NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for January 1, 2016
Friday, January 1, 2016
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, January 1, 2016. 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
- 17
- 22
- 43
Down clues & answers
- 18
- 27
- 42
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Thursday, December 31, 2015
across
- 1. Onetime gig for Wiig, in brief: SNL
- 4. Keep the sauce from congealing, say: STIR
- 8. ___ Simpson: GRAMPA
- 14. Low note?: MOO
- 15. Stash: HIDE
- 16. Banks: RELIES
- 17. Spider-Man's surrogate father: UNCLEBEN
- 19. Commercial leader?: ADEXEC
- 20. Enjoy the swimsuit edition of The New England Journal of Medicine?: GOOGLEDOCS
- 22. Giant Manning: ELI
- 23. Club alternative: BLT
- 24. Organization in "The Da Vinci Code": OPUSDEI
- 27. Actress Gerwig of "Mistress America": GRETA
- 30. "Yeah, that's the spot": AAH
- 32. Put down roots?: SOD
- 33. Oral vote: NAY
- 34. Brief entries in an auto film festival?: CARGOSHORTS
- 39. Like Scotch whisky: AGED
- 41. Rib: TEASE
- 42. Flag: TIRE
- 43. Sickly-looking overlord?: WAGONMASTER
- 46. Bhikkhuni : Buddhism :: ___ : Catholicism: NUN
- 47. Tall one: LIE
- 48. Rotational speed meas.: RPS
- 49. Grilled: ASKED
- 51. Neither improve nor decline: PLATEAU
- 54. Bank figure, for short: PIN
- 55. Half of us?: ESS
- 56. People obsessed with being online?: EGOMANIACS
- 62. Round a corner in 65-Across ... or what you must do to answer the clues for 20-, 34-, 43- and 56-Across: PASSGO
- 65. Game patented December 31, 1935: MONOPOLY
- 66. Psychologist Pinker who wrote "How the Mind Works": STEVEN
- 67. Words of rebuke: ETTU
- 68. Understanding: KEN
- 69. What you may have with mom, dad or an overbearing boss: ISSUES
- 70. Swiftly built home?: NEST
- 71. Cable channel that airs "Portlandia": IFC
down
- 1. Like an "I told you so" look: SMUG
- 2. Proscription: NONO
- 3. Spanish nuts: LOCO
- 4. Wallop: SHELLAC
- 5. Terminus of the Qingzang railway: TIBET
- 6. Known to authorities: IDED
- 7. City near Sparks: RENO
- 8. Clutch: GRASP
- 9. With 10-Down, Irish draught: RED
- 10. See 9-Down: ALE
- 11. Cosmopolitan, e.g.: MIXEDDRINK
- 12. Key's longtime partner in sketch comedy: PEELE
- 13. Computer acronym since the 1960s: ASCII
- 18. Modern civil rights initialism: LGBT
- 21. They share the air: COHOSTS
- 25. Escort, slangily: USH
- 26. Some air pollution: SOOT
- 27. Plague, with "at": GNAW
- 28. 1971 documentary about Ravi Shankar: RAGA
- 29. Bridge sitter?: EYEGLASSES
- 30. Relative of a throw: AREARUG
- 31. Audibly floored: AGASP
- 35. Convenience partly obviated by banking apps: ATM
- 36. "Got me now?": SEE
- 37. Align: TRUE
- 38. Texting button: SEND
- 40. Darer's cry: DOIT
- 44. Born on the bayou?: NEE
- 45. Cause for a rescheduling: RAINOUT
- 50. Insignificant person: SNIP
- 51. "The choice of a new generation" sloganeer, once: PEPSI
- 52. Challenges for future counsel, in brief: LSATS
- 53. Bajillions of years: AEONS
- 54. Fly holder: PANTS
- 57. Harbinger: OMEN
- 58. Speck: MOTE
- 59. Isao in the Golf Hall of Fame: AOKI
- 60. Head of staff?: CLEF
- 61. Align: SYNC
- 63. "Law & Order" spinoff, familiarly: SVU
- 64. "Huh, never would've figured": GEE
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.