NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for April 11, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Wednesday, April 11, 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
- 17
- 27
- 32
- 35
- 44
Down clues & answers
- 24
- 28
- 32
- 60
- 61
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
across
- 1. Beams: RAYS
- 5. "Nuts!": PSHAW
- 10. Had more than a feeling: KNEW
- 14. Region: AREA
- 15. Central Florida city: OCALA
- 16. Singer with a reputation for being self-centered: DIVA
- 17. Site for a diet of worms?: NEST
- 18. Wheeling, Cincinnati and Louisville are in it: OHIOVALLEY
- 20. Longtime Nicaraguan president: DANIELORTEGA
- 22. Smoked herring: BLOATER
- 23. Hollywood's Henry, Jane or Peter: FONDA
- 26. Instrument that's played by turning a crank: BARRELORGAN
- 29. Shaq's game: BBALL
- 32. Old Italian coin: LIRA
- 33. Trio after Q: RST
- 35. Shoreline flier: ERNE
- 36. Adorn with jewels: BEGEM
- 38. It's not butter: OLEO
- 39. Truck scale unit: TON
- 40. 1970s Chevy: VEGA
- 41. Track shapes: OVALS
- 42. Citrus fruit originally grown in Brazil: NAVELORANGE
- 46. Director Eastwood: CLINT
- 47. Eat away at: CORRODE
- 51. Plot device used in "Freaky Friday" ... or a hint to the interior of 20-, 26- or 42-Across: ROLEREVERSAL
- 54. Womanish: EFFEMINATE
- 57. ___ breve (2/2 time): ALLA
- 58. Drug unit: KILO
- 59. Bruce of "Sherlock Holmes" films: NIGEL
- 60. What a milkmaid holds: TEAT
- 61. God with a bow and arrow: EROS
- 62. Utopias: EDENS
- 63. Creepy-sounding lake name?: ERIE
down
- 1. Genre for Smokey Robinson: RANDB
- 2. "That's ___ shame": AREAL
- 3. Kind of question: YESNO
- 4. Like an appetite that can be fulfilled: SATIABLE
- 5. Car ___: POOLER
- 6. Late NPR newsman: SCHORR
- 7. "Aquarius" musical: HAIR
- 8. Very much: ALOT
- 9. Repeating shape on an oscilloscope: WAVEFORM
- 10. "Constant Craving" singer: KDLANG
- 11. Zilch: NIL
- 12. New Year's ___: EVE
- 13. Route: WAY
- 19. Lead-in to phobia: AGORA
- 21. List ender: ETAL
- 24. Alfalfa's girl in "The Little Rascals": DARLA
- 25. Photographer Adams: ANSEL
- 27. "Pomp and Circumstance" composer: ELGAR
- 28. Golfer's concern: LIE
- 29. "Wanna ___?": BET
- 30. Rodeo bucker: BRONC
- 31. One for the record books?: ANNAL
- 34. How-___: TOS
- 36. Railway encircling a city: BELTLINE
- 37. It may be inflated: EGO
- 38. Think too highly of: OVERRATE
- 40. Poison: VENOM
- 41. Purple people eater, e.g.: OGRE
- 43. Red-eyed birds: VIREOS
- 44. Winning blackjack combo: ACETEN
- 45. Dickens's output: NOVELS
- 48. Physician Sir William: OSLER
- 49. ___ Lama: DALAI
- 50. Thrill: ELATE
- 52. Oklahoma city: ENID
- 53. Fury: RAGE
- 54. Barely make, with "out": EKE
- 55. It's green year-round: FIR
- 56. "Alice" waitress: FLO
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.