NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for September 20, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Thursday, September 20, 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
- 18
- 40
- 57
- 62
Down clues & answers
- 12
- 13
- 25
- 42
- 45
- 46
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
across
- 1. "That stinks!," quaintly: BAH
- 4. Ladder danger: FALL
- 8. It makes Frisky frisky: CATNIP
- 14. Evangelical sch. with a 4,000+ enrollment: ORU
- 15. On the deep: ASEA
- 16. Top gun: AIRACE
- 17. Alternative to Gleem: AIM
- 18. "Pretty Woman" and "Waiting to Exhale": CHICKFLICKS
- 20. Shul's shepherd: RABBI
- 22. On its way: SENT
- 23. Stew (over): FRET
- 24. Shepherds' locales: LEAS
- 26. Like harp seals: EARLESS
- 28. Actor who got his start on TV's "Gimme a Break!": JOEYLAWRENCE
- 32. Roadie's load: AMP
- 33. "Master": SAHIB
- 34. "I Love Lucy" co-star: ARNAZ
- 38. Wing, e.g.: MAIM
- 40. Archie Bunker, famously: BIGOT
- 42. Belgrade resident: SERB
- 43. Dummy Mortimer: SNERD
- 45. Hit Sega title character: SONIC
- 47. Gene material: RNA
- 48. Shooter of westerns: COLTREVOLVER
- 51. What virgin drinks lack: ALCOHOL
- 54. 1847 novel subtitled "A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas": OMOO
- 55. Gladly: LIEF
- 56. Oscar-winning role for Helen Mirren, in brief: QEII
- 59. Part of a metropolitan area: EXURB
- 62. They're exercised when cycling: CALFMUSCLES
- 65. ___ Canals: SOO
- 66. Rival of Old El Paso: ORTEGA
- 67. Opera's ___ Te Kanawa: KIRI
- 68. Useful insect secretion: LAC
- 69. Not just hypothesize: ASSERT
- 70. It's hard to believe: YARN
- 71. Singer Sumac: YMA
down
- 1. Animal hunted in one of Hercules' 12 labors: BOAR
- 2. ___ da capo: ARIA
- 3. It's embarrassing to eat: HUMBLEPIE
- 4. Spa offerings: FACIALS
- 5. Tree of life, in Norse myth: ASH
- 6. Kauai keepsakes: LEIS
- 7. Some needlework: LACE
- 8. Beach cover-up: CAFTAN
- 9. Be indisposed: AIL
- 10. Those who don't behave seriously: TRIFLERS
- 11. Mother-of-pearl: NACRE
- 12. Clinton adviser Harold: ICKES
- 13. Termites and such: PESTS
- 19. Patella: KNEEBONE
- 21. Old Turkish title: BEY
- 25. Fashion designer Elie: SAAB
- 27. Pioneer in 33 1/3 r.p.m. records: RCA
- 28. Photocopier woes: JAMS
- 29. Land on the end of a peninsula: OMAN
- 30. Sounds from a teakettle: WHISTLES
- 31. Ordeal's quality: RIGOR
- 35. With shaking hands, perhaps: NERVOUSLY
- 36. "Rule, Britannia" composer: ARNE
- 37. Letter-shaped beam: ZBAR
- 39. Automatic-drip machine maker: MRCOFFEE
- 41. Busy viewer's convenience: TIVO
- 44. "What an idiot I am!": DOH
- 46. Arrives: COMESIN
- 49. Plumlike Chinese fruit: LOQUAT
- 50. Fish eaten cold: LOX
- 51. Foil-making giant: ALCOA
- 52. Specialists in storytelling?: LIARS
- 53. Druids, e.g.: CELTS
- 57. Totally gross: ICKY
- 58. Pelvic bones: ILIA
- 60. Go far and wide: ROAM
- 61. Part of Florida's Gold Coast, informally: BOCA
- 63. Restaurant V.I.P.: Abbr.: MGR
- 64. Misreckon: ERR
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.