NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for January 23, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Monday, January 23, 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
- 20
- 65
- 66
Down clues & answers
- 59
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Sunday, January 22, 2012
across
- 1. Colo. ___, Colo.: SPR
- 4. 1040 preparer, for short: CPA
- 7. Heartbeat: MOMENT
- 13. Plied with spirits: WINED
- 18. Shakespeare: THEBARD
- 20. National Forensic League skill: ORATION
- 22. Rare violin: AMATI
- 23. Royal house until the early 20th century: ROMANOV
- 24. Bad occupation for Sleepy?: NIGHTWATCHMAN
- 26. One: UNITED
- 27. Head of ancient Sparta?: SIGMA
- 28. Hardest to ship, say: BULKIEST
- 29. Bad occupation for Happy?: GOTHMUSICIAN
- 31. Bit of wear for a fop: ASCOT
- 32. Hero who debuted in Weird Tales magazine in 1932: CONAN
- 33. M.A. hopeful's ordeal: GRE
- 34. Like Oscar Wilde's humor: WRY
- 37. Ruler in a robe: EMIR
- 41. Touch while running: TAG
- 42. Home of two M.L.B. teams: CHI
- 44. Villains in 1939's "Stagecoach": APACHES
- 48. Last ___: RITES
- 50. Ones running away with the game?: POACHERS
- 54. Mrs. Robinson's daughter: ELAINE
- 55. Having hands, maybe: ANALOG
- 57. Bad occupation for Sneezy?: FLORALARRANGER
- 59. More than a quarter of the earth's crust, by mass: SILICON
- 61. Longtime Yankee nickname: AROD
- 62. Spot for a flame: WICK
- 63. Bad occupation for Grumpy?: MOTIVATIONALSPEAKER
- 69. 2000 musical with the song "Fortune Favors the Brave": AIDA
- 70. Diplomatic, say: NICE
- 71. Some juices: ENZYMES
- 73. Bad occupation for Dopey?: ALGEBRATEACHER
- 79. Grippers: TALONS
- 80. Spanish dish: PAELLA
- 81. Classic figure in a top hat: UNCLESAM
- 83. It needs to be fed frequently: METER
- 84. Best in the market: OUTSELL
- 86. Last word of "Finnegans Wake": THE
- 87. ___ Canals: SOO
- 89. Gives a darn?: SEWS
- 90. Bridge maker's deg.: DDS
- 91. Biblical mount: ASS
- 93. Singer John: ELTON
- 95. Common tattoo spot: CHEST
- 98. Bad occupation for Doc?: VILLAGEIDIOT
- 105. Hippocampus hippocampus, e.g.: SEAHORSE
- 108. Mishmashes: OLIOS
- 109. Employee of the month award, say: PLAQUE
- 110. Bad occupation for Bashful?: TVPERSONALITY
- 112. Waldorf salad ingredients: WALNUTS
- 113. Sports anchor Rich: EISEN
- 114. Attacked ground units, in a way: STRAFED
- 115. Honchos: BIGGIES
- 116. Lands in a puddle, maybe: PLOPS
- 117. Accent: STRESS
- 118. ___-Magnon: CRO
- 119. ___-la-la: TRA
down
- 1. Kerri ___, U.S. gymnastics star at the 1996 Olympics: STRUG
- 2. 45 player: PHONO
- 3. Pay up: REMIT
- 4. Cave ___: CANEM
- 5. One going to market: PRODUCT
- 6. Daily or weekly: Abbr.: ADV
- 7. "Friends" role: MONICA
- 8. (0,0), on a graph: ORIGIN
- 9. Eruption sight: MAGMA
- 10. "___ Frome": ETHAN
- 11. A picky person may pick one: NIT
- 12. Trailer attachment: TOWBAR
- 13. Bananas: WACKO
- 14. "Somebody shot me!": IMHIT
- 15. Questionnaire blank: NAME
- 16. Airport postings, for short: ETAS
- 17. Force: DINT
- 19. Subject of dozens of Degas paintings: BATH
- 21. Vertigo symptom: NAUSEA
- 25. Group with the 1995 #1 hit "Waterfalls": TLC
- 27. Honor like a troubadour: SINGOF
- 30. Bar that shrinks: SOAP
- 33. Miss: GIRL
- 34. Like four U.S. presidents: WHIG
- 35. Mathematician Descartes: RENE
- 36. River to the North Sea: YSER
- 37. Chapters in history: ERAS
- 38. Half note: MINIM
- 39. Novelist Calvino: ITALO
- 40. Like lanterns at the start of evening: RELIT
- 42. Log: CHRONICLE
- 43. Big bother: HEADACHE
- 45. Degree of interest?: PERCENT
- 46. "Voilà!": ALAKAZAM
- 47. Fire: CAN
- 49. Convivial: SOCIABLE
- 51. Jai ___: ALAI
- 52. Funeral song in Scotland: CORONACH
- 53. Cuts: SAWS
- 56. Become a YouTube sensation: GOVIRAL
- 58. Finally edible: RIPE
- 60. Zip: NADA
- 64. Duo with the 2003 hit "All the Things She Said": TATU
- 65. Levi's alternative: LEES
- 66. Actors MacLachlan and Chandler: KYLES
- 67. Serve up some ham?: EMOTE
- 68. Extend, in a way: RENEW
- 72. Georgia and Moldova, once: Abbr.: SSRS
- 73. Like two peas in ___: APOD
- 74. Hail: LAUD
- 75. Is allowed (to): GETS
- 76. Overhead transports: ELS
- 77. Tolkien's tree creatures: ENTS
- 78. Some Jamaicans: RASTAS
- 82. "Switched-On Bach" instrument: MOOG
- 85. Snares: LASSOS
- 88. Not a great hand for raising: ONEPAIR
- 92. Surgical inserts: STENTS
- 93. Aristocracies: ELITES
- 94. Big name in insurance: LLOYDS
- 95. [Give me the worm! Give me the worm!]: CHEEP
- 96. Hallmark of the Philadelphia sound: HORNS
- 97. Sounds of hesitation: ERS
- 98. Relating to the palm of the hand: VOLAR
- 99. Apple software bundle that includes GarageBand: ILIFE
- 100. Volunteer's cry: ILLGO
- 101. "Shoot!": DANG
- 102. Disgruntled worker's parting cry: IQUIT
- 103. External: OUTER
- 104. "The Gondoliers" bride: TESSA
- 105. Ballet bit: STEP
- 106. Malevolent: EVIL
- 107. Lhasa ___: APSO
- 111. "Either plagiarism or revolution," per Paul Gauguin: ART
- 112. Fighters' org.: WBC
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.