NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for January 8, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Sunday, January 8, 2012. 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
- 26
- 39
- 42
- 81
- 101
- 113
- 125
- 129
Down clues & answers
- 12
- 18
- 35
- 41
- 45
- 46
- 80
- 100
- 102
- 107
- 108
- 120
- 122
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Saturday, January 7, 2012
across
- 1. Like many a fairy tale princess: RESCUED
- 8. Craft with one mast and one sail: CATBOAT
- 15. Offering for continuing education: EXTENSIONCOURSE
- 17. Totally gone: DEADASADOORNAIL
- 18. "___ I might ...": TRYAS
- 19. Pretend: LETON
- 20. Papua New Guinea port: LAE
- 21. One with a glazed-over expression?: ICER
- 22. Plant related to pepper: BETEL
- 23. Places for shooting stars: SETS
- 24. Finished: DID
- 25. They've been splintered: SECTS
- 26. Boiling point at Roman baths?: CCXII
- 27. Number tossed out: ESTIMATE
- 29. Glacial pinnacles: SERACS
- 30. Longtime "Guiding Light" actress Beth: EHLERS
- 31. Hellenistic-era galley: BIREME
- 32. Is offensive, in a way: SMELLS
- 33. Lost it: WENTWILD
- 35. Left unsaid: TACIT
- 36. Waterwheel parts: VANES
- 37. Learning the ropes: NEW
- 38. Depression specialist's subj.: ECON
- 39. Fix: DESEX
- 40. Bullfighter's cloak: CAPA
- 41. Vietnam's Dien Bien ___: PHU
- 42. Lacking: OUTOF
- 43. Like some uncared-for closets: MOTHY
- 44. Mudslinger, say: DIRTYPOLITICIAN
- 47. Lacked any supervision: ANSWEREDTONOONE
- 48. Strawberry, for example: DEEPRED
- 49. Voiced letters: SONANTS
down
- 1. Potential beach closer: REDTIDE
- 2. Aid in scaling down?: EXERCISEMACHINE
- 3. Hung in there: STAYEDTHECOURSE
- 4. It prevents things from becoming 43-Across: CEDAR
- 5. Some, in Seville: UNAS
- 6. Southern leader?: ESS
- 7. Southern and such: DIALECTS
- 8. Hundreds: CNOTES
- 9. "___ Million" (Nathanael West novel): ACOOL
- 10. Like some muscles and tendons: TORN
- 11. Frank's place: BUN
- 12. Taxing educational hurdle: ORALEXAMINATION
- 13. One traveling around India with a trunk: ASIATICELEPHANT
- 14. Progress by intelligent design: TELESIS
- 16. Proust's Parisian courtesan: ODETTE
- 22. Campout dangers: BEARS
- 23. One whose head is turned: SCREW
- 25. Take the lead from?: SMELT
- 26. Roll of candy: CERTS
- 28. Wack, in hip-hop: ILLIN
- 29. Blockage-busting brand: SINEX
- 31. Job-hunting consideration: BENEFITS
- 32. Pop from a different line: STEPDAD
- 33. Lacked in freshness: WASOLD
- 34. Hockey player Roloson and wrestler Johnson: DWAYNES
- 36. Like pocketed bills: VETOED
- 39. Barbizon School painter Jules: DUPRE
- 40. Brown shade: COCOA
- 42. Court hearing: OYER
- 43. Brooklyn Park setting: Abbr.: MINN
- 45. Municipal div.: TWP
- 46. Before-long link: TOO
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.