Themed answers are all synonyms of “ECONOMIZING”. Also, the themed answers reference particular elements in the grid:
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Become hysterical, with “out” : WIG …
The idea behind the expression “to wig out”, meaning “to go crazy”, is that there is so much going on in your brain that it might “lift your hair/wig”.
8 Restaurant competitor of Pinkberry and Sweet Frog : TCBY
TCBY is a chain of stores selling frozen yogurt that was founded in 1981 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The acronym TCBY originally stood for “This Can’t Be Yogurt”, but this had to be changed due to a lawsuit being pressed by a competitor called “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt”. These days TCBY stands for “The Country’s Best Yogurt”.
17 Where dancers have a ball? : DISCO
Discotheques first appeared during WWII in Occupied France. American-style music (like jazz and jitterbug dances) was banned by the Nazis, so French natives met in underground clubs that they called discotheques where records were often played on just a single turntable. After the war, these clubs came out into the open. One famous Paris discotheque was called “Whiskey a Gogo”. In that Paris disco, non-stop music was played using two turntables next to a dance-floor, and this concept spread around the world.
18 McFlurry mix-in : OREO
A McFlurry is an ice cream dessert served in McDonald’s restaurants. A McFlurry is made from soft-serve ice cream, to which are added crushed candy bars or cookies. Cleverly, a McFlurry is mixed on a machine with the mixing blade then doubling as a spoon with which one eats it.
19 Furniture giant : IKEA
The IKEA furniture stores use the colors blue and yellow for brand recognition. Blue and yellow are the national colors of Sweden, where IKEA was founded and is headquartered.
20 Bad flight forecast : SLEET
Apparently, “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets that are smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.
29 WhatsApp transmissions, briefly : IMS
WhatsApp is a popular messaging service used on smartphones that sends messages and other files from one mobile phone number to another. Launched in 2011, WhatsApp is incredibly popular, and indeed the most popular messaging service used today. Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, paying over $19 billion.
33 Sean of “Stranger Things” : ASTIN
Sean Astin is best known for playing the title role in the 1993 film “Rudy” and the character Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings” movies. You might also have seen him playing Lynn McGill in the 5th season of “24”. Astin is the son of actress Patty Duke, and the adopted son of actor John Astin (of “The Addams Family” fame).
34 Part of an M.C.’s intro, often : BIO
The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.
36 Prohibition target : DEMON RUM
The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution was a great victory for the temperance movement (the “dry” movement), and in 1919 ushered in the Prohibition era. Highly unpopular (with the “wet” movement), Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.
40 Economizing, as represented twice in 12-Down? : PINCHING PENNIES (pinching two “CENT”s)
The official name of our smallest denomination coin is “cent”, and our use of the word “penny” is just a colloquialism derived from the British coin of the same name. In the UK, the plural of penny is “pence”, whereas we have “pennies” in our pockets.
45 “The Crown” role : DIANA
“The Crown” is a historical drama produced for Netflix that covers the life of British Queen Elizabeth II from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For the first two seasons, Elizabeth is played by Claire Foy and Philip by Matt Smith. For the next two seasons, Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over as Elizabeth and Philip. The show finishes up with Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce in the roles.
47 Offering from Dr. Mom, in brief : TLC
Tender loving care (TLC)
48 Senior partners? : PROM DATES
A prom is a formal dance held upon graduation from high school (we call them “formals” over in Ireland). The term “prom” is short for “promenade”, the name given to a type of dance or ball.
50 ___ Hill, neighborhood of San Francisco : NOB
Nob Hill is a very elevated and central location in the city of San Francisco. Because of its views of the surrounding city and environs, Nob Hill became a desirable place to live for the wealthy in the 1800s. The area is still one of San Francisco’s most affluent neighborhoods and is home to upscale hotels as well as the magnificent Grace Cathedral. The name “Nob Hill” comes from the slang term for someone who is well-to-do, a “nob”.
51 Bussing on a bus, for short : PDA
Public display of affection (PDA)
To buss is to kiss.
54 Memorable mission : ALAMO
The San Antonio mission known as the Alamo may have been named for a grove of nearby cottonwood trees. “Álamo” is the Spanish name for the cottonwood.
64 Scrapbooker’s project : ALBUM
The Latin word “album” translates as “white”. Back in the 17th century, public notices and lists of names were written on a board painted white, or in a souvenir book with white pages known as an “albo” (from “album”). Over time, the term “album” came to be used in English for a blank book created to collect signatures or other mementos. By the end of the 19th century, albums were used to collect photographs. The term “album” was applied to long-playing gramophone records in the early 1950s, because the record sleeves resembled large photographic albums.
69 Shield of ancient Greece: Var. : EGIS
Someone is said to be under the aegis (also “egis”) of someone else if that other person provides protection, or perhaps sponsorship. The word “aegis” comes from the Greek word for a goat (“aigis”). The idea is that the goatskin shield or breastplate, worn by both Zeus and Athena, gave some measure of protection.
