Thursday · December 21, 2017 · Crossword

Daily Themed Crossword December 21, 2017 Answers

All 61 Clues Solved

Every clue and answer from the December 21, 2017 grid, in puzzle order.

61Clues
12Longest
3Shortest
7Abbreviations
Answers

December 21, 2017 — All 61 Clues

Listed in the order they appear in the grid. Tap COPY to take an answer with you.

#ClueAnswerLettersCopy
#1 Education support group: Abbr. Show answer 3
#2 "___ Fiction" a 1994 dark comedy film for which Samuel L. Jackson (birthday today) received an Academy Award nomination Show answer 4
#3 Hesitant sounds Show answer 3
#4 Back muscle briefly Show answer 3
#5 Highly religious and god-fearing Show answer 5
#6 ___ Baldwin "The Departed" and "The Aviator" star Show answer 4
#7 Fitting as a tribute Show answer 3
#8 Victoria Beckham in the Spice Girls Show answer 4
#9 ___ Shakur subject of the 2017 film "All Eyez on Me" Show answer 5
#10 A 1986 action film starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett Jr.: 2 wds. Show answer 9
#11 "Letters from ___ Jima" a 2006 movie directed by legendary star Clint Eastwood Show answer 3
#12 "Blood and ___" a 1996 crime drama starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine Show answer 4
#13 Linear for short Show answer 4
#14 Muay ___ a form of martial arts Show answer 4
#15 Velvet Underground rocker ___ Reed Show answer 3
#16 ___ Tin Tin German Shepherd who was a motion picture star Show answer 3
#17 "Regarding..." in a memo: 2 wds. Show answer 4
#18 Sixth sense for short: Abbr. Show answer 3
#19 "Rogue ___: A Star Wars Story" a 2016 film set in the "Star Wars" universe Show answer 3
#20 "Django ___" a 2012 Western directed by Quentin Tarantino in which Jackson starred as an old racist worker Show answer 9
#21 Hasbro brand which shoots squishy balls Show answer 4
#22 "Who's there?" answer: 2 wds. Show answer 4
#23 Famed sci-fi writer Frederik ___ Show answer 4
#24 Analyze as a sentence (dissect grammatically) Show answer 5
#25 "Woe is me!" exclamation Show answer 4
#26 Delaying in progress or slowing down Show answer 9
#27 A degenerative brain disease found primarily in athletes and was the focus of the 2015 film "Concussion": Abbr. Show answer 3
#28 Cry at a bullfight Show answer 3
#29 Ham on ___ Show answer 3
#30 Similar word to 35-Across Show answer 3
#31 "Nightmare on ___ Street" horror movie franchise Show answer 3
#32 Potato bag Show answer 4
#33 Seed used in smoothies Show answer 4
#34 "As seen on TV" record label: Abbr. Show answer 4
#35 "The ___" a 2015 Western in which Samuel L. Jackson played a bounty hunter: 2 wds. Show answer 12
#36 Online market for crafts Show answer 4
#37 Qatari ruler Show answer 4
#38 Attorney-to-be's examination: Abbr. Show answer 4
#39 "___! That tastes delicious!" Show answer 3
#40 An untruth Show answer 3
#41 Cape Town's home: Abbr. Show answer 3
#42 Intense pain Show answer 5
#43 "An ___ Husband" a 1999 film starring Rupert Everett and Julianne Moore Show answer 5
#44 Critical times especially during military attacks: Hyph. Show answer 5
#45 "Ali ___ and the 40 Thieves" Show answer 4
#46 "The Hitman's ___" a 2017 action comedy in which Jackson stars alongside Ryan Reynolds Show answer 9
#47 Ken ___ "Brothers & Sisters" actor Show answer 4
#48 Titular beekeeper from the Peter Fonda film "___'s Gold" Show answer 4
#49 Does sums Show answer 4
#50 A 2001 biographical sports drama starring Will Smith as the titular boxer Show answer 3
#51 "No Country for ___ Men" a 2007 neo-western by the Coen brothers starring Tommy Lee Jones Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin Show answer 3
#52 Sophocles tragedy Show answer 4
#53 ___ Johnson U.S Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013-17 Show answer 3
#54 Brewpub offering Show answer 3
#55 Tee choices: Abbr. Show answer 3
#56 Recyclables container Show answer 3
#57 ___ Stark patriarch of the Stark family from "Game of Thrones" Show answer 3
#58 Do not do this in a library Show answer 4
#59 ___ Lee "Life of Pi" director Show answer 3
#60 "___ Man" a 2008 comedy-drama starring Jim Carrey Show answer 3
#61 "___ All That" a 1999 romantic comedy starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook Show answer 4
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About this puzzle

