NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for August 17, 2013

Q: Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive .

Saturday, August 17, 2013

By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated Nov 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM ETHow we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Saturday, August 17, 2013. 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.

68 clues · jump to Across or Down. Tap a tile for one letter, or Answer for the whole word.

Across clues & answers

Down clues & answers

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Previous The Crossword answer

Friday, August 16, 2013

across

1. Fighting: ATWAR
6. Amscray: FLEE
10. They get taken easily: SAPS
14. ___ Road (W.W. II supply route): BURMA
15. Hospital bed feature: RAIL
16. Nail: CLAW
17. Circular side?: ONIONRINGS
19. Unisex name meaning "born again": RENE
20. Many a security point: DESK
21. Straight: ONTHELEVEL
23. Form of "sum": EST
24. Sound name: PUGET
25. Tom who won a Tony for "The Seven Year Itch": EWELL
26. Ones keeping on their toes?: BALLERINAS
29. The City of a Hundred Spires: PRAGUE
31. Triage determination: NEED
32. Home of "NerdTV": PBS
35. Line of rulers: DYNASTS
37. Big game plans?: SAFARIS
39. Argument-ending letters: QED
40. Short distance: STEP
42. Occasions for bulldogging: RODEOS
43. Hot-and-cold menu item: PIEALAMODE
45. Mathematician Cantor who founded set theory: GEORG
48. Going without saying?: TACIT
49. Aid in getting back on track: MAP
52. Means of reducing worker fatigue: ERGONOMICS
54. Kraft Nabisco Championship org.: LPGA
55. Color also known as endive blue: IRIS
56. Classic Hitchcock set: BATESMOTEL
58. Quiet place to fish: COVE
59. Suffixes of 61-Across: ITES
60. Rich of old films: IRENE
61. Contents of some ledges: ORES
62. "___ Wedding" ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show" episode): TEDS
63. Occasioned: LEDTO

down

1. Flat, e.g.: ABODE
2. Fixes flats?: TUNES
3. Hospital patient's wear: WRISTBAND
4. See 5-Down: AMOK
5. With 4-Down, lost control: RAN
6. Feature of some western wear: FRINGE
7. Pathfinder?: LANTERN
8. Reagan was seen a lot in them: EIGHTIES
9. Word after who, what or where, but rarely when: ELSE
10. Things driven on construction sites: SCREWS
11. Anti-inflammatory product: ALEVE
12. Authorities might sit on one: PANEL
13. Wonderful: SWELL
18. Kind of wheel: ROULETTE
22. One putting the pedal to the metal: LEADFOOT
24. Summer symbol?: PLUSSIGN
27. One of the Eastern elite: AGA
28. Aviation safety statistic: NEARMISS
29. Straightaway: PDQ
30. Manhattan choice: RYE
32. Broken into on TV?: PREEMPTED
33. Kind of lab: BIO
34. Nemesis of some dodgers: Abbr.: SSS
36. Fellow chairperson?: SEATMATE
38. Use a 24-Down: ADD
41. Like pigtails: PLAITED
43. Talks tediously: PROSES
44. Hacker's achievement: ACCESS
45. American company whose mascot has a Cockney accent: GEICO
46. Diamond flaw: ERROR
47. Diagonal rib of a vault: OGIVE
50. One getting cuts: AGENT
51. Early: Prefix: PALEO
53. Exit lines?: OBIT
54. Ethnologist's interest: LORE
57. 254,000 angstroms: MIL

Hints and full breakdown for Aug 16

More daily puzzle hints

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.