NY Times Crossword Answers May 09, 2025 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

NY Times Crossword Complete Solution: May 09, 2025

Published on Friday, May 09, 2025 • Updated daily

Our expert breakdown helps you solve the May 09 NYT crossword while expanding your vocabulary. Learn answer strategies and discover word connections.

NY Times Crossword Complete Solution: May 09, 2025

Across Clues and Answers (33)

Clue #1: 1. Walks softly

4-letter answer Answer: PADS

Word Help: Synonyms: bolster, stamp_pad, slog

Clue #2: 5. Impossible to contact by ordinary means

10-letter answer Answer: OFFTHEGRID

Clue #3: 15. "___, sing America"

4-letter answer Answer: ITOO

Clue #4: 16. Feature focused on investigation and resolution

10-letter answer Answer: CRIMEDRAMA

Clue #5: 17. Turf

4-letter answer Answer: LAND

Word Help: Synonyms: kingdom, dry_land, Din_Land

Clue #6: 18. Downward-facing dog?

10-letter answer Answer: CANISMAJOR

Clue #7: 19. ___ text (label for a screen reader)

3-letter answer Answer: ALT

Word Help: Synonyms: ALT, EL, altitude

Clue #8: 20. ___ Robert Jr., 2020 Gold Glove Award winner

4-letter answer Answer: LUIS

Clue #9: 21. Encrust

4-letter answer Answer: CAKE

Word Help: Synonyms: patty, bar, cake

Clue #10: 22. What might be caught Red-handed?

7-letter answer Answer: FLYBALL

Clue #11: 24. Cracker topper

4-letter answer Answer: BRIE

Word Help: Synonyms: Brie

Clue #12: 27. Raise

5-letter answer Answer: HOIST

Word Help: Synonyms: wind, hoist, lift

Clue #13: 28. Popular vacation spot

8-letter answer Answer: SEASHORE

Word Help: Synonyms: coast, seacoast, seashore

Clue #14: 32. Talks up

5-letter answer Answer: TOUTS

Word Help: Synonyms: gas, boast, vaunt

Clue #15: 33. It's not worth what it seems

9-letter answer Answer: PLAYMONEY

Clue #16: 34. Kick out

4-letter answer Answer: OUST

Word Help: Synonyms: throw_out, oust, boot_out

Clue #17: 35. Roughly 62% of its claimed territory is in Antarctica

5-letter answer Answer: CHILE

Word Help: Synonyms: chili, Chile, Republic_of_Chile

Clue #18: 36. Fine-textured wood used in musical instruments

4-letter answer Answer: PEAR

Word Help: Synonyms: Pyrus_communis, pear, pear_tree

Clue #19: 37. Unfettered flow of goods

9-letter answer Answer: FREETRADE

Clue #20: 39. It might turn up a turnip

5-letter answer Answer: SPADE

Word Help: Synonyms: jigaboo, coon, nigger

Clue #21: 40. Software clients

8-letter answer Answer: USERBASE

Clue #22: 41. Minuscule

5-letter answer Answer: TEENY

Word Help: Synonyms: wee, itty-bitty, itsy-bitsy

Clue #23: 42. "That's my opinion, too"

4-letter answer Answer: SAME

Word Help: Synonyms: Saami, Saame, Sami
Antonyms: different, unlike

Clue #24: 43. Components of some makeovers

7-letter answer Answer: HAIRDOS

Word Help: Synonyms: coiffure, hairstyle, hairdo

Clue #25: 45. Boatload

4-letter answer Answer: SLEW

Word Help: Synonyms: batch, slue, lot

Clue #26: 48. First-rate, in slang

4-letter answer Answer: BOSS

Word Help: Synonyms: hirer, foreman, genus_Bos

Clue #27: 49. R&B's ___ Hill

3-letter answer Answer: DRU

Clue #28: 50. "Be kind!"

10-letter answer Answer: HAVEAHEART

Clue #29: 54. First name of the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature

4-letter answer Answer: TONI

Clue #30: 55. What holding one's thumb up might indicate

10-letter answer Answer: INEEDARIDE

Clue #31: 56. "How could ___?"

4-letter answer Answer: INOT

Clue #32: 57. Cooking byproduct sometimes called "liquid gold"

10-letter answer Answer: PASTAWATER

Clue #33: 58. Rescues, maybe

4-letter answer Answer: PETS

Word Help: Synonyms: positron_emission_tomography, favorite, deary

Across Clues and Answers (33)

Clue #1: 1. Fragrant rice dish

5-letter answer Answer: PILAF

Word Help: Synonyms: pilaf, pilaff, pilaw

Clue #2: 2. Day and night

10-letter answer Answer: ATALLHOURS

Clue #3: 3. "Must I spell it out further?"