73 Manhattan is one: Abbr. : ISL
The island we know as Manhattan was inhabited by the Lenape Indians when the first Europeans explorers arrived in the area. According to the logbook of one of the officers on explorer Henry Hudson’s yacht, the island was called “Manna-hata” in the local language, from which the modern name derives.
83 Fencer’s score : TOUCH
The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.
87 Confidentiality contract, for short : NDA
Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
91 Cellist’s need : ROSIN
Rosin is a solid form of resin derived from plant sources. Rosin is formed into cakes that players of stringed instruments use to rub along the hairs of their bows to help improve sound quality. The rosin increases the degree of friction between the strings and the bow. That same friction-increasing property comes into play when baseball pitchers use rosin to get a better grip on the ball, or when dancers apply rosin to the soles of their shoes.
94 Economizing, as represented in 58-Down? : STRETCHING A BUCK (stretching a “SINGLE”)
[58D Not in a relationship : SINGLE]
“Buck” is a slang word meaning “dollar”. The term has been around at least since 1856, and is thought to derive from the tradition of using buckskin as a unit of trade with Native Americans during the frontier days.
99 Unwelcome, so to speak : NON GRATA
A persona non grata (plural “personae non gratae”) is someone who is not welcome. The phrase is Latin for “an unacceptable person”. The opposite phrase is “persona grata”, meaning “acceptable person”.
103 Like some modern maps : GENOMIC
The genome is all the hereditary information needed to reproduce an organism, in other words, all of its chromosomes. When scientists unravel the human genome, it takes up an awful lot of computer storage space, and yet all of this information is in almost every cell in our bodies. Each and every cell “knows” how to make a whole human being.
105 Golfer Palmer, to fans : ARNIE
Arnold Palmer was one of the greats of the world of golf. He was very popular with many fans of the game, and his followers were usually referred to as “Arnie’s Army”. Off the course, Palmer was an avid pilot until his latter years. He resided in Latrobe, Pennsylvania for much of the year and the local airport is named in his honor: Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.
106 A/C meas. : BTU
In the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), the power of a heating or cooling unit can be measured using the British Thermal Unit (BTU). This dated unit is the amount of energy required to heat a pound of water so that the water’s temperature increases by one degree Fahrenheit.
109 “The Planets” composer : HOLST
Despite the Scandinavian-sounding name, Gustav Holst was born in Britain and was the most English of classical composers. His most famous work is the orchestral suite known as ‘The Planets”. The suite has seven movements, one for each of the planets known at the time (1914-1916) except Earth. Pluto was discovered during Holst’s lifetime, but decades after he had completed his masterpiece. Anyway, Pluto was relegated from the league of planets …
116 Ditto, in legal footnotes : IDEM
“Idem” is usually abbreviated as “id.” and is the Latin word for “the same”. In research papers, “idem” is used in a list of references, in place of citations “already mentioned above”.
118 Word that means “ocean” in a religious title : DALAI
The Dalai Lama is a religious leader in the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th to hold the office. He has indicated that the next Dalai Lama might be found outside of Tibet for the first time, and may even be female.
119 Large crowd : HORDE
A horde is a large crowd. “Horde” ultimately derives from the Turkish “ordu” meaning “camp, army”.
122 Classical poem : EPODE
An epode is a lyric poem made up of couplets in which the first line is long, and the second line much shorter. The form was invented by the Greek poet Archilochus, and was most famously used by the Roman poet Horace.
123 Beast with recurved horns : IBEX
“Ibex” is a common name for various species of mountain goat. “Ibex” is a Latin name that was used for wild goats found in the Alps and Apennines in Europe.
127 Smokey spot, for short : PSA
Public service announcement (PSA)
Smokey Bear is the mascot of the US Forest Service. Smokey first appeared in 1944, in an advertising campaign directed towards preventing forest fires.
Down
2 “How ___ Your Mother” : I MET
“How I Met Your Mother” is a sitcom that CBS has been airing since 2005. The main character is Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. Mosby is also the narrator for the show looking back from the year 2030 (the live action is set in the present). As narrator, the older Mosby character is voiced by Bob Saget.
4 Some garlic prep : MINCING
Our word “garlic” evolved via Old English from “gar” (spear) and “leac” (leek). The use of “spear” is apparently a reference to the shape of a clove.
