Scare Yourself Smart: October 2023 Crossword

This ghoulishly fun puzzle is here to challenge your brains – assuming you’re not a zombie and still have one of those! Happy hunting. 

Have you ever been scared by a crossword puzzle? Our puzzle this month flits in and out of some of D.C.’s haunted spaces, includes some of Halloween’s spooky elements and, of course, a few monsters pop out of nowhere, just like in the movies. See the answer key.

Print the downloadable PDF here.

ACROSS

1 Spooky creature said to haunt the U.S. Capitol building, 3 words

8 Need to pay

9 Like haunted houses

10 Loch with a monster

13 Broomstick flier

15 You can meet icons of horror at Madame _____ in NYC

18 Eat

19 You and I

20 Aspiration

22 It shows location

24 Wine color

25 Anne Rice’s Lestat, for one

27 Request fervently

28 U.S. car maker, abbr.

29 1973 horror film which has some D.C. steps named after it, 2 words

33 “_____ tu, Brute” (Shakespeare)

34 Rowing equipment

35 Trick or_____!

38 Baseball stat, abbr.

40 Gala

41 Hill position, abbr.

42 Not fully trusting

43 “The Walking Dead” creatures

DOWN

1 D.C. House of a former U.S. navy Commodore, said to be haunted by his grieving widow

2 Events

3 Siesta

4 Consider, with on

5 Halloween wear

6 _____, shucks!

7 Computer support person, informally

11 Family girl, informally

12 “Beetlejuice star,”_____ Maitland

14 Accountant, abbr.

16 Avail oneself of

17 Check out a cocktail, say

21 Daring skirt

23 Carved fruits for jack-o’-lanterns

25 Trouble

26 “It was twenty years _____ today …”

27 Speculate

29 Monster in “The Lord of the Rings”

30 Uncanny, and a bit spooky

31 Regret

32 Upper bodies

35 Poodle, maybe

36 “Much _____ About Nothing”

37 Male turkey

39 Stinging insect

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Myles Mellor