You're staring at the grid. The coffee is getting cold. You've got "L-O-T" or maybe "S-L-E-W" and you’re wondering why on earth there are fifty different ways to say "a whole bunch of stuff" in the New York Times crossword. It happens to everyone. Honestly, the large amount crossword clue is one of those classic filler staples that constructors love because it's so flexible. They use it to bridge the gap between those long, flashy themed entries. It’s the "glue" of the puzzle.
But for us? It's a headache.
Depending on the day of the week, the answer could be three letters or ten. If it's a Monday, you're probably looking for something simple. By Saturday, Will Shortz or the LA Times editors are looking for something obscure, maybe even a bit archaic. Understanding the "vibe" of the puzzle is half the battle.
The Usual Suspects: Common Answers for Large Amount
Most of the time, your brain goes straight to "LOTS" or "MANY." Those are fine, but they aren't the only players in the game. If you have four letters, SLEW is a massive favorite. It’s got that nice "W" that helps with vertical crossings. Then there’s HOST, which feels a bit more formal but pops up constantly.
Think about TONS. Or HEAP.
If the grid is looking for five letters, you might be dealing with OCEAN or FLOOD. It’s funny how constructors use geographic metaphors to describe scale. You’ll see POWER used in phrases like "a power of good," though that’s becoming a bit old-fashioned.
Why the Letter Count Changes Everything
Let's get practical. You need to look at the neighbors. If the clue is "Large amount" and you have three spaces, it’s almost always LOT. If it’s five, SCADS is a high-probability candidate. SCADS is a fun word. It sounds like something a 1920s oil tycoon would say. "I've got scads of money, see?"
Then you have the multi-word answers. These are the ones that really mess with your head because you're looking for one long word, and it turns out to be a phrase. A DEAL, A GOGO, or even REAMS.
The Science of Crossword Construction
Constructors like Robyn Weintraub or Brendan Emmett Quigley don't just pick these words at random. They use them to manage "letter density." If they have a lot of vowels in their "Down" clues, they need a "large amount" synonym that is consonant-heavy. That’s where DRIVE or STACK comes in.
It’s about the "Scrabble score" of the grid, too. A word like ZILLION is a goldmine because of that "Z." If you see a clue for a large amount and it’s seven letters long with a "Z" near the start, don't overthink it. It’s a zillion. Or maybe a GAZILLION if they’ve got eight spaces to fill. These aren't technical terms, obviously. They’re "indefinite hyperbolic numerals," a fancy way of saying "I lost count."
Regional and Contextual Variations
Sometimes the clue gives you a hint about the specific type of amount. "Large amount of paper" is almost certainly REAM. "Large amount of hair" might be SHAG or MANE.
If the clue is "Large amount, slangily," you’re looking at GOB or WAD. Gobs is a great word. It feels heavy. It feels substantial. You don't just have a few; you have gobs of them.
Then there are the British-leaning puzzles. You might run into RAKHFFUL or something equally strange, though usually, even the Guardian sticks to the basics for this specific clue. MUCK is sometimes used in specific UK contexts to mean a large, messy amount, but that’s a rarity in the American syndicates.
Navigating the Saturday "Vague-ness"
Late-week puzzles are designed to be mean. The clue won't just say "Large amount." It’ll say "Oodles." Or "A great deal." It might even be a bit metaphorical, like "Sea."
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When you see "Sea," your brain thinks of water. But in a Saturday NYT, it's a synonym for a vast quantity. "A sea of faces."
MINT is another one. People forget that "mint" refers to the place where money is made, but it also describes the wealth itself. "He made a mint." Four letters. Starts with M. If you're stuck on a "large amount" clue and you have an M, try MINT. It’s more common than you’d think.
The Weird Ones: Rare Synonyms
Every once in a while, a constructor gets fancy. You might see THRIFT (in its old sense of prosperity/abundance), though that’s mean. RAFT is much more common. Not the boat, but the quantity. "A raft of options."
- Slew: The king of four-letter "large amount" answers.
- Scads: The five-letter heavy hitter.
- Oodles: Usually shows up when the clue is slightly playful.
- Myriad: For the more academic or high-brow puzzles.
- Legion: Often used when the "amount" refers to people or soldiers.
Cracking the Code: How to Solve It Fast
Don't just guess. Look at the crosses. If you have a large amount crossword clue and the second letter is an "O," you’re probably looking at HOST, LOTS, or TONS.
If the last letter is an "S," it’s almost certainly a plural like GANGS, HEAPS, or PILES.
Crossword solving is a game of pattern recognition. You aren't just looking for a synonym; you're looking for a specific shape of a word that fits into a pre-existing skeleton.
Check the "era" of the puzzle. If the other clues are referencing 1950s sitcoms and old jazz singers, the answer for "large amount" might be something like PASSEL. You don't hear "a passel of trouble" much anymore, but in the world of crosswords, the 1950s never ended.
Nuance Matters
There is a subtle difference between "A large amount" and "Large amounts." That "s" at the end of the clue is your best friend. It almost guarantees the answer ends in "S."
- Clue: Large amount -> Answer: SLEW
- Clue: Large amounts -> Answer: SLEWS (or SCADS)
It seems obvious, but when you're frustrated, you overlook the small stuff.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Puzzle
Stop overthinking the word "large." Start thinking about the "container" or the "vibe."
If the clue is "Large amount of work," the answer is likely LOAD.
If it's "Large amount of money," look for WAD, PILE, or MINT.
If it's just a general "Large amount," run through the three-letter (LOT), four-letter (SLEW, TONS, HOST), and five-letter (SCADS, REAMS) list in your head.
The best way to get better at this is to notice the "filler" words. Next time you finish a puzzle, go back and look at the boring clues. See how many times "Large amount" or "Abundance" appeared. You'll start to see the same five or six words repeating.
Keep a mental note of SLEW. It is, hands down, the most frequent answer for this clue in modern American puzzles. Once you internalize that "SLEW" is the constructor’s favorite "bridge," you’ll stop getting stuck on it.
Move to the crosses immediately if the answer doesn't jump out in three seconds. These filler clues are designed to be solved via the more interesting "Theme" clues anyway. Use the "S" or the "E" from a longer word to narrow down your "large amount" options. If you have an "E" in the third position of a four-letter word, it’s SLEW. If it's an "O" in the second position, it’s TONS or HOST.
Mastering the boring clues is how you win the game. It frees up your brain to tackle the clever puns and the tricky themes that make crosswords fun in the first place. Stay patient, watch for the plural "s," and remember that "scads" is always a possibility.