10-letter answer Answer: DONTYOUSEE

Clue #4: 4. Turf

3-letter answer Answer: SOD

Word Help: Synonyms: turf, superoxide_dismutase, sward

Clue #5: 5. Like practices associated with pentacles

6-letter answer Answer: OCCULT

Word Help: Synonyms: supernatural, occult, mystical

Clue #6: 6. Enfeebled

5-letter answer Answer: FRAIL

Word Help: Synonyms: weak, fallible, imperfect
Antonyms: robust

Clue #7: 7. Some scuba diving gear

4-letter answer Answer: FINS

Word Help: Synonyms: tailfin, cinque, Phoebe

Clue #8: 8. "OMG, I didn't need to know that!"

3-letter answer Answer: TMI

Clue #9: 9. "She's everything. ___ just Ken" (2023 movie tagline)

3-letter answer Answer: HES

Word Help: Synonyms: he, atomic_number_2, helium

Clue #10: 10. Genre heard at many raves, for short

3-letter answer Answer: EDM

Clue #11: 11. Pioneer in computer science who has a college at Yale named after her

11-letter answer Answer: GRACEHOPPER

Clue #12: 12. Asian royal

4-letter answer Answer: RAJA

Word Help: Synonyms: Raja, genus_Raja, raja

Clue #13: 13. "Don't worry about me"

4-letter answer Answer: IMOK

Clue #14: 14. Have the audacity

4-letter answer Answer: DARE

Word Help: Synonyms: presume, dare, make_bold

Clue #15: 20. Colleen

4-letter answer Answer: LASS

Word Help: Synonyms: lass, jeune_fille, young_girl

Clue #16: 23. Emotionally complex, in a way

11-letter answer Answer: BITTERSWEET

Word Help: Synonyms: bittersweet_nightshade, woody_nightshade, climbing_nightshade

Clue #17: 24. James Baldwin's "If ___ Street Could Talk"

5-letter answer Answer: BEALE

Clue #18: 25. One-named singer in the 2023 hit "Prada"

4-letter answer Answer: RAYE

Clue #19: 26. What one might subscribe to

3-letter answer Answer: ISM

Word Help: Synonyms: doctrine, philosophical_system, ism

Clue #20: 28. "I'll let that ___ …"

5-letter answer Answer: SLIDE

Word Help: Synonyms: slip, sliding_board, playground_slide

Clue #21: 29. Not to be repeated

10-letter answer Answer: ONEANDDONE

Clue #22: 30. Seeking comment?

10-letter answer Answer: READYORNOT

Clue #23: 31. Title heroine who says "I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will; which I now exert to leave you"

4-letter answer Answer: EYRE

Word Help: Synonyms: Lake_Eyre, Eyre

Clue #24: 32. Stir-fry protein option

4-letter answer Answer: TOFU

Word Help: Synonyms: bean_curd, tofu

Clue #25: 33. This, too, shall pass

5-letter answer Answer: PHASE

Word Help: Synonyms: form, phase, stage

Clue #26: 35. Squeeze

4-letter answer Answer: CRAM

Word Help: Synonyms: jam, jampack, wad

Clue #27: 38. Not yet final, in brief

3-letter answer Answer: TBA

Clue #28: 39. Number of kings en España named Felipe

4-letter answer Answer: SEIS

Clue #29: 41. Position at a food company

6-letter answer Answer: TASTER

Word Help: Synonyms: taste-tester, taste_tester, sampler

Clue #30: 43. Throng

5-letter answer Answer: HORDE

Word Help: Synonyms: host, horde, swarm

Clue #31: 44. Boardroom group

5-letter answer Answer: SUITS

Word Help: Synonyms: befit, case, wooing

Clue #32: 45. Mail

4-letter answer Answer: SHIP

Word Help: Synonyms: embark, send, ship
Antonyms: disembark

Clue #33: 46. Superboy's crush

4-letter answer Answer: LANA

Clue #34: 47. Holiday lead-ins

4-letter answer Answer: EVES

Word Help: Synonyms: evening, eventide, even

Clue #35: 48. Entice

4-letter answer Answer: BAIT

Word Help: Synonyms: taunt, twit, decoy

Clue #36: 51. Antidiscrimination legis. of 1990

3-letter answer Answer: ADA

Word Help: Synonyms: ADA, adenosine_deaminase

Clue #37: 52. ___ flakes (fruity Chinese snack)

3-letter answer Answer: HAW

Word Help: Synonyms: hawthorn, haw

Clue #38: 53. Long period

3-letter answer Answer: ERA

Word Help: Synonyms: earned_run_average, epoch, geological_era

Clue #39: 54. What a boat shouldn't do

3-letter answer Answer: TIP

Word Help: Synonyms: angle, pourboire, tiptoe

Expert Solving Strategies

• Look for fill-in-the-blank clues first (they're often easiest)
• Watch for question marks indicating wordplay
• Check vowel patterns in partially solved words

Related Search Terms

NYT Crossword Help, Daily Puzzle Solutions, Crossword Answer Finder, May Crossword Answers