6 Maker of the Nitro 5 gaming laptop : ACER
Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …
7 “The year’s at the spring / And day’s at the ___”: Robert Browning : MORN
Robert Browning met fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett in 1845. Elizabeth was a sickly woman, confined to her parents’ house in Wimpole Street in London, largely due to the conservative and protective nature of her father. Robert and Elizabeth eventually eloped in 1846, and lived in self-inflicted exile in Italy. Away from the country of his birth, Browning was moved to write his now famous “Home Thoughts, From Abroad”, the first line of which is “Oh, to be in England …”
8 Yankees manager before Girardi : TORRE
As a manager, Joe Torre was part of four World Series wins, all of them with the New York Yankees baseball team. Torre is an Italian American who was born in Brooklyn, New York. During the run up (pun intended!) to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Torre carried the Olympic flame part of the way through Florence in Italy, handing it over to the next runner at the famous Ponte Vecchio. I’d guess that was quite a thrill for him …
10 C-note : BEN
Benjamin Franklin’s portrait is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill (also called a “C-spot, C-note, benjamin”), and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous error in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV”. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”, which has been the convention for clock faces for centuries.
13 It helps make a stew a goo : OKRA
The plant known as okra is mainly grown for its edible green pods. The pods are said to resemble “ladies’ fingers”, which is an alternative name for the plant. Okra is known as “ngombo” in Bantu, a name that might give us the word “gumbo”, the name for the name of the southern Louisiana stew that includes okra as a key ingredient.
15 Garnish for una margarita : SAL
No one seems to know for sure who first created the margarita cocktail. The most plausible and oft-quoted is that it was invented in 1941 in Ensenada, Mexico. The barman mixed the drink for an important visitor, the daughter of the German ambassador. The daughter’s name was Margarita Henkel, and she lent her name to the new drink. The basic recipe for a margarita is a mixture of tequila, orange-flavored liqueur (like Cointreau) and lime juice.
20 Poli ___ : SCI
Political science (poli sci)
25 Reply to the Little Red Hen : NOT I
“The Little Red Hen” is an old folk tale, probably from Russia. In the story, the little red hen finds a grain of wheat and asks for help to plant it. “Not I” is the response she gets, repeatedly. She does the work herself, eventually baking bread from the harvested grain. She asks for help in eating the bread, and gets lots of volunteers. But, the hen decides to save the bread for herself and her chicks, seeing as no one would help her plant the wheat in the first place.
32 Cancún cash : PESOS
Cancún is a city and island on the east coast of Mexico, on the other side of the Yucatan Channel from Cuba. The city is growing rapidly due to its booming tourist business. Cancún is the center of what’s often called “The Mexican Caribbean” or the “Mayan Riviera”.
33 Hamburger’s beef? : ACH!
The German exclamation “ach!” is usually translated into English as “oh!”
Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany (after Berlin), and the third largest port in Europe (after Rotterdam and Antwerp).
35 Like some ancient pyramids : INCAN
Inca pyramids were typically located at the center of a community. They were symbolic of power and often had an altar that was used for rituals.
38 Quelques-___ (some, in French) : UNES
Quelques-unes is the feminine form of “some” in French. The masculine version would be “quelques-uns”.
39 Quantity multiplied by acceleration in Newton’s second law : MASS
Newton’s second law of motion tells us that a body accelerates when a force is applied to it, and the greater the mass of the object, the greater the force required to cause that acceleration. Mathematically, the law can be written as Force = mass x acceleration (F=ma).
40 Pioneer in global aviation : PAN AM
Pan American World Airways (usually just “Pan Am”) started out as a mail and passenger service between Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba in 1927. From very early in the company’s life it was the de facto representative air carrier of the United States. For many years, Pan Am’s fleet was built around the Boeing 314 Clipper, a long-range flying boat that was one of the largest aircraft around at the time. Pan Am adopted the Clipper as part of its image, even using “clipper” as the call sign for its flights.
43 Educ. supporter : PTA
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
44 Once-popular devices discontinued in 2022 : IPODS
The iPod is Apple’s discontinued signature line of portable media players. The iPod first hit the market in 2001 with a hard drive-based device, now known as the iPod Classic. Later models all used flash memory, allowing a smaller form factor. The smallest of the flash-based models is the iPod Shuffle, which was introduced in 2005.
49 Cousin of a weasel : MARTEN
Martens are weasel-like carnivores with yellowish to dark-brown fur. That fur is relatively thick, and is valued by fur trappers.
55 Farmyard cry : MAA!
“Maa” is the call of a goat.
59 “The Last O.G.” network : TBS
“The Last O.G.” is a sitcom starring Tracy Morgan. Morgan plays the title character, an “original gangster or OG”, who is released from prison after serving 15 years. The ex-con returns to his Brooklyn neighborhood to find it very different, 15 years on. And, his ex-girlfriend is raising his twin children with her husband. I haven’t seen this one, but the premise sounds intriguing …
61 Vile Nile reptile : ASP
The venomous snake called an asp was a symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt.
66 Foreign leader whom Nixon met in 1972 : MAO
President Richard Nixon made a famous visit to China in 1972 that marked a thawing in the relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It was the first time that a US president had visited the PRC, and followed several secret diplomatic missions to Beijing by National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. During the week-long visit, President Nixon had talks with Chairman Mao Zedong, and First Lady Pat Nixon was very visible as she toured schools, hospitals and factories.
