Master today's NYT crossword with our expert hint system. We provide synonyms, antonyms, and strategic clues to help you solve without spoiling the fun. Perfect for crossword lovers who want that satisfying "aha!" moment.
Quick Navigation - Table of Contents
- Today's Puzzle Difficulty
- Across Clues Table (34 clues)
- Across Clues - Detailed Hints
- Down Clues Table (44 clues)
- Down Clues - Detailed Hints
- Expert Solving Strategies
- Today's Puzzle Statistics
Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging
Pro Tip: Start with the fill-in-the-blank clues - they're usually the easiest entry points!
Across Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1A | 1. Protection from an infection | 4 |
| 2A | 5. Movie theater popcorn container | 3 |
| 3A | 8. Kurt who fronted Nirvana | 6 |
| 4A | 14. Accusative, for one | 4 |
| 5A | 15. Muff or fluff | 3 |
| 6A | 16. "Be that as it may …" | 6 |
| 7A | 17. Image depicted in this puzzle by connecting the circled letters alphabetically | 15 |
| 8A | 20. Aristophanes comedy, with "The" | 5 |
| 9A | 21. Sailors' patron | 6 |
| 10A | 22. Energize | 6 |
| 11A | 24. King George ___, "Hamilton" character | 3 |
| 12A | 25. Some H.S. teams | 3 |
| 13A | 28. Remote batteries | 3 |
| 14A | 30. Social ___ | 5 |
| 15A | 32. Condiment sometimes known as rooster sauce | 8 |
| 16A | 37. It keeps you in the dark | 7 |
| 17A | 38. "Is it too risky?" | 7 |
| 18A | 39. Brand whose customers made its Super Bowl ad in 2025 | 7 |
| 19A | 41. Appetites | 5 |
| 20A | 42. Sporty convertible | 8 |
| 21A | 44. Like some ironed shirts and fall air | 5 |
| 22A | 45. Free pass in sports | 3 |
| 23A | 46. "The Spanish Tragedy" playwright Thomas | 3 |
| 24A | 47. Washboard parts | 3 |
| 25A | 49. Grocery aisle enticement | 6 |
| 26A | 55. Beer brand discontinued in 2010 | 6 |
| 27A | 58. Wading bird | 5 |
| 28A | 59. Image in this puzzle | 15 |
| 29A | 63. Steve of "Battle of the Sexes" | 6 |
| 30A | 64. "Tubular!" | 3 |
| 31A | 65. With a clean slate | 4 |
| 32A | 66. What some people think this puzzle's image represents | 6 |
| 33A | 67. U.K. home | 3 |
| 34A | 68. Eliot of the Untouchables | 4 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Protection from an infection"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike
- Similar words include: fink, strikebreaker, rat
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2A: "5. Movie theater popcorn container"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a relatively large open container that you fill with water and use to wash the body
- Similar words include: bathing tub, vat, bath
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3A: "8. Kurt who fronted Nirvana"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4A: "14. Accusative, for one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an occurrence of something
- Similar words include: character, subject, casing
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5A: "15. Muff or fluff"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that to make a mistake or be incorrect
- Similar words include: mistake, drift, slip
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6A: "16. "Be that as it may …""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7A: "17. Image depicted in this puzzle by connecting the circled letters alphabetically"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8A: "20. Aristophanes comedy, with "The""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of various tailless stout-bodied amphibians with long hind limbs for leaping; semiaquatic and terrestrial species
- Similar words include: toad frog, frog, anuran
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9A: "21. Sailors' patron"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10A: "22. Energize"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11A: "24. King George ___, "Hamilton" character"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
- Similar words include: threesome, trio, leash
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12A: "25. Some H.S. teams"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a college or university team that competes at a level below the varsity team
- Similar words include: JV, junior varsity
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13A: "28. Remote batteries"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an associate degree in applied science
- Similar words include: Associate in Applied Science, AA, Associate in Arts
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14A: "30. Social ___"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information
- Similar words include: metier, medium, culture medium
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "32. Condiment sometimes known as rooster sauce"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "37. It keeps you in the dark"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17A: "38. "Is it too risky?""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18A: "39. Brand whose customers made its Super Bowl ad in 2025"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19A: "41. Appetites"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an instinctive motive
- Similar words include: root on, barrack, exhort
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20A: "42. Sporty convertible"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an open automobile having a front seat and a rumble seat
- Similar words include: two-seater, buggy, runabout
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "44. Like some ironed shirts and fall air"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a thin crisp slice of potato fried in deep fat
- Similar words include: ruckle, wrinkle, potato chip
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22A: "45. Free pass in sports"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that you advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent
- Similar words include: cheerio, auf wiedersehen, goodby
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23A: "46. "The Spanish Tragedy" playwright Thomas"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that english dramatist (1558-1594)
- Similar words include: Thomas Kid, Kid, Thomas Kyd
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "47. Washboard parts"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of a class of composite plastics used to make car bodies and cases for computers and other appliances
- Similar words include: abdominal muscle, Ab, Av
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "49. Grocery aisle enticement"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small part of something intended as representative of the whole
- Similar words include: taste, try out, sample distribution
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26A: "55. Beer brand discontinued in 2010"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27A: "58. Wading bird"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to determine the area of a triangle and who described various mechanical devices (first century)
- Similar words include: Hero, Hero of Alexandria
