NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Tuesday, July 31, 2007. 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
- 36
- 40
- 72
Down clues & answers
- 42
- 62
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Monday, July 30, 2007
across
- 1. Old ___ tale: WIVES
- 6. Fiction's opposite: FACT
- 10. Two-wheeler: BIKE
- 14. Novelist Zola: EMILE
- 15. "Are you ___ out?": INOR
- 16. Luau instruments, informally: UKES
- 17. Wee: SMALL
- 18. Cost of an old phone call: DIME
- 19. Check for a landlord: RENT
- 20. Game equipment for an old sitcom star?: LUCILLESBALL
- 23. Son of Seth: ENOS
- 24. Organic salt: OLEATE
- 25. Greek T: TAU
- 28. ___ Kippur: YOM
- 29. Chem. or biol.: SCI
- 30. Captains of industry: TYCOONS
- 32. Sudden outpouring: SPATE
- 34. Mark in "piñata": TILDE
- 35. Game location for an actress?: SALLYSFIELD
- 38. Major mix-up: SNAFU
- 40. Deflect, as comments: PARRY
- 41. IBM/Apple product starting in the early '90s: POWERPC
- 44. Pull tab site: CAN
- 45. Pinup's leg: GAM
- 48. Product pitches: ADS
- 49. Carved, as an image: GRAVEN
- 51. Florence's river: ARNO
- 52. Game site for a popular singer?: NEILSDIAMOND
- 54. Plastic building block: LEGO
- 57. Mélange: OLIO
- 58. When repeated, classic song with the lyric "Me gotta go": LOUIE
- 59. Rainbow goddess: IRIS
- 60. Pasta sauce first sold in 1937: RAGU
- 61. Ponders: MUSES
- 62. Like some Steve Martin humor: ZANY
- 63. "___ It Romantic?": ISNT
- 64. "Give it ___!" ("Quit harping!"): AREST
down
- 1. Actor Snipes of "Blade": WESLEY
- 2. Prefix with suppressive: IMMUNO
- 3. Owner of MTV and BET: VIACOM
- 4. New York Harbor's ___ Island: ELLIS
- 5. Order in a bear market: SELL
- 6. Faithfulness: FIDELITY
- 7. Licoricelike flavor: ANISE
- 8. Hand-to-hand fighting: COMBAT
- 9. 8-Down ender: TREATY
- 10. Singer Ives: BURL
- 11. "I Like ___" (old campaign slogan): IKE
- 12. Barbie's doll partner: KEN
- 13. Inexact fig.: EST
- 21. Train that makes all stops: LOCAL
- 22. Speaker's spot: LECTERN
- 25. Spilled the beans: TOLD
- 26. &: AND
- 27. "It's no ___!" (cry of despair): USE
- 29. Go all out: SPLURGE
- 31. Like a mechanic's hands: OILY
- 32. Ump's call with outstretched arms: SAFE
- 33. Paranormal ability: ESP
- 35. Tools with teeth: SAWS
- 36. Wasn't turned inward: FACEDOUT
- 37. Tehran native: IRANI
- 38. Place for a mud bath: SPA
- 39. Doze (off): NOD
- 42. A ___ (kind of reasoning): PRIORI
- 43. Maria of the Met: CALLAS
- 45. Bellyache: GROUSE
- 46. "___ Song" (John Denver #1 hit): ANNIES
- 47. Not given to self-promotion: MODEST
- 50. Winston Churchill flashed it: VSIGN
- 51. Love of one's life: AMOUR
- 52. Inquisitive: NOSY
- 53. ___ mater: ALMA
- 54. Gossipy Smith: LIZ
- 55. Pitcher's stat.: ERA
- 56. Beefeater product: GIN
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.