NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for December 23, 2011

Q: Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive .

Friday, December 23, 2011

By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated Nov 3, 2026 at 3:05 PM ETHow we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, December 23, 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.

62 clues · jump to Across or Down. Tap a tile for one letter, or Answer for the whole word.

Across clues & answers

Down clues & answers

Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.

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Previous The Crossword answer

Thursday, December 22, 2011

across

1. ___-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 2010: DODD
5. Playlet: SKIT
9. Small spade, maybe: DEUCE
14. Mideast bigwig: Var.: AMIR
15. 1951 historical role for Peter Ustinov: NERO
16. "Nope!": IXNAY
17. Beaut of a butte?: MESA
18. Minnesota's St. ___ College: OLAF
19. Autumn shade: OCHRE
20. Uncool Eskimo?: ARCTICSQUARE
23. Original Beatles bassist Sutcliffe: STU
24. Sound on Old MacDonald's farm: MOO
25. Title cartoon boy: CALVIN
29. "The Big Chill" director: KASDAN
31. Part of a baseball: SEAM
33. Khan married to Rita Hayworth: ALY
34. Percussion instrument owned by a New York newspaper?: TIMESTRIANGLE
37. 7/5/75 winner over Connors: ASHE
39. Who wrote "It was many and many a year ago, / In a kingdom by the sea ...": POE
40. Depose: OUST
41. Close-knit group at a popular island destination?: BERMUDACIRCLE
46. Topic of Objectivism: EGO
47. Company car, maybe: PERK
48. Aphrodite's love: ADONIS
51. Lite: LOWCAL
53. Champagne chum: AMI
54. Mo. of the hunter's moon: OCT
55. Werewolf, e.g. ... or the one responsible for 20-, 34- and 41-Across?: SHAPESHIFTER
59. "Shine On, Harvest Moon," e.g.: OLDIE
62. Fair: EXPO
63. Opera that premiered on Christmas Eve of 1871: AIDA
64. Red-haired ogress of film: FIONA
65. Brim: TEEM
66. Nothingness: VOID
67. Pink ___: FLOYD
68. It can make the face red: ACNE
69. Early Beatles tune subtitled "Go to Him": ANNA

down

1. Reversible fabric: DAMASK
2. Code of silence: OMERTA
3. Olympic event dating back to ancient Greece: DISCUSTHROW
4. "Phooey!": DRAT
5. Carnival treat: SNOCONE
6. Chief of medicine on "Scrubs": KELSO
7. "The Hurt Locker" locale: IRAQ
8. Food that wiggles: TOFU
9. Kid's art project: DIORAMA
10. Shine: EXCEL
11. The Wildcats of the America East Conf.: UNH
12. Roller coaster part: CAR
13. Cyclone part: EYE
21. Worship leader: IMAM
22. Popular source of antioxidants: ACAI
26. Inkling: VAGUENOTION
27. Drugs and crime, e.g.: ILLS
28. Security Council vote: NYET
30. Per ___: DIEM
31. Soup base: STOCK
32. "... ___ saw Elba": EREI
35. Go at it: SPAR
36. Court plea, for short: NOLO
37. Biblical brother: ABEL
38. State symbol of Utah: SEGO
42. In the near future: UPAHEAD
43. Writer François ___ Rochefoucauld: DELA
44. Make forcefully, as a point: RAMHOME
45. Year of the Battle of Pollentia: CDII
49. Immobilized by a storm, maybe: ICEDIN
50. Italian road: STRADA
52. Hit TV series starring Gary Sinise: CSINY
53. Part of a mountain forest: ASPEN
56. Sponsor of ads famous for nudity: PETA
57. Not jud. or leg.: EXEC
58. Kind of bean: FAVA
59. Slightly askew: OFF
60. Wee: LIL
61. Scooby-___: DOO

Hints and full breakdown for Dec 22

More daily puzzle hints

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.