70 Kind of knife of infomercial fame : GINSU
Ginsu knives are more famous for their hard-sell television ads than they are for their efficacy in the kitchen. The Ginsu phenomenon took off in the seventies when two brothers found a set of knives called “Eversharp” that were being manufactured in Ohio. The brothers changed the brand name to something more exotic, and Japanese in particular (Ginsu), and then produced ads that made references to Japanese martial arts. I think they made a fortune …
71 Like Urdu or Hindi : INDIC
Urdu is one of the two official languages of Pakistan (the other being English), and is one of the 22 scheduled languages in India. Urdu partly developed from Persian and is written from right to left.
Hindi is one of the two official languages of India, along with English. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world (after Mandarin, Spanish and English).
76 Montana city SW of Helena : BUTTE
The city of Butte, Montana was founded as a mining town in the late 1800s. Although mining brought great growth to the area, it also brought environmental problems. Today, Butte is home to the country’s largest Superfund cleanup site.
78 The main antagonist? : PIRATE SHIP
When one thinks of the word “main”, in the context of the sea, the Spanish Main usually comes to mind. Indeed, the use of the more general term “main” to mean “sea”, originates from the more specific “Spanish Main”. “Spanish Main” originally referred to land and not water, as it was the name given to the mainland coast around the Caribbean Sea in the days of Spanish domination of the region.
80 ___ facto : IPSO
“Ipso facto” is Latin, a phrase meaning “by the fact itself”. It describes something that is a direct consequence of a particular act, as opposed to something that is the result of some subsequent event. For example, my father was born in Dublin and was an Irish citizen, ipso facto. My son was born in California and is an Irish citizen by virtue of being the son of an Irish citizen (i.e. “not” ipso facto).
82 Relish : GUSTO
“Gusto” is an Italian word meaning “taste”. We use it in English in the phrase “with gusto” meaning “with great enjoyment”.
84 Plant whose name derives from Quechua : COCA
The coca plant is native to South America and is similar in appearance to a blackthorn bush. Coca leaves have been chewed by humans for centuries, perhaps even as far back as 3,000 years ago. Chewing the leaves apparently produces a pleasurable numb sensation in the mouth and a pleasant taste. The most famous alkaloid in the leaf is cocaine, but this wasn’t extracted in its pure form until the mid-1800s. The extracted cocaine was used in medicines and tonics and other beverages.
Quechua was the Native-American language adopted by the Incan Empire and favored over other dialects. Today, Quechua is one of the official languages in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, alongside Spanish.
92 Pros with deliveries, in brief : OBS
Obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN)
95 Painter Jan van ___ : EYCK
The artist Jan van Eyck lived most of his life in Bruges, which has to be the most beautiful city in Belgium. One of his most famous works is “The Arnolfini Portrait”, which hangs in the National Gallery in London.
97 Civil rights icon ___ Helen Burroughs : NANNIE
Nannie Helen Burroughs was an African-American civil rights activist and teacher who was active in the first half of the 20th century. Burroughs is remembered for a life spent fighting for civil rights, and in particular for a speech she delivered at the National Baptist Convention in 1900 known as “How the Sisters Are Hindered from Helping”.
104 Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” has five of them : IAMBS
An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The lines in William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” use five sequential iambs, e.g. “Shall I / compare / thee to / a sum- / -mer’s day?” With that sequence of five iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic pentameter.
106 Liberal arts college in Kentucky : BEREA
Berea College is located in Berea, Kentucky, just south of Lexington. It is a remarkable university that is focused on providing a low-cost education to students from low-income families. There are no tuition fees and instead students must work at least ten hours a week on campus and in service jobs. Berea was also the first college in the Southern US to become coeducational and the first to become racially integrated.
107 Locally focused lecture franchise : TEDX
The acronym “TED” stands for “Technology, Entertainment and Design”. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as “TED Talks”. There are also TEDx events, which are locally-run talks presented under license from TED.
108 Pac-12 player : UTE
The Utah Utes are the athletic teams of the University of Utah.
109 Santa’s favorite Hostess dessert? : HO HO
Ho Hos snack cakes were first produced in San Francisco in 1967. The “Happy Ho Ho” mascot was created for the brand in the 1970s, and was a cartoon character in a Robin Hood outfit. Ho Hos weren’t the best thing to come out of the sixties I’d say …
110 Wilson of film : OWEN
Actor Owen Wilson was nominated for an Oscar, but not for his acting. He was nominated for co-writing the screenplay for “The Royal Tenenbaums” along with Wes Anderson.
