NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for September 17, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Saturday, September 17, 2011. 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
- 19
- 21
- 40
Down clues & answers
- 37
- 45
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Friday, September 16, 2011
across
- 1. Reduce to bare bones: STRIPDOWN
- 10. "Hey you!": PSSST
- 15. 1990 Clint Eastwood cop film: THEROOKIE
- 16. Studio sign: ONAIR
- 17. Likely to take chances: RISKPRONE
- 18. Figure on a bridge score sheet: TALLY
- 19. Money competitor: INC
- 20. Was up to date, with "out"?: ASKED
- 21. They may work for both sides: SPIES
- 22. Pitlik who directed "Barney Miller" and "Mr. Belvedere": NOAM
- 24. Toledo-to-Columbus dir.: SSE
- 26. Shut (up): PENT
- 27. Reaction of thirsty people: GULPING
- 31. Firm: ALDENTE
- 33. Wallace who wrote "Angle of Repose": STEGNER
- 34. Stolen: PIRATED
- 35. Old "One mission. Yours." sloganeer: TWA
- 36. Miss ___: USA
- 37. Worse than awful: HEINOUS
- 41. Blowout: SHINDIG
- 46. Small night creatures: ELFOWLS
- 47. Reckless smuggler of sci-fi: HANSOLO
- 48. Area close to a hockey net: SLOT
- 49. Abbr. before "Co." in some company names: MFG
- 51. Suffer from the heat: WILT
- 52. Having less coverage: BARER
- 54. Go down again, so to speak: RECUR
- 58. Frost relative: DEW
- 59. "Get ___ on!": AMOVE
- 60. "Generally speaking ...": ONAVERAGE
- 62. Hit the bottom of?: CANED
- 63. Spread quickly over the Internet: GONEVIRAL
- 64. Laments: KEENS
- 65. Put one's feet up in neighborly fashion: SATASPELL
down
- 1. Series: STRINGS
- 2. Become sparse: THINOUT
- 3. Change one's image, in a way?: RESCALE
- 4. Needle: IRK
- 5. ___ wheelie: POPA
- 6. Actress Diana: DORS
- 7. "Enough already ... relax!": OKOK
- 8. Blushes, say: WINES
- 9. Has trouble getting started: NEEDSAPUSH
- 10. Piles of chips, say: POTS
- 11. Stir-fry vegetable: SNAPPEA
- 12. Pronounced: SALIENT
- 13. Matte finish?: SILENTE
- 14. Met on the down-low: TRYSTED
- 23. Certain meas. of economy: MPG
- 25. Kings prophet: ELISHA
- 28. Getting dragged along: INTOW
- 29. Minnesota home of Martin Luther College: NEWULM
- 30. Semiterrestrial bug-catchers: GRASSFROGS
- 32. Sap: DRAIN
- 37. Alice Cooper's appropriately titled theme song for "Friday the 13th Part VI": HESBACK
- 38. Morse who sang "Cow-Cow Boogie": ELLAMAE
- 39. "From my perspective ...": IFORONE
- 40. Much less than that: NOTEVEN
- 42. Australian state: Abbr.: NSW
- 43. "Is it worth the chance?": DOIDARE
- 44. Criminal: ILLEGAL
- 45. Recovered: GOTWELL
- 50. Explorer John Cabot's birthplace: GENOA
- 53. Some M&M's: REDS
- 55. "I'm busy then": CANT
- 56. Eye part: UVEA
- 57. Powers (up): REVS
- 61. Big swing: RIP
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.