NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for April 3, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Thursday, April 3, 2014. 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
- 20
- 42
Down clues & answers
- 32
- 56
- 61
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
across
- 1. Miami's county, familiarly: DADE
- 5. Stalled driver's request: JUMP
- 9. Inexperienced with: NEWAT
- 14. Words after pour or pass: ITON
- 15. Beast in the documentary "Blackfish": ORCA
- 16. Amtrak bullet train: ACELA
- 17. Weapon part that's out of this world?: SWORDHILT
- 19. Chaim who created Asher Lev: POTOK
- 20. Kurt of Nirvana: COBAIN
- 21. Spanish diminutive suffix: ITA
- 23. Pronoun in a wedding statement: THEE
- 24. Paper tiger, maybe: ORIGAMI
- 26. One-room home: IGLOO
- 28. ___-Ball: SKEE
- 29. Sturm ___ Drang: UND
- 31. Skedaddled: RANOFF
- 34. Wintertime airport supply: DEICER
- 37. Victoria's Secret garment: TEDDY
- 38. Swell place?: SEA
- 41. Attack on a Mideast land that's out of thin air?: IRANHIT
- 43. ___ Lanka: SRI
- 44. Boxer's prize: PURSE
- 46. Protracted battles: SIEGES
- 48. Lady Schick target: ARMPIT
- 50. "A revolution is not a dinner party" writer: MAO
- 51. Jewelry designer Peretti: ELSA
- 55. Cries of pain: YEOWS
- 57. Some lines on a GPS screen: STREETS
- 59. "And ___ word from our sponsor": NOWA
- 61. Anxious condition, for short: OCD
- 63. Bites playfully: NIPSAT
- 64. Plumber's unclogger: SNAKE
- 66. Fisherman's feat that's out of character?: RARECATCH
- 68. Happy gatherings: FESTS
- 69. Cameo stone: ONYX
- 70. Give the appearance of: SEEM
- 71. "Whoopee!": WAHOO
- 72. Insect repellent ingredient: DEET
- 73. "___ Little Tenderness": TRYA
down
- 1. Places where people hustle?: DISCOS
- 2. On the job: ATWORK
- 3. Rock's ___ Brothers: DOOBIE
- 4. Steamed: ENRAGED
- 5. Sierra Club founder: JOHNMUIR
- 6. Mentalist Geller: URI
- 7. Mid 12th-century year: MCLI
- 8. Singer Smith of punk music: PATTI
- 9. Day care break: NAP
- 10. Environmental transition area: ECOTONE
- 11. Drenched gangsters who are out of the woods?: WETHOODS
- 12. The so-called "potted physician": ALOE
- 13. Box-office receipts: TAKE
- 18. 24 horas: DIA
- 22. Cabinet-level dept. since 1889: AGR
- 25. Pachacuti's people: INCAS
- 27. Drink that may feature "foam art": LATTE
- 30. Blue wear: DENIM
- 32. Yalta Conference monogram: FDR
- 33. Memo-heading initials: FYI
- 35. Letters in a children's refrain: EIEIO
- 36. Ostrich cousins: RHEAS
- 38. Aromatherapy spot: SPA
- 39. Liechtenstein's locale: Abbr.: EUR
- 40. Military laundry that's out of harm's way?: ARMYWASH
- 42. Challenger's announcement at a pickup game: IGOTNEXT
- 45. Have a talk with: SPEAKTO
- 47. Purposely overlook, as a fault: SEEPAST
- 49. Wee hour: TWO
- 52. NBC anchor Holt: LESTER
- 53. Actress Dash of "Clueless": STACEY
- 54. Inhaler user's malady: ASTHMA
- 56. Atlantic fish: SCROD
- 58. Documentarian Burns who's the brother of Ken: RIC
- 59. Office-inappropriate, in web shorthand: NSFW
- 60. Suitable for induction: ONEA
- 62. Hamlet, e.g.: DANE
- 65. "___ Beso": ESO
- 67. Manhattan ingredient: RYE
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.