117 Grammy winner ___ Lipa : DUA
Dua Lipa is a singer-songwriter and fashion model from England. She was born in London to Albanian parents, and considers her native language to be Albanian. She also speaks English with a British accent.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Become hysterical, with “out” : WIG …
4 Elided title : MA’AM
8 Restaurant competitor of Pinkberry and Sweet Frog : TCBY
12 Catchy tunes, informally : BOPS
16 Sigh of lament : AH ME
17 Where dancers have a ball? : DISCO
18 McFlurry mix-in : OREO
19 Furniture giant : IKEA
20 Bad flight forecast : SLEET
21 Reason : INFER
22 Hierarchy level : RUNG
23 Certain U.S. time zone : CENTRAL
24 Economizing, as represented by the circled squares? : CUTTING CORNERS (with a SAW & AXE)
27 “The bad news is …” : I FEAR …
29 WhatsApp transmissions, briefly : IMS
30 Navy nay : NO, SIR
31 Seizes eagerly, as an opportunity : LEAPS ON
33 Sean of “Stranger Things” : ASTIN
34 Part of an M.C.’s intro, often : BIO
36 Prohibition target : DEMON RUM
40 Economizing, as represented twice in 12-Down? : PINCHING PENNIES (pinching two “CENT”s)
45 “The Crown” role : DIANA
46 Colorful kind of shirt : ALOHA
47 Offering from Dr. Mom, in brief : TLC
48 Senior partners? : PROM DATES
50 ___ Hill, neighborhood of San Francisco : NOB
51 Bussing on a bus, for short : PDA
54 Memorable mission : ALAMO
56 “You’ve made your point,” slangily : SAY LESS
57 Lead-in to an opinion : AS I SEE IT …
60 Zip : NADA
62 From not so long ago : RECENT
63 Parts of a gig : MEGS
64 Scrapbooker’s project : ALBUM
67 Honesty, resilience or a sense of humor, perhaps : ASSET
69 Shield of ancient Greece: Var. : EGIS
73 Manhattan is one: Abbr. : ISL
75 Attempt : STAB
77 Work that hasn’t yet entered publication : PREPRINT
79 Little squealer : MINI PIG
83 Fencer’s score : TOUCH
86 Hebrew version of the English pronoun “I” : ANI
87 Confidentiality contract, for short : NDA
88 Welcome event : OPEN HOUSE
90 ___ drag (hockey maneuver) : TOE
91 Cellist’s need : ROSIN
93 In concert : AS ONE
94 Economizing, as represented in 58-Down? : STRETCHING A BUCK (stretching a “SINGLE”)
99 Unwelcome, so to speak : NON GRATA
101 Vote in favor : YEA
102 Trading places : MARTS
103 Like some modern maps : GENOMIC
105 Golfer Palmer, to fans : ARNIE
106 A/C meas. : BTU
109 “The Planets” composer : HOLST
111 Economizing, as represented by the shaded squares? : MAKING ENDS MEET (making “BUM, ASS, CAN, BUTT” meet)
115 Bad-sounding creatures? : FOWL
116 Ditto, in legal footnotes : IDEM
118 Word that means “ocean” in a religious title : DALAI
119 Large crowd : HORDE
120 It’s cried on a slide : WHEE!
121 Check : CURB
122 Classical poem : EPODE
123 Beast with recurved horns : IBEX
124 Triumphant shout at a crossword tournament : DONE!
125 Freshness : SASS
126 Like some morning lawns : DEWY
127 Smokey spot, for short : PSA
Down
1 Sharpens : WHETS
2 “How ___ Your Mother” : I MET
3 Work out : GET IN SHAPE
4 Some garlic prep : MINCING
5 Regarding : AS FOR
6 Maker of the Nitro 5 gaming laptop : ACER
7 “The year’s at the spring / And day’s at the ___”: Robert Browning : MORN
8 Yankees manager before Girardi : TORRE
9 Zealous activist : CRUSADER
10 C-note : BEN
11 Tranquil discipline : YOGISM
12 Former name of a Kansas arena that commemorated a 1976 U.S. anniversary : BICENTENNIAL CENTER
13 It helps make a stew a goo : OKRA
14 Poached fruit : PEAR
15 Garnish for una margarita : SAL
16 Source of many a name on a campus building, informally : ALUM
17 Starts eating : DIGS IN
20 Poli ___ : SCI
25 Reply to the Little Red Hen : NOT I
26 Name hidden in “before long” : ELON
28 It makes a red velvet cake red : FOOD DYE
32 Cancún cash : PESOS
33 Hamburger’s beef? : ACH!
34 Word with pepper or tower : BELL …
35 Like some ancient pyramids : INCAN
37 Acceleration, e.g. : RATE
38 Quelques-___ (some, in French) : UNES
39 Quantity multiplied by acceleration in Newton’s second law : MASS
40 Pioneer in global aviation : PAN AM
41 Words of defeat : I LOSE
42 “Don’t sweat it,” informally : NO BIG
43 Educ. supporter : PTA
44 Once-popular devices discontinued in 2022 : IPODS
49 Cousin of a weasel : MARTEN
52 “What’s the ___?” (“‘Sup with that?”) : DEALIO
53 Suffer : AIL
55 Farmyard cry : MAA!
58 Not in a relationship : SINGLE
59 “The Last O.G.” network : TBS
61 Vile Nile reptile : ASP
65 Out-and-out : UTTER
66 Foreign leader whom Nixon met in 1972 : MAO
68 That’s history! : ERA
70 Kind of knife of infomercial fame : GINSU
71 Like Urdu or Hindi : INDIC
72 Was very ripe : STANK
74 Round figures : SPHERES
76 Montana city SW of Helena : BUTTE
78 The main antagonist? : PIRATE SHIP
79 [Ugh, this is horrible!] : [MOAN!]
80 ___ facto : IPSO
81 Like some highlighter colors : NEON
82 Relish : GUSTO
84 Plant whose name derives from Quechua : COCA
85 Devious snicker : HEH!
89 Barely gets the words out : STAMMERS
92 Pros with deliveries, in brief : OBS
95 Painter Jan van ___ : EYCK
96 “Let’s do this!” : I’M READY!
97 Civil rights icon ___ Helen Burroughs : NANNIE
98 Power structure? : GRID
100 Capers : ANTICS
104 Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” has five of them : IAMBS
105 Beaming, as with joy : AGLOW
106 Liberal arts college in Kentucky : BEREA
107 Locally focused lecture franchise : TEDX
108 Pac-12 player : UTE
109 Santa’s favorite Hostess dessert? : HO HO
110 Wilson of film : OWEN
112 Carded at a bar, informally : ID’ED
113 Common spot for a sunburn : NAPE
114 Gaggles : MOBS
115 Chain email abbr. : FWD
117 Grammy winner ___ Lipa : DUA
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How hard is the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle clue? ›Contrary to popular belief, the Sunday puzzles are midweek difficulty, not the hardest. They're just bigger. A typical Monday clue will be very straightforward and drive you almost directly to the answer.
What is the easiest day of the NYT Crossword? ›In case you didn't know, the daily New York Times Crossword has a difficulty curve as the week goes on. Monday is the easiest puzzle, and then Tuesday is a little harder, climbing up to Saturday, which is the hardest day of the week.
Where are the Sunday Times puzzles? ›The Sunday Times weekly cryptic and concise puzzles are also available free as part of your subscription and can be found in the Brain Power section of the Sunday Times website. Where can I find other Times crosswords, such as the Saturday jumbos and the Listener?
Is there a The Times crossword app? ›Solve the world-renowned Times Crossword, Sudoku and other puzzles with the new puzzle app from The Times and The Sunday Times.
How to get better at the nyt crossword? ›tl;dr: Build on what you've already solved. It's much easier to solve a clue where the answer already has some letters filled in than to try to solve one that's completely blank, so once you have that all-important foothold, go back to those areas and try to expand your solved territory.
What is the most famous NYT crossword? ›Perhaps the most famous is the November 5, 1996, puzzle by Jeremiah Farrell, published on the day of the U.S. presidential election, which has been featured in the movie Wordplay and the book The Crossword Obsession by Coral Amende, as well as discussed by Peter Jennings on ABC News, featured on CNN, and elsewhere.
How much do you get paid for a ny Times crossword puzzle? ›The best known crossword publisher, the New York Times, pays $200 to $300 a puzzle, and $1,000 if you land a coveted Sunday spot (source).
How much does the nyt pay for a Sunday crossword puzzle? ›| Puzzles | Size | Published 1 – 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Monday – Saturday | 15 x 15 | $500 |
| Sunday | 21 x 21 | $1,500 |
Are crosswords good for your brain? ›
Memory and thinking skills may improve with regular crossword practice. A study published in NEJM Evidence found that people with mild memory problems who did web-based crossword puzzles showed improvement in cognition and experienced less brain shrinkage, compared to those who played web-based cognitive games.
How long does it take to solve the nyt crossword? ›Top solvers can complete a Sunday Times crossword, on average, in 8-12 minutes. Ordinary people, of course, can't finish it at all.
What is the average time to finish the nyt crossword? ›The average time it takes to solve the NYT Mini Crossword varies depending on the solver's skill level, familiarity with the puzzle format, and individual solving strategies. For experienced solvers, completing the Mini Crossword can take as little as one to two minutes.
Is there a trick to crossword puzzles? ›Tackle the easiest clues first.
Scan through the clues, and knock out all the easiest ones. Not only will this give your gameplay some structure, but also it'll give you an ego boost! Typically, fill-in-the-blank clues are the easiest. For example: “___ of Oz.”
“ERA” is the most common word in crossword puzzles, as well as “ARE,” “AREA,” and “ORE,” according to Gaffney.
