NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for May 24, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Tuesday, May 24, 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
- 26
- 41
- 49
Down clues & answers
- 48
- 51
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Monday, May 23, 2016
across
- 1. ___ browns (breakfast order): HASH
- 5. Golf target: HOLE
- 9. Where "they tried to make me go," in an Amy Winehouse hit: REHAB
- 14. Red Muppet on "Sesame Street": ELMO
- 15. Last word of grace: AMEN
- 16. Wear away, as soil: ERODE
- 17. Defeat decisively: ROUT
- 18. ___ Payne, One Direction heartthrob: LIAM
- 19. Turn on one foot, in basketball: PIVOT
- 20. One being laughed at: BUTTOFTHEJOKE
- 23. "A Nightmare on ___ Street": ELM
- 24. "Help!," at sea: SOS
- 25. Cheese-loving pest: RAT
- 28. Where Mom or Dad sits at dinner: HEADOFTHETABLE
- 33. "___ sells" (advertising maxim): SEX
- 34. Take to the skies: SOAR
- 35. Not walk completely upright: STOOP
- 36. Mama's mate: PAPA
- 38. Org. co-founded by W. E. B. Du Bois: NAACP
- 41. When doubled, a Hawaiian fish: MAHI
- 42. Each and ___: EVERY
- 44. Place after win and place: SHOW
- 46. Totally cool: RAD
- 47. Locale: NECKOFTHEWOODS
- 51. Building blaster, for short: TNT
- 52. R&B's ___ Hill: DRU
- 53. Cub Scout unit: DEN
- 54. Where it's calmest in a hurricane: EYEOFTHESTORM
- 61. Part of a bicycle or loom: PEDAL
- 63. An hour before office closing time, maybe: FOUR
- 64. Cookie in cookies-and-cream ice cream: OREO
- 65. Actress Berry: HALLE
- 66. Brink: EDGE
- 67. Space race competitor, for short: USSR
- 68. Clothesline alternative: DRYER
- 69. Word that follows steel, open or pigeon: TOED
- 70. Boring way to learn: ROTE
down
- 1. Oregano, for one: HERB
- 2. Baseball's Felipe: ALOU
- 3. Filth: SMUT
- 4. Good drink for a sore throat: HOTTEA
- 5. First or last quarter in the lunar cycle: HALFMOON
- 6. Exclude: OMIT
- 7. Jacob's wife: LEAH
- 8. Catch in a net: ENMESH
- 9. Shares on Facebook, maybe: REPOSTS
- 10. "The Phantom of the Opera" lead role: ERIK
- 11. Futuristic mode of transportation in the "Back to the Future" films: HOVERBOARD
- 12. Big fuss: ADO
- 13. Wager: BET
- 21. Early automaker Ransom E. ___: OLDS
- 22. "Average" guy: JOE
- 26. Greetings in Honolulu: ALOHAS
- 27. Lukewarm: TEPID
- 28. What's beyond the Pearly Gates: HEAVEN
- 29. As predicted: EXPECTEDLY
- 30. Flight watchdog org.: FAA
- 31. Get rid of: TRASH
- 32. Cash dispenser, briefly: ATM
- 33. Exhausted: SPENT
- 37. Animal house?: ARK
- 39. Guerrilla Guevara: CHE
- 40. Like some doughnuts and wigs: POWDERED
- 43. One calling from a Swiss mountaintop: YODELER
- 45. Troubles: WOES
- 48. Questlove's hairdo, for short: FRO
- 49. Nursery rhyme seat: TUFFET
- 50. Doing concerts here and there: ONTOUR
- 55. Connecticut Ivy: YALE
- 56. Kind of list: TODO
- 57. Ginormous: HUGE
- 58. Approximately: ORSO
- 59. Slumber: REST
- 60. "Encore!": MORE
- 61. Prof's degree: PHD
- 62. Corn unit: EAR
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.