NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for March 23, 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, March 23, 2018. 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
- 14
- 61
Down clues & answers
- 1
- 11
- 12
- 44
- 47
Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.
Previous The Crossword answer
Thursday, March 22, 2018
across
- 1. Falling-out: RIFT
- 5. Mold: SHAPE
- 10. ___ Nair, "Mississippi Masala" director: MIRA
- 14. Lake tribe: ERIE
- 15. Mann of pop: AIMEE
- 16. Big 12 college town: AMES
- 17. One with a lot of likes?: VALLEYGIRL
- 19. Yukons and Envoys: GMCS
- 20. Thyme piece?: SILENTH
- 21. Cheddar: MOOLA
- 22. Employ: USE
- 23. One with a lot of tweets?: ROCKINROBIN
- 27. Kind of dish: PETRI
- 29. Round after the Elite Eight: SEMIS
- 30. Dutch financial giant: ING
- 31. Blue Devils' grp.: ACC
- 33. Jim's wife on "The Office": PAM
- 34. Elation: GLEE
- 35. One with a lot of shares?: MAJORITYOWNER
- 39. Weekly reading for drs.: JAMA
- 40. Techno is a subgenre of it, for short: EDM
- 41. ___ big: YEA
- 42. Some words from an admirer: ODE
- 43. ___ Lama: DALAI
- 45. A walk is not counted as one: ATBAT
- 49. One with a lot of posts?: FENCEMENDER
- 52. Org. established during Nixon's presidency: EPA
- 53. Aid for a search-and-rescue team: FLARE
- 54. Local, in a news article: AREAMAN
- 56. Where "Tosca" is set: ROME
- 57. One with a lot of followers?: MOTHERDUCK
- 60. Times when you might have trouble sleeping: EVES
- 61. Kind of committee: ADHOC
- 62. Athlete posthumously awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom: ASHE
- 63. Urges: YENS
- 64. Relative of "exempli gratia": IDEST
- 65. Happy hour order: BEER
down
- 1. Gets going: REVSUP
- 2. Poker table declaration: IRAISE
- 3. Salmon cut: FILLET
- 4. Prompter or printer lead-in: TELE
- 5. Tell: SAYTO
- 6. Hard-to-hit pitches: HIGHCS
- 7. "___ crazy?": AMI
- 8. What "/" might signify: PER
- 9. ___ sauce (sushi condiment): EEL
- 10. Master of the cartoon dog McBarker: MAGOO
- 11. Stock-still: IMMOBILE
- 12. La-Z-Boy offering: RECLINER
- 13. WikiLeaks founder: ASSANGE
- 18. "Lucia di Lammermoor" baritone: ENRICO
- 21. Wifey, with "the": MRS
- 24. Gigolo: KEPTMAN
- 25. "It's a possibility for me": IMAY
- 26. "I Am Not Spock" memoirist ... who then wrote "I Am Spock" 20 years later: NIMOY
- 28. Indian prince: RAJA
- 32. Smash: CREAM
- 34. Little irritant: GNAT
- 35. Was physically intimate: MADELOVE
- 36. "You tell it, preacher!": AMENAMEN
- 37. Unused: IDLE
- 38. One with something on: WEARER
- 39. Boy king on "Game of Thrones": JOFFREY
- 43. Actor Billy ___ Williams: DEE
- 44. Certain potatoes: IDAHOS
- 46. Baffle: BEMUSE
- 47. Geronimo's people: APACHE
- 48. Exxon Valdez, e.g.: TANKER
- 50. Salad green: CRESS
- 51. Put up: ERECT
- 55. Not much, as of lotion: ADAB
- 57. Final full month before été begins: MAI
- 58. Not quite right: ODD
- 59. Not just a: THE
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.