NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for November 23, 2003
Sunday, November 23, 2003
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Sunday, November 23, 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
- 1
- 25
- 32
- 41
- 45
- 46
- 49
- 59
- 76
- 97
- 107
- 124
- 130
Down clues & answers
- 10
- 21
- 52
- 53
- 78
- 81
- 91
- 103
- 110
- 118
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Saturday, November 22, 2003
across
- 1. Highest-ranking, in some hierarchies: ALPHA
- 6. Kind of cholera: ASIATIC
- 13. Side in eightball: SOLIDS
- 15. Best Original Screenplay winner for "American Beauty": ALANBALL
- 16. What Putin is often put in: PRAVDA
- 17. Like peppercorns: MILLABLE
- 18. Regional: INTERCOUNTY
- 20. Game winner: OOO
- 21. Potluck array: CASSEROLES
- 22. Good thing to get over: HUMP
- 23. 9W and others: SIZES
- 24. Gray ___: AREA
- 25. Place for knights: CHESSSET
- 29. Silvery white: ARGENT
- 31. Small flap on a garment: LAPPET
- 32. Like worker bees: NEUTER
- 33. One may have stilts: AVIARY
- 34. Naval Medical Center locale: BETHESDA
- 36. Divergent doctrine developer: SECT
- 37. Place for the high life?: AERIE
- 38. Commercial catchword: SAVE
- 39. Like hors d'ouevres: MISSPELLED
- 44. It may be crushed: ICE
- 45. There until the bitter end: LASTTOLEAVE
- 46. Pennsylvania city where Franklin signed a treaty with Indians, 1753: CARLISLE
- 48. Miners: PITMEN
- 49. Taxed: ASSESSED
- 50. Surrounded: ENGIRT
- 51. Margins of safety: LEEWAYS
- 52. Victims: GOATS
down
- 1. Glistening garnish: ASPIC
- 2. First name of a Blackmore heroine: LORNA
- 3. Pieces of land: PLATS
- 4. Queens' homes: HIVES
- 5. One on a podium, perhaps: ADDRESSER
- 6. Some garment cuts: ALINES
- 7. Puts (away): SALTS
- 8. Toward the center: INLY
- 9. Old hoops grp.: ABA
- 10. Low stools: TABOURETS
- 11. Unlucky: ILLOMENED
- 12. Visitor to Rome in 46 B.C.: CLEOPATRA
- 14. Cleric's vesting place: SACRISTY
- 15. Necklace option: AMULET
- 19. Get through slowly: OOZE
- 22. ___ Tribunal (international arbitration court): HAGUE
- 25. Music genre: CLASSICAL
- 26. Be able to gather enough evidence: HAVEACASE
- 27. "Iliad," e.g.: EPICVERSE
- 28. Avalanche: SPATE
- 29. Alexander V, e.g.: ANTIPOPE
- 30. Cobbler's job: REHEELING
- 34. Beat: BESTED
- 35. While lead-in: ERST
- 37. Some seats are next to them: AISLES
- 39. Large and heavy-looking: MASSY
- 40. Axed: LETGO
- 41. 1819 Keats poem: LAMIA
- 42. Turn outward: EVERT
- 43. They may be pounded out: DENTS
- 45. Heroine of Tchaikovsky's "Pique Dame": LISA
- 47. Two-time Wimbledon winner ___ Hoad: LEW
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.