How the December 21, 2017 Grid Breaks Down

This is the Daily Themed Crossword main puzzle for December 21, 2017, a Thursday. It contains 61 clues, which is a little below the usual size for a daily grid. The longest answer is HATEFULEIGHT at 12 letters; the shortest is 3.

Watch the clue wording on this one: 7 clues are flagged "Abbr.", meaning the answer is shortened rather than spelled out, and 4 clues carry a "wds." flag, so the answer runs several words together with no spaces. Those markers are reliable in this game and are the quickest way to fix a letter count before you commit to an entry.

Neighbouring dates are linked above, and the 2017 archive holds every daily puzzle from that year. Away from the calendar, the game's 202 themed packs hold another 58,679 clues.

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FAQ

December 21, 2017 — Questions

What are the Daily Themed Crossword answers for December 21, 2017?
The December 21, 2017 grid has 61 clues. Every clue and its answer is listed in the table above, in the order they appear in the puzzle.
How many clues are in this puzzle?
There are 61 clues. The longest answer is HATEFULEIGHT at 12 letters and the shortest runs to 3. 7 clues are flagged as abbreviations.
Is there a mini puzzle for this date?
There is no companion puzzle on file for this date.
Where can I find other dates?
The daily archive holds 3,216 dates in total, including December 20, 2017 and December 22, 2017.
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Pro tips

3 Tips for the December 21, 2017 Crossword

01

The theme is a clue in itself

Daily Themed Crossword builds each board around one idea, and the themed entries are usually the longest answers on the grid. This board carries 61 clues with answers from 3 to 12 letters — work out what the long ones have in common and the rest of the grid opens up around them.

02

Short fills are where the crossings come from

Three- and four-letter answers are the cheapest squares on the board and they feed letters into every long entry they touch. When a themed answer will not come, fill the short ones around it first rather than staring at the clue.

03

Keep the streak going

The 2017 archive holds every board from this year, and nothing is removed once published. Older boards are the cheapest practice there is, because the clue style repeats even when the answers do not.

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How we check

Verified Answers, Not Guesses

How we verify this board

The 61 clue-and-answer pairs here were captured from the December 21, 2017 crossword on the day it ran, with the clue wording stored exactly as the game showed it and every answer length-checked against its slot. Dated boards are never rewritten after publication.

Reviewed by Nadia Okonkwo, Crossword and Clue Editor at Puzzle Solved. The full checking routine is in the methodology, and the standards every page is held to are in the editorial policy.

Last checked — Sep 8, 2026
Numbers

Daily Themed Crossword by the numbers

61clues on this board
12longest answer
6,030boards archived
240,941clues indexed
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How to play

How to Solve a Daily Themed Crossword

How the daily and mini grids are built, and the order that solves them.

STEP 01

Read the theme before the clues

Daily Themed Crossword builds every puzzle around one idea, and the long entries almost always belong to it. Knowing the theme turns those from cold clues into a guessing game with a very short list.

STEP 02

Fill the short crossings first

Three and four letter answers use the most predictable vocabulary in the whole grid. Each one you place hands letters to the long clues for free, which is a better use of the first minute than staring at the hardest entry.

STEP 03

Abbreviations are signposted

A clue ending in "Abbr." or containing its own abbreviation is telling you the answer is short and clipped. The same goes for "Hyph." and "2 wds." — the clue format is half the answer.

Discussion

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