NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for May 3, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Tuesday, May 3, 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
- 16
- 18
- 31
- 33
- 46
- 59
- 64
Down clues & answers
- 11
- 45
- 48
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Monday, May 2, 2016
across
- 1. Coke rival: PEPSI
- 6. Popular hairstyle in the 1960s: AFRO
- 10. "No ifs, ___ ...": ANDS
- 14. Birdlike: AVIAN
- 15. Next year's jr.: SOPH
- 16. Wife of Jacob: LEAH
- 17. Electric car maker: TESLA
- 18. 8:00-11:00 p.m., TV-wise: PRIMETIME
- 20. Anticipate: AWAIT
- 22. Actress Strahovski of "Dexter" and "Chuck": YVONNE
- 23. ABAB in a poem, e.g.: RHYMESCHEME
- 27. Tax form ID: SSN
- 28. Superiors of sarges: LOOIES
- 29. Wildcat with tufted ears: LYNX
- 31. "So gross!": EWW
- 32. D-E-A-D dead: KAPUT
- 35. Harmonizes, informally: SYNCS
- 39. Large or extra-large: SIZE
- 41. Copycat's comment ... or, phonetically, a hint to this puzzle's theme: METOO
- 43. Émile of the Dreyfus Affair: ZOLA
- 44. Mattress brand: SEALY
- 46. "Thanks," in Deutschland: DANKE
- 48. Letter between sigma and upsilon: TAU
- 49. Roman marketplaces: FORA
- 51. Breaks off a romantic relationship: ENDSIT
- 53. Lawyers' org.: ABA
- 56. Greeting to a returning soldier, maybe: WELCOMEHOME
- 59. V.I.P.: BIGWIG
- 61. Coffee shop lure: AROMA
- 62. What a finger-pointer "plays": BLAMEGAME
- 64. Robbery at a police station, e.g.: IRONY
- 68. Abbr. in a footnote: IBID
- 69. Prefix with -logical: IDEO
- 70. Roast host: EMCEE
- 71. Many millennia: EONS
- 72. Those, in Mexico: ESOS
- 73. One side of a Faustian bargain: SATAN
down
- 1. Butter serving: PAT
- 2. Night before a holiday: EVE
- 3. Detectives, for short: PIS
- 4. Deli meat: SALAMI
- 5. Seven days from now: INAWEEK
- 6. Savory jelly: ASPIC
- 7. "... and so on and so ___": FORTH
- 8. Sch. in Troy, N.Y.: RPI
- 9. "Good heavens!": OHMYMY
- 10. Choir voice: ALTO
- 11. Dresden denials: NEINS
- 12. Curses: DAMNS
- 13. Luster: SHEEN
- 19. Odds' opposite: EVENS
- 21. Indian state known for its tea and silk: ASSAM
- 23. Like non-oyster months: RLESS
- 24. Comic Mandel: HOWIE
- 25. "Holy moly!": YOWZA
- 26. John who sang "Philadelphia Freedom": ELTON
- 30. End run of the alphabet: XYZ
- 33. Power a bike: PEDAL
- 34. Tony winner Hagen: UTA
- 36. "On the contrary!": NOTSO
- 37. Demand by right: CLAIM
- 38. Pan-frying instruction: SAUTE
- 40. Santa's little helper: ELF
- 42. Vermont skiing destination: OKEMO
- 45. "Ouch, that hurts!": YOWIE
- 47. All the people attacking you: ENEMIES
- 50. Jackson who was on five World Series-winning teams in the 1970s: REGGIE
- 52. Cosmic order, in Buddhism: DHARMA
- 53. Hoffman of 1960s radicalism: ABBIE
- 54. "The Hobbit" hero Baggins: BILBO
- 55. Once more: AGAIN
- 57. One of many Hitchcock appearances in his own films: CAMEO
- 58. Sandwich cookies now sold by Mondelez: OREOS
- 60. Iraq war concerns, for short: WMDS
- 63. Commercials: ADS
- 65. Halloween mo.: OCT
- 66. Teachers' org.: NEA
- 67. Tokyo currency: YEN
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.