NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for December 2, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Sunday, December 2, 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
- 12
- 21
- 32
- 64
- 79
- 87
- 100
- 108
- 118
- 121
- 122
Down clues & answers
- 17
- 74
- 94
- 101
- 106
- 114
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Saturday, December 1, 2012
across
- 1. What many a character in "The Iceman Cometh" expresses: PIPEDREAM
- 10. Part of a Spanish forest: ARBOL
- 15. 1997 voice role for Meg Ryan: ANASTASIA
- 16. It's in front of a benched player: PIANO
- 17. It may be replaced by a dash: CURSEWORD
- 18. Corny fare?: PONES
- 19. Second-largest moon in the solar system: TITAN
- 20. Month before Tishri: ELUL
- 22. Astronomer's calculation: Abbr.: GST
- 23. Lab directive?: STAY
- 24. Desert gullies: WADIS
- 26. Letter after Oscar: PAPA
- 27. The dark side: YIN
- 28. Happens to: BEFALLS
- 30. Italian almond cookies: AMARETTI
- 35. Put more layers on: RECOAT
- 36. Tremendously: SOMETHINGFIERCE
- 38. Where blackbirds may be baked?: INAPIE
- 39. Poses a bomb threat?: GOESDEEP
- 40. Emulated Tiresias: FORESAW
- 42. Realize: NET
- 43. Texter's "bye now": TTYL
- 44. All ___ (store sign): SIZES
- 46. "Every saint has a ___": Oscar Wilde: PAST
- 50. Magic, on scoreboards: ORL
- 51. Subject of King Deioces: MEDE
- 52. Eponymous container: DEWAR
- 53. National Voting Rights Museum locale: SELMA
- 55. Virginia v. Sebelius subject, in headlines: OBAMACARE
- 58. Accord: AMITY
- 59. Prominently demonstrated: WRITLARGE
- 60. Binary, in a way: YESNO
- 61. 1999 Best Director winner: SAMMENDES
down
- 1. Accords: PACTS
- 2. Certain harpooner: INUIT
- 3. First section: PARTA
- 4. Locke work: ESSAY
- 5. Decahedron-shaped die, to a gamer: DTEN
- 6. Still green, or still red: RAW
- 7. That, in Toledo: ESO
- 8. Ran: AIRED
- 9. Fill-in-the-blank story: MADLIB
- 10. Washer, e.g.: Abbr.: APPL
- 11. 2014 World Cup locale, for short: RIO
- 12. India's so-called "Garden City": BANGALORE
- 13. It's beside the point: ONESPLACE
- 14. Got older and slower: LOSTASTEP
- 21. Paywall charges: USERFEES
- 24. Effortlessly: WITHEASE
- 25. Like con men?: ANTI
- 26. Betrayed anxiety, say: PACED
- 27. Beasts of the East: YETIS
- 29. "1234" singer, 2007: FEIST
- 30. Seemingly expressing: ASIFTOSAY
- 31. Egg-laying mammal: MONOTREME
- 32. Belladonna lily: AMARYLLIS
- 33. What like charges do: REPEL
- 34. Dutch financial giant: ING
- 37. No longer to be found: GONE
- 41. ___ walk (old house feature): WIDOWS
- 45. "I finally got around to reading the dictionary. Turns out the ___ did it": Steven Wright: ZEBRA
- 46. Tough nut to crack: PECAN
- 47. Court determination: AWARD
- 48. Certain noncom: SARGE
- 49. They may be clear-cut: TREES
- 51. Bread spread: MAYO
- 52. Lowland: DALE
- 54. High point: Abbr.: MTN
- 56. Direct: AIM
- 57. "Hill Street Blues" production co.: MTM
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.