NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for September 11, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Tuesday, September 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
- 44
- 61
- 68
- 69
Down clues & answers
- 12
- 39
- 55
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Monday, September 10, 2012
across
- 1. Outrageous comedy: FARCE
- 6. Big galoots: APES
- 10. "Play It Again, ___": SAM
- 13. Plan B: ALTERNATIVE
- 16. "I'll take that as ___": ANO
- 17. Leona Helmsley epithet: QUEENOFMEAN
- 18. Tree with needles: FIR
- 19. Bro's sibling: SIS
- 20. Uno y dos: TRES
- 21. Quayle : Bush :: Biden : ___: OBAMA
- 23. Entr'___ (musical interlude): ACTE
- 25. Urban's opposite: RURAL
- 26. Words under a monkey with his hands over his ears: HEARNOEVIL
- 32. Go the extra ___: MILE
- 33. Samuel on the Supreme Court: ALITO
- 34. Again from the top: ANEW
- 36. Start of a Ray Bradbury title ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 26-, 49- and 62-Across: SOMETHINGWICKED
- 43. New York State's ___ Canal: ERIE
- 44. Supermodel Campbell: NAOMI
- 45. Frequent "S.N.L." host Baldwin: ALEC
- 49. One of the Sex Pistols: SIDVICIOUS
- 52. A funny thing happened on the way to this, in an old musical: FORUM
- 54. Utopia: EDEN
- 55. Little guy in the garden: GNOME
- 56. Rank below a marquis: EARL
- 58. Football passers, for short: QBS
- 61. All ___ up (agitated): HET
- 62. 1956 #1 Elvis hit: DONTBECRUEL
- 66. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" boxer: ALI
- 67. Falling apart: INDISREPAIR
- 68. Big Apple inits.: NYC
- 69. Price: COST
- 70. Fails to mention: OMITS
down
- 1. Queries on the Internet, for short: FAQS
- 2. His: Fr.: ALUI
- 3. Blvds. and rds.: RTES
- 4. Not-so-impressive grade: CEE
- 5. Suffix with north or south: ERN
- 6. "Stop staring ___!": ATME
- 7. Slapstick props: PIES
- 8. One of the Gabors: EVA
- 9. Mister in Mexico: SENOR
- 10. African hunt: SAFARI
- 11. Zebra or zebu: ANIMAL
- 12. Esprit de corps: MORALE
- 14. "What's ___ like?": NOTTO
- 15. "It's ___ country!": AFREE
- 22. Mooch, as a cigarette: BUM
- 23. Johnson who said "Ver-r-r-ry interesting!": ARTE
- 24. Bill worth 100 smackers: CNOTE
- 26. Possesses: HAS
- 27. "Don't Bring Me Down" rock group, for short: ELO
- 28. Order between "ready" and "fire": AIM
- 29. Equipped with sails, as a windmill: VANED
- 30. Gerund suffix: ING
- 31. ___ Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's birth name): LEW
- 35. Look that may accompany a groan: WINCE
- 37. Mins. and mins.: HRS
- 38. Jr.'s junior: III
- 39. Brother of Abel: CAIN
- 40. "Kitchy-kitchy-___!": KOO
- 41. Aussie bird: EMU
- 42. Run down, in slang: DIS
- 45. Kabul native: AFGHAN
- 46. Feeling friendless: LONELY
- 47. XXX-rated: EROTIC
- 48. Summa ___ laude: CUM
- 50. Words after nouns: VERBS
- 51. Do-nothing: IDLER
- 53. Combat doc: MEDIC
- 56. Terminates: ENDS
- 57. Going ___ tooth and nail: ATIT
- 58. Paris's ___ d'Orsay: QUAI
- 59. "___ ever so humble ...": BEIT
- 60. Some cameras, for short: SLRS
- 63. Singer Yoko: ONO
- 64. Corp. bigwig: CEO
- 65. 33 1/3, 45 or 78, briefly: RPM
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.