NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for April 21, 2017
Friday, April 21, 2017
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, April 21, 2017. 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
- 11
- 23
- 49
Down clues & answers
- 11
- 28
- 45
- 46
- 54
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Thursday, April 20, 2017
across
- 1. Departed: AWAY
- 5. Unwavering: SOLID
- 10. Feuding: ATIT
- 14. Economy, for one: SIZE
- 15. Active volcano feature: PLUME
- 16. Chew toy alternative: BONE
- 17. Responsibility: ONUS
- 18. Pie chart features: RADII
- 19. Go here and there: ROVE
- 20. Why Japanese tipplers anticipate the afterlife?: FORHEAVENSSAKE
- 23. Columbia, e.g.: IVY
- 24. Halfway through a stage routine: MIDACT
- 26. Power and economic development corp. started in 1933: TVA
- 27. Scratch: MAR
- 30. Page 1, 3 or 5, usually: RECTO
- 31. Pound on some Mexican food?: WHACKAMOLE
- 34. Back talk: LIP
- 35. The Rolling Stones' "___ a Rainbow": SHES
- 36. Suffuse: IMBUE
- 37. Excepting: SAVE
- 38. Brooch: PIN
- 39. "I didn't know you disliked shiny fabrics!," e.g.?: LAMEEXCUSE
- 41. "And thereby hangs ___": "As You Like It": ATALE
- 43. "___ longa, vita brevis": ARS
- 44. Designation for U.K. vessels: HMS
- 45. Not forget: RETAIN
- 47. Track transaction: BET
- 48. Quick trip to pick up white zinfandel and blush?: RUNFORTHEROSES
- 55. Strengthen: GIRD
- 56. "Travel is ___ to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness": Twain: FATAL
- 57. It's a drag: TOKE
- 58. Sports org. headquartered in Indianapolis: NCAA
- 59. Sight in Micronesia: ATOLL
- 60. Antihero of "A Clockwork Orange": ALEX
- 61. Influence for Enya, historically: CELT
- 62. Function for a buffalo hide: TEPEE
- 63. Lacking a purpose in life: LOST
down
- 1. Starting: ASOF
- 2. Overindulging sort: WINO
- 3. France's Côte d'___: AZUR
- 4. Places to study the Talmud: YESHIVAS
- 5. Many an insect repellent: SPRAY
- 6. Name of five Norwegian kings: OLAV
- 7. Certain trank: LUDE
- 8. Poker declaration: IMIN
- 9. Something many Founding Fathers believed in: DEISM
- 10. Wear down: ABRADE
- 11. Went to night school, maybe: TOOKACLASS
- 12. Words meant to hurt: INVECTIVE
- 13. One of a group of 18: TEE
- 21. Emergency procedure, briefly: EVAC
- 22. Courtly term of address: SIRE
- 25. Emulate a 2-Down: TOPE
- 26. 1952 Bernard Malamud novel made into a hit 1984 movie: THENATURAL
- 27. Start of many an Italian pizzeria name: MAMMA
- 28. Organic jewelry material: AMBER
- 29. Libertines: ROUES
- 31. One side of China?: WHITERICE
- 32. Soul maker: KIA
- 33. Law of ancient times: LEX
- 35. It's often rigged: SPAR
- 37. Entirety: SUMTOTAL
- 39. Eric's seafaring son: LEIF
- 40. The Goddess of Pop: CHER
- 42. Reach by air: LANDAT
- 46. Property of skim milk: NOFAT
- 47. Beauty in "Beauty and the Beast": BELLE
- 49. Compare, in a way: RATE
- 50. Corvette feature: TTOP
- 51. Fit: HALE
- 52. Alone: SOLO
- 53. Stretches (out): EKES
- 54. Blue note?: SEXT
- 55. Vitamin and supplement retailer: GNC
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.