NYT Crossword · The New York Times
The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for July 20, 2018
Friday, July 20, 2018
By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated How we make hints
This archive page covers the The Crossword from Friday, July 20, 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
Down clues & answers
- 26
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Previous The Crossword answer
Thursday, July 19, 2018
across
- 1. Christmastime purchases: FIRS
- 5. Vessel that's 1% full?: YACHT
- 10. American ally in W.W. II: USSR
- 14. Twist someone's words, say?: EDIT
- 15. God, to many: ALLAH
- 16. ___ Minderbinder, lieutenant in "Catch-22": MILO
- 17. What the answers to the six starred clues follow, as hinted at by 66-Across: SECRETCODE
- 19. Old PalmPilot products, in brief: PDAS
- 20. Sauce for falafels: TAHINI
- 21. Lucy's bandleader husband: DESI
- 23. *Firework that doesn't work: EVE
- 24. *Crafts site: FUTZ
- 26. Something said to smell sweet: SUCCESS
- 28. Neighbor of a Montanan: ALBERTAN
- 32. Soft ball material: NERF
- 33. Short, for short: LIL
- 34. Poet who wrote "Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity": ELIOT
- 36. *Contemptuous smile: TOFFS
- 39. 1847 novel partly set on a whaler: OMOO
- 41. Western New York Iroquois: ERIES
- 43. Slightest protest: PEEP
- 44. *Military vehicles: UBOLT
- 46. Upright: ERECT
- 48. Windy City rail org.: CTA
- 49. Places to hibernate: DENS
- 51. Chunnel train: EUROSTAR
- 53. Page designs: LAYOUTS
- 56. *Resistance units: PINT
- 57. *Shakespearean prince: IBM
- 58. Adds (up): TOTS
- 60. Short, for one: MARTIN
- 64. Opposite of plummet: SOAR
- 66. Cry from behind a counter: NEXTPLEASE
- 68. Unadulterated: PURE
- 69. Woman's name that sounds like two letters of the alphabet: ELSIE
- 70. She: Sp.: ELLA
- 71. Band with the top 10 hits "Lady" and "Babe": STYX
- 72. Participated in a bee: SEWED
- 73. Look (into): PEER
down
- 1. Ending with song or slug: FEST
- 2. "You have no ___": IDEA
- 3. Worth a great deal: RICH
- 4. Conflict: STRIFE
- 5. First N.F.L. player on the cover of Sports Illustrated: YATITTLE
- 6. Wine label abbr.: ALC
- 7. Lump: CLOD
- 8. He was accompanied by the guard dog Cerberus: HADES
- 9. Biggest-selling newspaper in England: THESUN
- 10. First, second or third person: UMP
- 11. Unintended consequence: SIDEEFFECT
- 12. Major European ethnic group: SLAVS
- 13. What Moses supposes his toeses are, in an old verse: ROSES
- 18. Harden: ENURE
- 22. Rapper with the 1999 album "The Seventh Deadly Sin": ICET
- 25. Where Ali won his 1974 world heavyweight title: ZAIRE
- 27. Trim: CROP
- 28. Surname of three baseball brothers: ALOU
- 29. Arm: LIMB
- 30. Vodka and tomato juice cocktail: BLOODYMARY
- 31. Like la nuit: NOIRE
- 35. Prepare to drive: TEEUP
- 37. Greek salad ingredient: FETA
- 38. Not fight seriously: SPAR
- 40. Margarine: OLEO
- 42. Economized: SCRIMPED
- 45. Flush fastener: TNUT
- 47. Like the Vietnamese language: TONAL
- 50. Old Beatles rival, with "the": STONES
- 52. 17-time Best Actress nominee: STREEP
- 53. Targets for speech therapists: LISPS
- 54. Approximately: ABOUT
- 55. Many an ancient tombstone: STELE
- 59. Annual Austin media event, informally: SXSW
- 61. Whodunit, e.g.: TALE
- 62. It may be surrounded by beaches: ISLE
- 63. Approximately: NEAR
- 65. Alternative to Bowser: REX
- 67. Word with tongue or twist: TIE
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.