NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for December 5, 2017
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Tuesday, December 5, 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
- 60
- 66
Down clues & answers
- 13
- 24
- 49
- 56
- 58
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Monday, December 4, 2017
across
- 1. Falafel holders: PITAS
- 6. Piano technician: TUNER
- 11. Start of a countdown: TEN
- 14. Food-spoiling bacterium: ECOLI
- 15. "Remember the ___!": ALAMO
- 16. Party card game: UNO
- 17. "Tell me the rumors are false!": SAYITAINTSO
- 19. Kook: NUT
- 20. Revolutionary Guevara: CHE
- 21. Some HDTVs: RCAS
- 22. Glowing part of a fire: FLAME
- 24. Comprehensive, as a report: INDEPTH
- 27. Put an end to: CEASE
- 28. 2000 Kevin Spacey/Helen Hunt film: PAYITFORWARD
- 32. Sounding congested: NASAL
- 35. Smash into: RAM
- 36. Leave rolling in the aisles: SLAY
- 37. Approximation: Abbr.: EST
- 38. Oscar-nominated Enya song from 2001's "The Lord of the Rings": MAYITBE
- 42. Was out to lunch?: ATE
- 43. Apple tablet: IPAD
- 45. Dog doc: VET
- 46. Helped out: AIDED
- 48. Offer effusive praise: LAYITONTHICK
- 52. Poe poem that starts "Once upon a midnight dreary," with "The": RAVEN
- 53. Long to have: ACHEFOR
- 57. Capital of Oregon: SALEM
- 58. Sweetie pie: BABE
- 60. "That ___ lie!": ISA
- 61. Get older: AGE
- 62. Improvise: PLAYITBYEAR
- 66. California's Big ___: SUR
- 67. Sign on a boardinghouse window: TOLET
- 68. Cowboys' home: RANGE
- 69. D.D.E.'s predecessor: HST
- 70. Cheese with holes: SWISS
- 71. Actress Winona of "Stranger Things": RYDER
down
- 1. Actor Joe of "My Cousin Vinny": PESCI
- 2. Corporate raider Carl: ICAHN
- 3. Trifled (with): TOYED
- 4. Three-time Frazier foe: ALI
- 5. Take a load off: SIT
- 6. Chinese martial art: TAICHI
- 7. Neighbor of the radius: ULNA
- 8. Yanks : New York :: ___ : Washington: NATS
- 9. Letters on an ambulance: EMS
- 10. One whose work is on the house?: ROOFER
- 11. Popular sandwich order: TUNASALAD
- 12. Make a list of: ENUMERATE
- 13. Do, re or mi: NOTE
- 18. Pretentiously showy: ARTY
- 23. Clean Air Act and others: LAWS
- 25. Clean Air Act org.: EPA
- 26. It may be read by a psychic: PALM
- 27. Grooming implement: COMB
- 29. Travis of country music: TRITT
- 30. Liposuction target: FAT
- 31. Not naturally red-haired, e.g.: DYED
- 32. Singer Diamond or Young: NEIL
- 33. Spears at the dinner table: ASPARAGUS
- 34. "Keep your eyes open!": STAYALERT
- 39. Stratford-upon-___: AVON
- 40. Hankering: YEN
- 41. Per person: EACH
- 44. Drop precipitously: DIVE
- 47. D.D.E., familiarly: IKE
- 49. Lures: TEMPTS
- 50. Bad ones are hard to break: HABITS
- 51. Rapper-turned-TV actor: ICET
- 54. Wicked one: FIEND
- 55. ___ orange: OSAGE
- 56. Harder to find: RARER
- 57. Pageant wrap: SASH
- 58. Indonesian tourist destination: BALI
- 59. Naval agreements?: AYES
- 63. Like a pitch between the ankles and knees: LOW
- 64. "It's f-f-freezing!": BRR
- 65. "Yippee!": YAY
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.