NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for October 5, 2001

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

Friday, October 5, 2001

By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated Nov 3, 2026 at 4:10 PM ETHow we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, October 5, 2001. 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.

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

Across clues & answers

Down clues & answers

1
Ways to go
2
Representative
3
Online marketing
4
With 45-Across, producer of small acorns
5
With 6-Down, QB's cry
6
See 5-Down
7
___ Lamont ("Singin' in the Rain" role)
8
Years on end
9
Crawl
10
"Yes" follower
11
Slob's opposite
12
Like life and health
13
Good flavor
15
Crowd creator
20
Two of diamonds?
23
Solo part in Benjamin Britten's "Lachrymae"
24
Molière play part
25
"Bad idea"
29
"It's a mystery"
30
It includes Numbers
32
Longer and thinner
33
___ Marie, noted shipwreck of circa 1700
34
Players for prayers
35
Brute
38
Election figs.
40
Ladies of Sp.
41
Krazy ___
43
Quince and others
47
"Hard Cash" novelist
48
Pot starters
49
Matches
52
Samuel Adams, e.g.
53
Movie
56
Start of a Chinese game
58
"Les nuits d'___"
59
Fruitcake
60
Big inits. in cable

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Thursday, October 4, 2001

across

1. Units of distance: PACES
6. Push: IMPEL
11. Frank McCourt memoir: TIS
14. Earth tone: OCHRE
15. Longtime Chicago Symphony conductor: SOLTI
16. Flying off the shelves: HOT
17. They're piled on the floor: SHAGCARPETS
19. Yeanling producer: EWE
20. Undertake: SETOUT
21. Noisy cutter: BUZZSAW
23. Inc. staff: EDS
24. Doctor's advice, perhaps: REST
27. "___-Willow" ("The Mikado" song): TIT
28. Utah, with "the": BEEHIVESTATE
33. "Iliad," "Odyssey" and the like: EPOS
35. "Great" beasts: APES
36. "Cotton Candy" trumpeter: HIRT
37. Led, as a jazz band: FRONTED
39. Planetlike: SPHERIC
41. Contribution before the deal: ANTE
42. Nixon, once: VEEP
44. Roughly: ORSO
45. Some Winter Olympians: BOBSLEDTEAMS
48. Choice on a French survey: OUI
49. French weapon: ARME
50. With 47-Down, went wild: RAN
53. One may be on the can: FLIPTOP
57. Require: OBLIGE
59. Small small?: LIL
60. Schenectady is on it: MOHAWKRIVER
63. Washington is on it: ONE
64. Combine: UNITE
65. Change: EMEND
66. A pop: PER
67. With 51-Down, commission collector: SALES
68. Not all there: DOTTY

down

1. Outlaw hunters: POSSE
2. Hurt: ACHED
3. AOL activities: CHATS
4. Consequently: ERGO
5. Most sheltered: SECUREST
6. Sharon's land: Abbr.: ISR
7. Barber's challenge: MOP
8. Commoner: PLEB
9. Brute leader?: ETTU
10. Franz ___ "Hungarian Rhapsodies": LISZTS
11. You may take them down: THESTAIRS
12. Waterloo locale: IOWA
13. Curry, e.g.: STEW
18. Fit to ___: ATEE
22. They're played with plectrums: ZITHERS
25. Under an umbrella: SHADED
26. Service acknowledgment: TIP
28. Studies hard: BONESUP
29. The evening star: VESPER
30. More than a feeling: ESP
31. Minuet follower: TRIO
32. Series ender?: ETC
33. Cubic Rubik: ERNO
34. Fine literature it's not: POTBOILER
37. George Harrison's "When We Was ___": FAB
38. Time before: EVE
40. Native: HOMEBRED
43. U.S. Airways info: ETA
46. Kind of test: LITMUS
47. See 50-Across: AMOK
50. Fix firmly: RIVET
51. See 67-Across: AGENT
52. Square: NERDY
53. No hit: FLOP
54. An actor may trip over one: LINE
55. A Mrs. Chaplin: OONA
56. One of the Everly Brothers: PHIL
58. Star vehicle?: LIMO
61. Got something down: ATE
62. N.B.A.'s Unseld: WES

Hints and full breakdown for Oct 4

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.