NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for December 11, 2016
Sunday, December 11, 2016
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Sunday, December 11, 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
- 24
- 31
- 57
- 70
- 87
- 88
- 102
- 106
- 115
- 119
- 120
Down clues & answers
- 19
- 22
- 41
- 44
- 47
- 52
- 60
- 61
- 63
- 66
- 76
- 81
- 94
- 100
- 101
- 105
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Saturday, December 10, 2016
across
- 1. "Summer's joys are ___ by use": Keats: SPOILT
- 7. Bugaboos: PETHATES
- 15. Play with an imaginary friend: HARVEY
- 16. Leader in a suit?: EXHIBITA
- 17. Elvira's love, in opera: ERNANI
- 18. Sicilian Italian and others: DIALECTS
- 19. Rub elbows with, say: STANDNEXTTO
- 21. More than staggers: KOS
- 22. Setting for many a political rally: GYM
- 23. Film set schlepper: GRIP
- 24. Just: MERE
- 25. Extremely endomorphic: OBESE
- 28. Three sheets to the wind: SNOCKERED
- 31. Ambassador sent by the Vatican: NUNCIO
- 33. Crow: GLOAT
- 34. Gallery habitué: ESTHETE
- 36. Comedian who voiced the lead in "The Secret Life of Pets": LOUISCK
- 40. Analogue of Lot's wife in Greek mythology: NIOBE
- 42. Sri ___: LANKAN
- 43. Runner-up to "Baby Got Back" on VH1's "40 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '90s": IMTOOSEXY
- 47. "Go ahead, you got me": IGIVE
- 48. "And a Voice to Sing With" memoirist: BAEZ
- 49. "JAG" spinoff: NCIS
- 51. A.L. West team, on scoreboards: LAA
- 52. Masthead listing, for short: EDS
- 53. Certain choke in wrestling: SLEEPERHOLD
- 57. Pay off gradually: AMORTIZE
- 59. Tour schlepper: ROADIE
- 60. Like Robinson Crusoe: MAROONED
- 61. Justice who wrote the unanimous decision in United States v. Nixon: BURGER
- 62. Spies: SNOOPERS
- 63. Directs (to): STEERS
down
- 1. Hall & Oates hit that asks "What went wrong?": SHESGONE
- 2. It rocks as it rolls: PARTYBUS
- 3. Holiday ball: ORNAMENT
- 4. The middle Karamazov brother: IVAN
- 5. Impart: LEND
- 6. Getting even with: TYING
- 7. Sign of the cross?: PEDXING
- 8. Election night news: EXITPOLL
- 9. "So ___ happened": THAT
- 10. U.S. city whose name looks like a form of poker: HILO
- 11. Prime minister who helped his country land the 2020 Summer Olympics: ABE
- 12. Crawl on CNBC: TICKER
- 13. Automotive pioneer Bugatti: ETTORE
- 14. Got lippy with: SASSED
- 20. Medevac destinations, informally: ERS
- 24. Apportioning: METING
- 26. Beak: SCHNOZ
- 27. Trailer for farm animals?: EIEIO
- 29. Dissipate, as ardor: COOL
- 30. Island home to the Sleeping Giant mountain: KAUAI
- 32. Plains tribe: OTOS
- 35. ___ Baptist Church, where M.L.K. Sr. and Jr. preached: EBENEZER
- 37. Where you might warm up after a run: SKILODGE
- 38. Supercilious: CAVALIER
- 39. Workers making lots of dough?: KNEADERS
- 41. Tops: EXCEEDS
- 43. Building supports: IBEAMS
- 44. Gogol's Aksenty Poprishchin, per the title: MADMAN
- 45. San Antonio-based refinery giant that acquired Arco in 2013: TESORO
- 46. Little bark: YIP
- 50. Spenders of 100-dinar notes depicting Nikola Tesla: SERBS
- 53. Subway ___: STOP
- 54. Subway ___: LINE
- 55. Blowout: ROUT
- 56. Fast runner: HARE
- 58. Baby boomer, e.g., in Aussie slang: ROO
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.