NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for August 20, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Monday, August 20, 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
- 36
- 41
Down clues & answers
- 21
- 39
- 42
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Sunday, August 19, 2012
across
- 1. Polo need: MALLET
- 7. Some ballroom dances: CHACHAS
- 14. Go by again: REPASS
- 20. Figures in TV's "V": ALIENS
- 21. Acid, e.g.: ETCHANT
- 22. One-two wager: EXACTA
- 23. Ultranationalism?: JINGOALLTHEWAY
- 25. Sunday best: FINERY
- 26. Keep on hand: STOCK
- 27. View from une chalet, maybe: ALPES
- 28. Reforms?: MUTATES
- 29. Scream, so to speak: RIOT
- 31. Gray shades: TAUPES
- 35. Mil. stat: MIAS
- 36. Dame ___ Everage: EDNA
- 39. "Thriller" Grammy sweep?: THEDAYOFTHEJACKO
- 44. Appear that way: SEEMTO
- 46. Zero: NIL
- 47. More than dislike: LOATHE
- 48. Speed at which the apocalypse is coming?: TEMPOOFDOOM
- 51. Having allegorical meanings: AESOPIC
- 56. 43-Down follower: APOSTLE
- 57. Brought in: REAPED
- 61. Gold-compound salt: AURATE
- 62. Balkan native: SERB
- 64. Obsessive-compulsive soap purger?: RINSEPSYCHO
- 66. Source of indigo: ANIL
- 70. Kate who married a prince: MIDDLETON
- 73. Classic Jags: XKES
- 74. Big gambling loss in the Biggest Little City in the World?: RENOFAILURE
- 77. Venetian strip: SLAT
- 80. Louis Armstrong played one: CORNET
- 81. More gung-ho: KEENER
- 84. Excitement: AROUSAL
- 89. Former Treasury secretary Paul and former Yankee Paul: ONEILLS
- 91. Bad precept for U.S. foreign policy?: AMERICANEGO
- 93. Spa item: LOOFAH
- 97. L-P center: MNO
- 98. Non compos mentis: ADDLED
- 99. Not a happy ending on the yellow brick road?: TOTOANNIHILATION
- 105. Choice word: ELSE
- 106. "Are you ___ out?": INOR
- 107. Do a hula, e.g.: GYRATE
- 108. Swerve: VEER
- 110. Goes (for): RETAILS
- 112. Nastily slander: SLIME
- 116. Wrong: AMISS
- 120. What a chair may hold: AGENDA
- 121. TV detective with his unbalanced suspect?: HAMMERANDSICKO
- 125. Solemn pieces: DIRGES
- 126. Like the Boston Tea Partiers: ANTITAX
- 127. Whence the phrase "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts": AENEID
- 128. Opposite of dethrone: ENSEAT
- 129. Big name in pasta: RONZONI
- 130. Curses out?: BLEEPS
down
- 1. Some mil. brass: MAJS
- 2. Settled down: ALIT
- 3. Lead-in to type: LINO
- 4. Bikers' woes: LEGCRAMPS
- 5. Japanese mushroom: ENOKI
- 6. J.F.K. search party?: TSA
- 7. Clandestine group: CELL
- 8. Link letters: HTTP
- 9. Joint concern: ACHE
- 10. Opposite of flat: CHESTY
- 11. Part of a bray: HAW
- 12. Santa ___: ANA
- 13. Dump: STY
- 14. Dump: REFUSEHEAP
- 15. Red-letter word: EXIT
- 16. Article of apparel that's not made where you might think: PANAMA
- 17. Like CH3CO2H: ACETIC
- 18. Run: STREAK
- 19. Asserts something: SAYSSO
- 24. Plaster support: LATH
- 28. 1980s New York Philharmonic maestro: MEHTA
- 30. Peter of "The Last Emperor": OTOOLE
- 32. Part of some e-mail addresses: AOL
- 33. Radar anomaly: UFO
- 34. Class action grp.?: PTA
- 36. Spanish 101 word: ESTA
- 37. Many-layered: DEEP
- 38. "Little" comics boy: NEMO
- 40. Rear: END
- 41. J'adore perfumer: DIOR
- 42. Perennial succulent: ALOE
- 43. Religious figure: JESUS
- 45. Sandbox frequenters: TOTS
- 49. Manhattan Project physicist: FERMI
- 50. Jazz vocalist Shaw: MARLENA
- 52. Antelope related to the gemsbok: ORYX
- 53. Cram: PACK
- 54. "Am ___ only one?": ITHE
- 55. Mitt Romney and others, once: CEOS
- 58. Pizzeria order: PIE
- 59. "The Lord of the Rings" tree creature: ENT
- 60. U.K. mil. decorations: DSOS
- 63. Con: BILK
- 65. China's Zhou ___: ENLAI
- 66. With the bow, in music: ARCO
- 67. Really bright: NEON
- 68. Memo intro: INRE
- 69. Blonde Anderson: LONI
- 71. Appropriate: DUE
- 72. Death Row Records co-founder, familiarly: DRE
- 75. Chap: FELLA
- 76. "Finally!": ATLONGLAST
- 78. Like election laws, typically: ARCANE
- 79. Ugly one: TOAD
- 82. Watson of the Harry Potter films: EMMA
- 83. Musical with the song "Seasons of Love": RENT
- 85. Sabotage: UNDERMINE
- 86. Dump, say: SELL
- 87. A long time: AGES
- 88. Big vein: LODE
- 90. Some Blu-ray players: SONYS
- 92. Louis XIV, for one: ROI
- 94. Wreath source: FIR
- 95. Solution reaction: AHA
- 96. Miss's partner: HIT
- 99. It might result in a meltdown: TIRADE
- 100. Tchaikovsky's "Eugene ___": ONEGIN
- 101. Bag handlers: TOTERS
- 102. House of ___: ORANGE
- 103. Broadway smash starting in '87: LESMIZ
- 104. Pizzeria need: OVEN
- 109. Chart holder: EASEL
- 111. Spark, so to speak: IDEA
- 113. Consort of Zeus: LETO
- 114. Big oil exporter: IRAN
- 115. Mini's counterpart: MAXI
- 117. Summer cooler: ICEE
- 118. Record problem: SKIP
- 119. Lays the groundwork for?: SODS
- 121. Half a laugh: HAR
- 122. New element in each of this puzzle's theme answers: ANO
- 123. Geog. abbreviation: MTN
- 124. Tiny application: DAB
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.