NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for December 27, 2015
Sunday, December 27, 2015
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Sunday, December 27, 2015. 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
- 23
- 25
- 30
- 36
- 44
- 46
- 64
- 79
- 82
- 95
- 100
- 102
- 110
Down clues & answers
- 13
- 15
- 43
- 52
- 53
- 60
- 85
- 94
- 105
- 112
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Saturday, December 26, 2015
across
- 1. His name was lengthened by God at age 99: ABRAM
- 6. Theme in much Greek art: TROJANWAR
- 15. Beasts of the wild: FAUNA
- 16. Guru for hire: LIFECOACH
- 17. N.J. home of the "Ultimate Weapon" monument: FTDIX
- 18. The puck drops here: CENTERICE
- 19. Like some explosions: ATOMIC
- 21. Unwanted buildup: MOLD
- 22. Syllable of faux rebuke: TUT
- 23. Group in many conspiracy theories: ILLUMINATI
- 25. Its flag is dark blue, symbolizing an ocean: NATO
- 26. Calls: REFS
- 27. Character builder?: GENE
- 28. Masonry-supporting rod: REBAR
- 29. One getting an across-the-board promotion?: PAWN
- 30. Late-spring arrival: GEMINI
- 31. Some Winter Olympians: SKATERS
- 35. Mesoamerican language with 400,000+ speakers: ZAPOTEC
- 36. Emotional appeal: PATHOS
- 37. "___ arigato": DOMO
- 38. Hawthorne's "___ Brand": ETHAN
- 39. 0.5, for 150°: SINE
- 40. Something made on one's birthday: WISH
- 44. City famous for bad traffic?: CALI
- 45. Traveling show with the number "Trading Taps": RIVERDANCE
- 47. Half of a rhyming candy duo: IKE
- 48. First name in industrial design: EERO
- 49. Extremely: SOVERY
- 50. Cartoon friend of Dumb Donald and Weird Harold: FATALBERT
- 53. "This Perfect Day" novelist, 1970: LEVIN
- 54. Underneath all the layers: INESSENCE
- 55. Program with a "Get Ripped" version: TAEBO
- 56. "Benefit" of some "friends": CASUALSEX
- 57. Cast wide: STREW
down
- 1. Liaison: AFFAIR
- 2. With 35-Down, Korea in the 1950s or Iraq in the 2000s: BATTLE
- 3. Diesel who invented the diesel engine: RUDOLF
- 4. Loathing: ANIMUS
- 5. Popular pinup publication: MAXIM
- 6. Doc's warm treatment: TLC
- 7. Mathematician with a hypothesis unproven since 1859: RIEMANN
- 8. Worth heeding: OFNOTE
- 9. Beijing-born star of "Kiss of the Dragon": JETLI
- 10. Didn't get a return from: ACED
- 11. "... confirm ___ deny ...": NOR
- 12. Hold your horses: WAITABIT
- 13. Dermatological drug withdrawn by Roche in 2009: ACCUTANE
- 14. Stump speeches, often: RHETORIC
- 20. Ones with big butts: CIGARS
- 24. What's going on: NEWS
- 25. Marlin's son, in an animated film: NEMO
- 28. Take back, in a way: REPO
- 29. Cog, so to speak: PEON
- 30. Call of Duty fans, e.g.: GAMERS
- 31. General's opposite: SPECIFIC
- 32. Form of Japanese syllabic writing: KATAKANA
- 33. ___ foot: ATHLETES
- 34. Indian alternative: THAI
- 35. See 2-Down: ZONE
- 37. What "marriage is the chief cause of," per Groucho Marx: DIVORCE
- 39. They'll stop traffic: SIRENS
- 40. Greet from a ways away, say: WAVEAT
- 41. "How dare you!": INEVER
- 42. Journalist, informally: SCRIBE
- 43. "Ea-a-asy, buddy!": HEYNOW
- 45. Common hero in American literature: REBEL
- 46. Yo-yos: DOLTS
- 48. Film character who brings the snowman Olaf to life: ELSA
- 51. Pac-12 sch.: ASU
- 52. Nickname on a cattle drive: TEX
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.