LIMES
29. Stack: PILE
30. Connecting pipes: ELLS
31. Expansion team of 1962: METS
32. Gray area?: Abbr.: ANAT
33. The cardinal fire sign: ARIES
36. Became extinct: PERISHED
37. "That's a lie!": NOTSO
39. Yokel: RUBE
40. Carefree: CONTENT
42. New Orleans university: TULANE
43. Textile joiner: PIECER
46. Between, in Bayonne: ENTRE
47. Gnats and brats: PESTS
48. Shadow: TAIL
49. Fascinated by: INTO
51. Narthex neighbor: NAVE
54. Good ___ boy: OLE

Hints and full breakdown for Dec 11

More daily puzzle hints

How the week is built

Monday and Tuesday: straightforward definitions and familiar answers. These are the best days to learn.
Wednesday: a step up, often with a playful theme.
Thursday: the trick day, with rebus squares (several letters in one square) and answers that turn corners or skip squares.
Friday and Saturday: themeless and tough, with sly clues and long open sections.
Sunday: a bigger 21×21 grid with a theme, about as hard as a Wednesday or Thursday.

Crossword-solving habits worth building

Learn the common fill. Short vowel-heavy words such as ERA, OREO, ALOE and ETNA appear constantly because they help constructors connect sections.
Read clue signals. "?" means wordplay, "Abbr." means an abbreviation, "e.g." means an example of a category, and a foreign word in the clue hints at a foreign answer.
Find the theme. The longest answers usually share a gimmick; the title (on Sundays) or a "revealer" clue explains it.
Erase without fear. When crossings don't work, the wrong letter is usually in the answer you were most confident about.
Use targeted help. Reveal one letter here, or try our crossword solver with a pattern like ?R?S?.

The Crossword FAQ

When is the next crossword released?

Weekday puzzles go live at 10 p.m. Eastern Time the night before; weekend puzzles are released earlier in the evening.

What is a rebus square?

A square that holds more than one letter. Sometimes it holds a whole word or a symbol. They are most common on Thursdays.

Which day is the hardest?

Saturday is generally the hardest, followed by Friday. Sunday is larger but closer to midweek difficulty.

Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive.