CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XVIII

Each clue has two or more possible answers.

1. R.R.

2. Early choppers

3. Where the heart is

4. Place to find a date 

5. First family's home

6. Four on the floor

7. Part of a flight

8. Decrease

9. Sight under a Christmas tree

10. CD

11. Ring of Fire

12. Neon

13. Innocent

14. Ace

15. Mantle

16. Hearts

17. Ball

18. Bikini

19. Batman and Robin

20. It's set when it's broken.

21. It may be checkered

 

Answers:

 

1. Railroad

    Rural Route

    Right Reverend

2. Baby teeth

    Stone axes

3. Home

    Chest

    Thorax

4. Online

    Singles bar

    Cornerstone

 

5.  White House

     Garden of Eden

6. Table, chair, or bed legs

     Gear shift

7. Leg

    Stair

8. Lessen

    Iron

 

9. Presents

    Pine needles 

10. Compact disc

      400

11. Johnny Cash song

      Earthquake/Volcanic area of Pacific Rim

      Circus prop (uncapitalized)

12. Gas

      Car (Chevrolet Neon)

13. Plea

      Pope

      Naive

      Callow

      Ingenuous

14. Airman

      Playing card

      Tennis serve

15. Cape

      NY Yankees baseball player

16. Card game

      Organs

17. Formal dance

      Orb/sphere

      Round or oval object that is kicked, thrown, or hit in games

      A pitch in baseball outside the strike zone that the batter does not swing on

 

18. Skimpy bathing suit

      Nuclear test site 

19. Duo

      Caped

      Dynamic

20. Bone

      Record

21. Flag

      Past

 

Credit:

#12-17:

Wall Street Journal Crossword

Mike Shenk

TWO FOR ONE

     

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XVII

1. Risque shopping destination
2. Where Manet brings in Monet
3. Handy cryptography tool
4. Marine mollusk exoskeleton vendor
5. Get the lead out
6. Stick up at sea
7. Part of a buck
8. Root word
9. One with something to prove
10. Swell place
11. Mafia gathering
12. Dance involving a lot of partner switching

13. Beach near Omaha

Answers:

1. Strip mall
2. Art auction
3. Decoder ring
4. She (in a tongue twister)
5. Mine
6. Mast
7. Antler
8. Rah! 
9. Prosecutor 
10. Ocean
11. Family affair
12. Ping pong ball

13. Utah (D-Day)  

 
Credits:
1-4: Robyn Weintraub
5: Ezra Brauner 
11-12: Doug Peterson 

13. Harvey Estes

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XVI

1. Swift vehicle
2. Goalie's goal
3. Cover of night
4. Beauty lover
5. Shuffleboard
6. Sentence units
7. Storybook ending
8. Sign of summer
9. Pair of pants
10. Pen pal
11. Atrophy
12. Hula hoop
13. Talk turkey
14. Bill collector
15. Lofty words
16. Lab wear
17. Six in 1,000,000
18. Role in the aisles
19. Stranger in a strange land
20. One way to get up and around

Answers:

1. Satire (Jonathan Swift)
2. Save
3. Blanket
4. Beast
5. Broad
6. Years
7. Moral
8. Leo
9. Huff and puff
10. Cellmate
11. Stanley Cup, for one
12. Lei
13. Gobble 
14. Cash register 
15. Sky writing
16. Flea collar 
17. Zeros 
18. Usher
19. Tourist 
20. Spiral staircase

NY Times Crossword
October 16, 2003
Elizabeth C. Gorski

The three themed answers to this crossword were:

PARIS HOTELS
IT'S HOT OUT THERE
CRISIS HOTLINES

The revealing word was ZINGER.

Can you see why?

Answer:

A ZINGER is a parting shot. In each themed answer the word SHOT is parted.  

NY Times Crossword
October 26, 2006
Todd McClary and Dave Tuller (#1A-4A)

Can  you decipher the across (A) answers to this crossword? The number of letters in each answer is indicated in parentheses after the down (D) clue. The answers may be one, two, or three words.

1A. See 1D..............1D Be the right size (10)
2A. See 2D..............2D Circa (10)
3A. See 3D..............3D This, that, and the other (11)
4A. See 4D..............4D Communist "color" (11)
5A. See 5D..............5D This place (6)

HINT:
1D is FIT

Answers:

1A. DEEM WORTHY 
2A. TAKE CARE OF 
3A. HALLUCINATE
4A. BECOME ANGRY
5A. LISTEN

[Explanation: 
1A. SEE FIT = DEEM WORTHY
2A. SEE ABOUT = TAKE CARE OF
3A. SEE THINGS = HALLUCINATE
4A. SEE RED = BECOME ANGRY
5A. SEE HERE = LISTEN]

 

A single clue could serve to produce all the following answers. What is it?

LINCOLN CENTER
BIT OF ADVICE
PIECE OF CAKE
CIVIC LEADER
ONE OF THE CROWD
HEAD OF CATTLE
PART OF SPEECH

HINT:
The clue consists of a single letter.

Answer:

C

Credit: 
Arlan and Linda Bushman
C HERE 

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XV

1. Travelers who have lost their way (6)
2. Produce from Moscow
3. Produce from Athens
4. Produce from Naples
5. On Santa's list (4)
6. Loft lover (8)
7. Anarchy leader (5)
8. Bad odds
9. Lumberjacks' tunes
10. Thinking ahead
11. Coin collector (4)
12. Swords
13. Glibness
14. Noodle count in Arizona city
15. Change places
16. Coasters for Socrates
17. Diamond head
18. She was a handful
19. Quick buck
20. Occasional furniture
21. Overstuffed furniture
22. Vacation furniture
23. Easy-to-assemble furniture
24. Out of the pink
25. Couch

Answers:

1. Farers 
2. Idaho potatoes
3. Georgia peaches
4. Florida oranges 
5. Nice 
6. Attic fan 
7. No one 
8. 9:59 (one to ten)
9. Logarithms
10. Preponderance
11. Sofa 
12. Misspelled words
13. Mixed blessing
14. Temperamentally (Tempe ramen tally)
15. Coin purses
16. Anagram
17. Manager
18. Fay Wray (for King Kong)
19. Antelope
20. Periodic table
21. Endowed chair
22. Travel bureau
23. Snappy dresser 
24. Sick 
25. Phrase

THREE FOR ONE

Can you think of three six-letter answers that could each satisfy the clue Makes good on a debt?

Answers:

REPAYS
PAYS UP
HONORS

Based on the following clues and their answers, can you think of a clever title to explain this puzzle?

1. Noah's landfall - Mount Ara
2. College campus organization - Fernity
3. Appendectomy, for one - Opeion
4. Work by Handel - Oorio
5. Appreciation - Gitude
6. Proportion - Io
7. Gold purity measure - Ca
8. Drawing card - Sta traction

Answer:

Each answer is missing the letters RAT:

1. Mount Ararat
2. Fraternity
3. Operation
4. Oratorio
5. Gratitude
6. Ratio
7. Carat
8. Star attraction

So there are NO RATS in the answers. A clever title would be VISIT TO HAMELIN or THE PIED PIPER WAS HERE.

Credit: Linda Finnerty
VISIT TO HAMELIN

Two answers in a crossword puzzle were MORTAL ENEMY and FATAL ERROR. The "revealing" clue was TRUTH KNOWN ONLY TO A FEW. What was the answer to the revealing clue, and how does it explain MORTAL ENEMY and FATAL ERROR?

HINTS:
#1: The answer to the revealing clue has two words.
#2: The second word is STORY.

Answer to the revealing clue:

Truth known only to a few = INSIDE STORY

Answer to how INSIDE STORY explains MORTAL ENEMY and FATAL ERROR: 

morTAL Enemy and faTAL Error 

Credit: Mike Peluso

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XIV

Credit: NY Times Crossword
February 2, 2010
Alex Fay

Consider these two crossword clues:

1. Try, as a case before a judge
2. Baseball great Williams

Now try to make up a third clue which can be answered by combining the answers of the two clues above. Wordplay is fair play.

Answers to the first two clues:

1. HEAR
2. TED

Third clue:

3. Very sorrowful

Answer to third clue:

BROKEN HEARTED 

(HEAR + TED - broken up into two clues)

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XIII

1. Smog (11)
2. Horse (10)
3. Wardrobe malfunction (11)
4. The two after do (4)
5. Death of the party (4)
6. All-American bed (14)
7. Sentence shortener (6)
8. Doris on the stand (10)
9. Head for the hills ((8)
10. Two in a million (6)
11. Wedding party (5)
12. Cold war grp. (3)
13. Glass house, for some (8)
14. Carol king (9)
15. Dozen by the cheeper (4)
16. Husky food (6)
17. Headstone (4)
18. It's beside the point (9) or (11)
19. Return address initials (3)
20. Mass distribution (6)
21. Current events (5)
22. Average guy (8)
23. Hitchhiker's duty (8)
24. Fear of smoked salmon (8)
25. Loves to solve, for example

Answers:

1. AIR APPARENT
2. NEIGHSAYER
3. UNTIED FRONT 
4. RE MI
5. BORE 
6. BERTH OF A NATION 
7. PAROLE
8. DAY IN COURT 
9. OUTHOUSE 
10. COMMAS (1,000,000)
11. BRIDE or GROOM
12. AMA (war is not capitalized) 
13. AQUARIUM 
14. WENCESLAS (king is not capitalized)
15. EGGS (chickens cheep)
16. TAMALE (husk-y) 
17. MICK (of The Rolling Stones) 
18. ONES' PLACE (or tenths' place)
19. IRS 
20. WAFERS
21. TIDES 
22. DOW JONES
23. THUMB TAX
24. DREAD LOX
25. ANAGRAM

Look carefully at the clue answers below, which were circled in the grid, and see if you can come up with the last answer (the unifier) and the theme of this puzzle.

CHURCH AISLE
SIR CHARLES
REPAIR CHECKLIST
MOHAIR COAT
_ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _

HINT:
CHAIR

Answer:

The last answer is SWIVEL CHAIR.

The letters in CHAIR are "swivelled" in sequential order through the answers, starting at the bottom with the C in CHAIR.


chuRCH AIsle
sIR CHArles
repAIR CHecklist
moHAIR Coat
swivel CHAIR

Theme of the puzzle: GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES 

Credit: LA Times Crossword
October 18, 2012
Rich Mausser
GOING AROUND IN CIRCLES

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XII

1. Famous last words (6)
2. Lacking heat (7)
3. Dancer's partner (6)
4. One who takes things the wrong way (5)
5. Genetic explanation for truancy (15)
6. Element 18 (4)
7. Loser in an upset (4)
8. Girl next door (8)
9. Short-lived agitation (9)
10. Contest for witches (11)
11. Carousel riders (9)
12. Corner-to-corner lines (9)
13. Subject with no depth (13)
14. Paris is in it (5) or (8)
15. First family (10)
16. Current event, perhaps ((12)
17. Inaugural address (11)
18. Their days are numbered (6)
19. Name dropper word (3)
20. Bottom line

Answers:

1. THE END
2. UNARMED
3. DASHER 
4. THIEF
5. HOOKY CHROMOSOME 
6. AGON (R GONE) [Henry Hook] 
7. HARE 
8. NEAR MISS 
9. BRIEF STEW
10. SPELLING BEE
11. SUITCASES 
12. CROSSWALK or DIAGONALS 
13. PLANE GEOMETRY 
14. ILIAD or THE ILIAD  
15. ADAM AND EVE
16. SHORT CIRCUIT 
17. STARTER HOME 
18. MONTHS 
19. NEE
20. X AXIS 

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES XI

LA Times Crossword
April 29, 2015
Robert E. Lee Morris

The answers to the clues below have something in common. Once you determine what it is, use the clue below the answers to reveal the theme of this puzzle.

1. Prison security indignity
2. Flour packaging
3. Social gathering at a home
4. Diva's big moment
5. The last frontier

Answers:

1. STRIP SEARCH
2. PAPER SACK
3. HOUSE PARTY
4. OPERA SOLO
5. OUTER SPACE

What the clues have in common:

1. striP SEARch
2. paPER SAck
3. houSE PARty
4. oPERA Solo
5. outER SPAce

In the puzzle, the capitalized letters were circled.

CLUE REVEALING PUZZLE THEME:

Pocketful of coins and what literally occurs in the circled letters in the five puzzle answers above.

Answer:

SPARE CHANGE

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES X

NY Times Crossword
David J. Kahn

The answers to the four clues below are very close to four other expressions which are much more familiar. Once you have correctly answered the clues, can you determine the six-letter word which gives the theme of the puzzle and explains how the answers differ from the more familiar expressions?

1. With "Hello," a pickup line
2. Dentists' convention
3. One who works for the Police Gazette
4. Trying cases, plea bargaining, etc.

Answers:

1. "HELLO, DOLL"
2. TOOTH FAIR
3. COP EDITOR
4. ALL IN A DA'S WORK  

The theme word which explains the puzzle: NOWISE (NO Y'S)

"HELLO DOLLY"
TOOTH FAIRY
COPY EDITOR
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES IX

NY Times Crossword
Isabel Walcott (adapted)

Here are the clues and answers to a themed crossword. The theme is a familiar five-word phrase - which answers the last clue below. Can you determine the theme?

1. Heavy duty kitchen implement - CHERKNE
2. Common lunch fare - SWICH
3. Ingredient in a SWITCH, perhaps - JPEANUTTERS
4. Elevator in London - LT
5. South American mountain chain - ES
6. It's dandy - CY
7. Time on earth - LETIME
8. First aid item - BAID
9. "Excuses are unacceptable!" - NOSSORS

Answers:

1. BUTcher knIFe
2. sANDwich 
3. jIF peanutBUTer
4. lIFt (LIFT)
5. ANDes
6. cANDy
7. lIFtime (LIFETIME)
8. bAND-aid
9. noIFsANDsorBUTs (NO IFS ANDS OR BUTS)

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES VIII

Below are four familiar phrases - forgiving the spelling of #4. The same change can be made to the second word of each phrase to give it an entirely different meaning. Can you determine the change, and can you think of a clue which would suggest it?

1. DEADLY SECRET
2. SPACE MISSION
3. GARBAGE CAN
4. SPELL BOUND

Answers:

The second word of each phrase can be changed by adding the letters ARY:

1. DEADLY SECRETARY
2. SPACE MISSIONARY
3. GARBAGE CANARY
4. SPELL BOUNDARY

Constructor's Clues:

1. Office employee to avoid
2. Shuttle evangelist
3. Bird in a landfill
4. Where a witch's influence ends

Credit: LA Times Crossword
December 3, 2010
Pamela Amick Klawitter 

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES VII

After answering the clues below, make the same change in each answer to reveal the name of a song and two familiar expressions. The change you make will in turn reveal the theme of this puzzle - which is a classic break-up line.

1. Bart's Dad with a dozen doughnuts
2. Hook's mate in his early years
3. Headline about carpentry work on a financial institution

Answers to clues:

1. Happy Homer
2. A boy named Smee
3. Bank framed

Changed answers:

1. Happy hour
2. A Boy Named Sue
3. Bank fraud

The change: ME to U

hoMEr -hoUr
sMEe - sUe
fraMEd - fraUd

The theme and break-up line:

IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S ME. 

Credit: LA Times Crossword
April 17, 2009
Daniel A. Finan
IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S ME

CLEVER CROSSWORD CLUES VI

The three answer pairs below are deliberately positioned to suggest the theme of this puzzle. What is the theme?

RAMPART
PIONEER

DEPARTMENT
ICE CREAM CONE

PARTNER
LONELY

HINT:
Look for hidden words in both the top and bottom answers of each pair.

Answer:

The theme is WATCH THE BIRDIE.

The top word in each answer pair contains the word PAR, and the bottom answers contain the word ONE. This leads to ONE UNDER PAR - which is a BIRDIE in golf. 

Credit: LA Times Crossword
June 14, 2009
Will Nediger
WATCH THE BIRDIE