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NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for January 17, 2012

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

By Last updated How we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Tuesday, January 17, 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.

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

Across clues & answers

  1. 1

    Tick off

  2. 5

    Wash

  3. 10

    Mimics

  4. 14

    Skunk's defense

  5. 15

    Under way

  6. 16

    Attract, as an audience

  7. 17

    Dickens wrote one about two cities

  8. 18

    They're frowned upon

  9. 19

    What an office seeker seeks

  10. 20

    Blockheaded

  11. 22

    In medias ___

  12. 23

    Human or kangaroo

  13. 24

    Red salmon

  14. 26

    Not a pretty sight

  15. 28

    Cleaning substance

  16. 29

    Banded marbles

  17. 30

    Most negligible

  18. 33

    Currently

  19. 36

    Sports org. in a 1976 merger

  20. 37

    Blow away

  21. 38

    Leased

  22. 39

    Sticks out

  23. 43

    Showily stylish

  24. 46

    River on the Texas/Louisiana border

  25. 47

    Hightailed it

  26. 48

    With 50-Across, Dutch painter represented by this puzzle's circled letters

  27. 50

    See 48-Across

  28. 54

    Warning at a station

  29. 55

    Cairo-to-Addis Ababa dir.

  30. 57

    It used to be called the Hermit Kingdom

  31. 58

    Evidence of a ship's passing

  32. 59

    Be sassy, with "off"

  33. 61

    Fateful day in March

  34. 62

    Ovine mothers

  35. 63

    Cream of the crop

  36. 64

    Wasp's home

  37. 65

    "___ we forget"

  38. 66

    Indian emblem

  39. 67

    "Pardon me, would you have any ___ Poupon?"

Down clues & answers

  1. 1

    Applesauce maker

  2. 2

    The 43rd state

  3. 3

    Kind of acid in breakfast cereal

  4. 4

    Something redheads tend to do

  5. 5

    Outlaw

  6. 6

    In front of, old-style

  7. 7

    Kind of deafness

  8. 8

    Slammer

  9. 9

    Flying saucer fliers, for short

  10. 10

    Counseled

  11. 11

    Season-ending events on "The Bachelor"

  12. 12

    "Peter Peter Pumpkin ___"

  13. 13

    Writer Stieg Larsson, e.g.

  14. 21

    People are always searching for them

  15. 23

    Alpha-gamma connector

  16. 25

    Still

  17. 27

    Go slightly off course

  18. 29

    Win by ___

  19. 30

    Chinese chairman

  20. 31

    Opposite of rise

  21. 32

    Rodent-eating reptiles

  22. 34

    "You're calling because ...?"

  23. 35

    Messy dorm room, say

  24. 37

    Broke off from a group

  25. 40

    Most risqué

  26. 41

    "Deutschland ___ Alles"

  27. 42

    What a lot of partiers make

  28. 43

    ___ Angelico

  29. 44

    Long and lean

  30. 45

    Not stopping

  31. 48

    "I'd like to buy a ___, Pat"

  32. 49

    Deeply impressed

  33. 50

    Sting Ray, e.g., informally

  34. 51

    "Large pepperoni with extra cheese," e.g.

  35. 52

    V-formation fliers

  36. 53

    Overly quick

  37. 56

    Diamonds, e.g.

  38. 59

    Shook hands with, say

  39. 60

    What a seamstress may take up

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Previous The Crossword answer

Monday, January 16, 2012

across

  • 1. Kind of 54-Down that's flavored with flowers: JASMINE
  • 8. Compilation book: OMNIBUS
  • 15. Tiberius or Charlemagne: EMPEROR
  • 16. Flowering shrub common in the South: LANTANA
  • 17. Hamlet's reply to "What do you read, my lord?": WORDSWORDSWORDS
  • 19. "The ___ the limit!": SKYS
  • 20. Musical piece for two: DUET
  • 21. "Cheers" actor Roger: REES
  • 22. Laughed contemptuously: SNEERED
  • 25. Desertlike: DRY
  • 26. California peak: SHASTA
  • 30. Tear: RIP
  • 32. "You're too hard to please!": PICKYPICKYPICKY
  • 39. Jai ___: ALAI
  • 40. Bearded beast of Africa: GNU
  • 41. "Damn Yankees" seductress: LOLA
  • 42. 1976 Abba hit: MONEYMONEYMONEY
  • 47. Louis XIV, par exemple: ROI
  • 48. Cosmetician Lauder and others: ESTEES
  • 49. It's all the rage: FAD
  • 52. Not oral: WRITTEN
  • 56. Bushy do: AFRO
  • 58. On a cruise: ASEA
  • 59. Fencing sword: EPEE
  • 63. How the trolley went in a 1944 song: CLANGCLANGCLANG
  • 67. Perceptible by touch: TACTILE
  • 68. Prodding into action: GOOSING
  • 69. Moe, Larry and Curly: STOOGES
  • 70. Big name in multivitamins: ONEADAY

down

  • 1. A majority of Israelis: JEWS
  • 2. Frenzied: AMOK
  • 3. Nimble for one's age: SPRY
  • 4. Docs prescribe them: MEDS
  • 5. Tax org.: IRS
  • 6. This very minute: NOW
  • 7. Wear away, as soil: ERODE
  • 8. Like a big brother: OLDER
  • 9. Expertise: MASTERY
  • 10. Opposite of SSE: NNW
  • 11. "Believe ___ Not!": ITOR
  • 12. Exposed: BARED
  • 13. Beneath: UNDER
  • 14. Impertinent: SASSY
  • 18. Parisian street: RUE
  • 22. Pig's digs: STY
  • 23. 40 winks: NAP
  • 24. Quick swim: DIP
  • 26. E-mail that's sent out by the millions: SPAM
  • 27. Largest city on the island of Hawaii: HILO
  • 28. Open ___ of worms: ACAN
  • 29. T-bar rider: SKIER
  • 31. Aviator: PILOT
  • 33. "Can ___ now?": IGO
  • 34. Channel for Anderson Cooper: CNN
  • 35. Letter before ar: KUE
  • 36. Ice cream treat: CONE
  • 37. Swiss artist Paul: KLEE
  • 38. Cheers for successes: YAYS
  • 43. "Ouch!": YOW
  • 44. Backup singer for Smokey Robinson: MIRACLE
  • 45. "___-haw!": YEE
  • 46. AOL alternative: MSN
  • 49. Statistics, e.g.: FACTS
  • 50. Black key above G: AFLAT
  • 51. Northern constellation: DRACO
  • 53. Capri and Wight: ISLES
  • 54. Pekoe, e.g.: TEA
  • 55. "It takes two" to do this: TANGO
  • 57. Knowledgeable about: ONTO
  • 59. "Born Free" lioness: ELSA
  • 60. No longer owed: PAID
  • 61. Sicilian city: ENNA
  • 62. Like a soufflé: EGGY
  • 64. Band's engagement: GIG
  • 65. Suffix with penta-, hexa-, hepta-, etc.: GON
  • 66. Iowa college: COE
Hints and full breakdown for Jan 16

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.