What are the best free online crossword puzzles? ›- Free Themed Crossword Puzzles.
- Premier Crossword.
- Stan Newman's Hard Crossword.
- Best Daily American Crossword.
- Mini Crossword.
- Stan Newman's Sunday Crossword.
- Penny Dell Easy Morning Crosswords.
- Best Daily Quick Crossword.
- Go through the question. Reading and understanding the question correctly is more important to get an accurate result. ...
- Create an idea of the whole question. ...
- Focus on the required information needed and leave out unnecessary data. ...
- Problem-solving. ...
- Reasoning skill. ...
- Thinking skills.
- Bgraamiens. Bgraamiens Puzzle-The Lines -1000 Pieces Black and White Simple Fashion Challenge Blue Board Jigsaw Puzzles. ...
- TDC Games. TDC Games World's Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzle – Penguins – 500 Pieces Double Sided – 15 in. ...
- RavensburgerRavensburger. ...
- AQUARIUS. ...
- Educa.
Right-click on Start > select Settings > go to Apps > in the searbox "Search this list", type crossword & click on the game > select "Advanced options" > scroll down & click the "Reset" button. Once done, reboot your PC & check if the issue persists.
What is the most sold puzzle in the world? ›The Rubik's Cube, originally called the "Magic Cube" is a a 3-D mechanical twisty puzzle invented and licensed by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik in 1974.
Is the crossword app free? ›
World's Biggest Crossword is free to play, but contains optional paid items to unlock content more quickly.
Is the NY Times crossword app free? ›Download our app to be automatically enrolled in a no obligation 7-day free trial of The Crossword game. After the trial ends, you can purchase a monthly or annual New York Times Games subscription. Enjoy unlimited gameplay, The Crossword archive and more with a monthly or annual subscription.
Are crosswords good for dyslexia? ›Wordsearches and crossword puzzles can encourage vocabulary and spelling patterns. Perhaps get creative and list all things starting with a certain letter, words that rhyme, a set of seasonal words or simply use their weekly spellings and enter them into this wordsearch generator for a little bit of educational fun.
Do you get better at crosswords with practice? ›Practice — a lot
Practice makes perfect, even with crossword puzzles. Start with simple puzzles and work up to the more difficult ones.
You've probably noticed that some of the clues are nothing but dashes, and the entries for those clues are not numbered. Those are not production errors. The dashes represent the end of the entry after we've added the SUN back to the entry on the other side of it. Let's take a look at 20A.
What was the first crossword word? ›Today in 1913, pre-WWI, Arthur Wynne ran the first crossword puzzle of all time in the New York World; he, an editor there, invented the puzzle himself and called it “FUN's Word-Cross Puzzle.” (A few weeks later, a typographical error rendered the puzzle's title “Cross-Word,” and the name stuck.)
What is the largest ever crossword published? ›Nikoli Co., Ltd. The crossword consists of 244,971 squares and measures 12.042 m² (129.61 ft²).
Is there a nyt crossword every day? ›Track your progress and access more than 9000 New York Times daily puzzles with a crossword subscription.
What was the mistake on the New York Times crossword puzzle? ›Several people are calling out the New York Times after the shape of its Sunday crossword puzzle resembled a swastika. Twitter users slammed the American newspaper on Dec.
How to play nytimes Games for free? ›Play Tiles in the Games app or online at nytimes.com/puzzles/tiles. You can play Tiles with or without a subscription, for a fixed amount of plays each day. The tile set used to generate the game rotates each day.
What is the most famous crossword puzzle? ›
The Times Crossword is the world's most famous crossword. This is a compilation of The Times Crossword Books 1 & 4, the crosswords having been compiled by Mike Laws, the former editor of The Times Crossword.
Is the Sunday crossword free? ›Sunday Crossword - Free Online Game | The Boston Globe.
Is daily crossword free? ›Welcome to our free daily crossword puzzles. Follow the clues and attempt to fill in all the puzzle's squares.
How much do puzzle makers make? ›$28,000 is the 25th percentile. Salaries below this are outliers. $40,000 is the 75th percentile. Salaries above this are outliers.
Do puzzles prevent dementia? ›Researchers determined that, out of the participants who eventually developed dementia, those who frequently did crossword puzzles demonstrated a much slower decline in memory. On average, crossword puzzles provided about a two and a half year delay in memory decline compared to those who did not do crossword puzzles.
Do puzzles help with dementia? ›Puzzles are an excellent way for seniors with dementia to strengthen cognition, reduce agitation, and promote a feeling of accomplishment. They can also be a fun way for family or caregivers to engage with their loved one.
Do crosswords help ADHD? ›Crossword Puzzles and Picture Puzzles: It sounds simple, but these are great tools for kids with ADHD.
