NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for October 31, 2003
Friday, October 31, 2003
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, October 31, 2003. 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.
Across clues & answers
- 15
- 19
- 46
- 59
- 60
- 63
- 65
Down clues & answers
- 11
- 25
- 32
- 37
- 46
- 48
- 51
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Thursday, October 30, 2003
across
- 1. Backyard party, for short: BBQ
- 4. Trapper's prize: PELT
- 8. Ordered around: BOSSED
- 14. Unofficial promissory note: IOU
- 15. Ointment ingredient: ALOE
- 16. Put a new face on, say: REPAVE
- 17. Thanksgiving follower: Abbr.: FRI
- 18. Dual-purpose kitchen device: TOASTEROVEN
- 20. Dual-purpose office device: FAXPRINTER
- 22. Light shades: TANS
- 23. Title character in a Pushkin drama: BORIS
- 24. Kemo ___: SABE
- 26. "I didn't know that!": GEE
- 27. Picks up on: NOTICES
- 29. Playwright Rice: ELMER
- 31. Not fond of dirty jokes, surely: PRIM
- 32. Relaxed: ATEASE
- 35. Le Mans event: RACE
- 36. Dual-purpose family room device: TVVCR
- 37. European nomad: LAPP
- 41. Nuke, maybe: REHEAT
- 43. Concerning: INRE
- 44. Seating option: AISLE
- 46. Walk faster than: OUTSTEP
- 49. Cinerary container: URN
- 50. Tarot card, with "The": FOOL
- 53. Plastic surgery targets: NOSES
- 54. Final Four grp.: NCAA
- 56. Dual-purpose bedroom device: CLOCKRADIO
- 59. Dual-purpose laundry room device: WASHERDRYER
- 61. Say in a postscript: ADD
- 62. Ancient Macedonian city with noted tombs: EDESSA
- 63. Where a rabbit punch lands: NAPE
- 64. U.N. donor ___ Turner: TED
- 65. Make extracts from by boiling: DECOCT
- 66. Symbols of industry: ANTS
- 67. Winding road part: ESS
down
- 1. Punch, slangily: BIFF
- 2. South Pacific island: BORABORA
- 3. Foolishly impractical: QUIXOTIC
- 4. "Sleepers" co-star Jason: PATRIC
- 5. Heroine of children's lit: ELOISE
- 6. Student aid: LOAN
- 7. Lab work: TESTS
- 8. Uncle Remus character: BRERBEAR
- 9. "___ the ramparts ...": OER
- 10. Butterfly wing feature: SPOT
- 11. Untamed: SAVAGE
- 12. More balanced: EVENER
- 13. Slow on the uptake: DENSE
- 19. Product once harbored in Boston?: TEA
- 21. Early textbooks: PRIMERS
- 25. Noisy city transports: ELS
- 27. "Fresh Air" airer: NPR
- 28. Except for: SAVE
- 30. ___ Joan Hart of TV's "Sabrina": MELISSA
- 33. New Deal program: Abbr.: TVA
- 34. Outer: Prefix: ECTO
- 36. Powerful person in Iran, say: THEOCRAT
- 38. Come before: ANTEDATE
- 39. Heads: PRESIDES
- 40. Gusto: PEP
- 42. Little helper: ELF
- 44. House of games: ARCADE
- 45. Momentarily: INASEC
- 47. Discarded: UNKEPT
- 48. Hector or Rusty of 70's baseball: TORRES
- 49. Single: UNWED
- 51. Erstwhile: OLD
- 52. "___ Doone": LORNA
- 55. Mock words of enlightenment: AHSO
- 57. Color used in four-color processing: CYAN
- 58. Probability: ODDS
- 60. PC key: ESC
More daily puzzle hints
- WordleGuess the five-letter word in six triesGuide & tips
- ConnectionsSort 16 words into four hidden groupsGuide & tips
- StrandsFind the themed words hidden in a letter gridGuide & tips
- Spelling BeeMake words from seven letters around a center letterGuide & tips
- Mini CrosswordA bite-size crossword you can finish over coffeeGuide & tips
- Connections: Sports EditionConnections with a sports-only word poolGuide & tips
- Letter BoxedChain words around a square using all 12 lettersGuide & tips
- Midi CrosswordThe mid-size crossword between the Mini and the dailyGuide & tips
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.