What is a good time for solving the NYT crossword? ›More people solve the Monday and Sunday puzzles than any other day of the week, but more solvers complete the Tuesday and Wednesday puzzles. The Sunday puzzle is solved by more people than any day except Monday, but, on a percentage basis, fewer people complete it than any other day.
What is the fastest crossword puzzle time? ›Dan Feyer can solve a NY Times crossword puzzle in as little as a minute and twenty-two seconds.
Do crosswords help build vocabulary? ›Crossword puzzles teach new vocabulary and improve spelling in people of all ages. Keeping a dictionary near you or looking up the meanings of words you don't know online takes the learning even further. With a wider range of words at your disposal, you'll certainly feel and sound smarter.
What is the hardest crossword day? ›
Mondays have the most straightforward clues and Saturday clues are the hardest, or involve the most wordplay. Contrary to popular belief, the Sunday puzzles are midweek difficulty, not the hardest. They're just bigger. A typical Monday clue will be very straightforward and drive you almost directly to the answer.
Has the nyt crossword gotten easier? ›“It's discernible even over the past nine months since I've started tracking my times. A Saturday puzzle that used to take me 10-15 minutes, or maybe eight or nine on a fast day, is now down to five to six minutes regularly, with eight to nine being the outlier, and even more so since the start of this calendar year.
How long does it take to write a crossword? ›It can take an experienced puzzle creator three or four hours to make a standard 15x15 puzzle, and it can take beginning puzzle makers twice that. So have fun. Don't expect to finish in a single sitting.
Which is the best crossword solver? ›If you are looking for a sure-shot Crossword app on the Android play store, this is the one to check out. Redstone Crossword solver is known as the best crossword solver app for a good reason because it delivers the best crossword solving experience on mobile devices, with fresh content and a well-designed UI.
How do you work out crossword clues? ›- Look for “anagram” clues. ...
- Consider whether a word needs to be reversed. ...
- Find the hidden answer indicator. ...
- Double definition. ...
- Soudalike. ...
- Don't take clues literally. ...
- Use previous crosswords to improve. ...
- Acrostic clues.
A word search puzzle can be solved by browsing/scanning the whole grid, row after row, letter after letter, and try to find words in the 4 direction (2 horizontal: from left to right or from right to left backward, 2 vertical: from top to bottom and from bottom to top) or even 8 directions with diagonals, in order to ...
What is the word for a crossword puzzle solver? ›“Cruciverbalist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cruciverbalist.
Do crossword puzzles help the brain? ›In fact, 37% of those doing crossword puzzles did show at least a two-point improvement. This means that crossword puzzles can improve thinking and memory almost as much as an FDA-approved memory-enhancing medication.
What does asterisk mean in crossword clue? ›The asterisks at the start of the theme clues aren't there to mark the theme clues—they stand in for the letters Star. 22a. [*Z, for one], CABLE CHANNEL. Starz.
Can a crossword answer be two words? ›However, many times the blank space can be filled in with two or more words. In easier crosswords, multiple words will be indicated with (2 words) or (2 wds.), but more often than not it will be up to the solver to determine how many words fill in the space. Another hint sometimes used in clues is (hyphenated).
What is the easiest way to do a word search? ›
A common strategy for finding all the words is to go through the puzzle left to right (or right to left) and look for the first letter of the word (if a word list is provided). After finding the letter, one should look at the eight surrounding letters to see whether the next letter of the word is there.
Is there an app for word search answers? ›Word Search Solver Gold is an app that you can solve any Word Search 15x15 size in 60 Seconds using Text Recognizer Technology or less & Maximum size is 40x40 you can solve.
What is the world record for the fastest puzzle? ›Interview with Tammy McLeod. Tammy McLeod recently set the Guinness World Record for the “fastest time to complete the Hasbro puzzle” with a time of 9 minutes 58.32 seconds. We recently chatted with Tammy (puzzler extraordinaire!) about this experience.
What is a professional puzzle solver called? ›A "dissectologist" is a term used to describe jigsaw puzzle solvers who consider themselves puzzle enthusiasts, and for some, professional puzzlers.
What is the difference between crossword and word puzzle? ›By definition (according to Oxford dictionary), a word puzzle is “a puzzle consisting of letters arranged in a grid, containing several hidden words written in any direction”. While a Crossword puzzle does not already have the words written on the grid, the general concept and definition are the same.
What are some words with 9 letters? ›Of the almost 41,000 words by the length of nine letters, some of the most well-known include ABHORRENT, ABILITIES, ABRASIONS, ACQUITTED, ADULTHOOD, BASEBOARDS, BLEACHERS, DRIZZLING, EMBEZZLES, EXPERTISE, HIJACKERS, LIFEHACKS, NEWLYWEDS, ORTHODOXY, PARALYZED, RECOGNIZE, REFLEXIVE, TECHNIQUE, TEXTBOOK, UNPLUGGED, ...