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28A: "59. Image in this puzzle"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29A: "63. Steve of "Battle of the Sexes""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30A: "64. "Tubular!""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material
- Similar words include: radian
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31A: "65. With a clean slate"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that again but in a new or different way
- Similar words include: afresh
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32A: "66. What some people think this puzzle's image represents"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any of various burrowing animals of the family leporidae having long ears and short tails; some domesticated and raised for pets or food
- Similar words include: coney, hare, lapin
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33A: "67. U.K. home"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34A: "68. Eliot of the Untouchables"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a strip of land projecting into a body of water
- Similar words include: cape
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Say "As if!," e.g. | 5 |
| 2D | 2. Clamdigger pants style | 5 |
| 3D | 3. First American multimillionaire | 5 |
| 4D | 4. Sand-colored | 5 |
| 5D | 5. Beverage sometimes served with cucumber sandwiches | 3 |
| 6D | 6. Web addresses | 4 |
| 7D | 7. Like the words "knackered" and "chuffed" | 7 |
| 8D | 8. Bowed instruments | 5 |
| 9D | 9. Haploid cell | 4 |
| 10D | 10. Kiss, in Córdoba | 4 |
| 11D | 11. Unlucky "Wheel of Fortune" purchase for COOL AS A CUCUMBER | 3 |
| 12D | 12. Prefix with -metric | 3 |
| 13D | 13. French resistance? | 3 |
| 14D | 18. Fort Collins sch. | 3 |
| 15D | 19. Hawaiian souvenir | 3 |
| 16D | 23. Late-night host Jack | 4 |
| 17D | 25. Website with a "Conservadox" option | 5 |
| 18D | 26. Sun blocker | 5 |
| 19D | 27. Co. that merged with Neiman's in 2024 | 4 |
| 20D | 29. Great service provider | 4 |
| 21D | 30. Late-night host Seth | 6 |
| 22D | 31. Put out | 4 |
| 23D | 32. "Excuse me" | 5 |
| 24D | 33. Stiff | 5 |
| 25D | 34. Bad time for Caesar | 4 |
| 26D | 35. Hoarse voice | 4 |
| 27D | 36. "Let's call it ___" | 4 |
| 28D | 38. What some people think this puzzle's image represents | 4 |
| 29D | 40. Many Pablo Neruda works | 4 |
| 30D | 43. No-name | 7 |
| 31D | 47. One paying for a full-price ticket, perhaps | 5 |
| 32D | 48. Life story | 3 |
| 33D | 50. Fish in a poke bowl | 3 |
| 34D | 51. Soccer great Rapinoe | 5 |
| 35D | 52. Wrinkly fruit | 5 |
| 36D | 53. Pixelated, informally | 5 |
| 37D | 54. Cable show covering the red carpet | 5 |
| 38D | 55. Nickname of the "Love Yourself" singer, with "the" | 4 |
| 39D | 56. Wrinkly fruit | 4 |
| 40D | 57. Isaac's favorite son | 4 |
| 41D | 59. Counterpart of down: Abbr. | 3 |
| 42D | 60. Billy bawl? | 3 |
| 43D | 61. "Just a sec," in a text | 3 |
| 44D | 62. Four-term prez | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Say "As if!," e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that showing your contempt by derision
- Similar words include: gibe, barrack, jeering
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. Clamdigger pants style"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an island (part of campania) in the bay of naples in southern italy; a tourist attraction noted for beautiful scenery
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. First American multimillionaire"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that british politician (born in the united states) who was the first woman to sit in the british house of commons (1879-1964)
- Similar words include: John Jacob Astor, Viscountess Astor, Nancy Witcher Astor
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. Sand-colored"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a very light brown
- Similar words include: ecru
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. Beverage sometimes served with cucumber sandwiches"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
- Similar words include: afternoon tea, Camellia sinensis, tea leaf
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. Web addresses"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the address of a web page on the world wide web
- Similar words include: universal resource locator, uniform resource locator, URL
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. Like the words "knackered" and "chuffed""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the people of great britain
- Similar words include: British people, Brits
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Bowed instruments"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. Haploid cell"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the female reproductive cell; the female gamete
- Similar words include: egg cell
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Kiss, in Córdoba"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. Unlucky "Wheel of Fortune" purchase for COOL AS A CUCUMBER"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that black tropical american cuckoo
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12D: "12. Prefix with -metric"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. French resistance?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that negation of a word or group of words
- Similar words include: not
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14D: "18. Fort Collins sch."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15D: "19. Hawaiian souvenir"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes
- Similar words include: garland, chaplet, leu
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "23. Late-night host Jack"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "25. Website with a "Conservadox" option"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18D: "26. Sun blocker"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a piece of armor plate (with eye slits) fixed or hinged to a medieval helmet to protect the face
- Similar words include: eyeshade, vizor, peak
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "27. Co. that merged with Neiman's in 2024"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "29. Great service provider"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that type genus of the aceraceae; trees or shrubs having winged fruit
- Similar words include: genus Acer
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "30. Late-night host Seth"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "31. Put out"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that expel (gases or odors)
- Similar words include: give off, let loose, give out
- Opposite of: absorb
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23D: "32. "Excuse me""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone
- Similar words include: good-for-naught, dingy, no-count
- Opposite of: unregretful
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "33. Stiff"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that incapable of or resistant to bending
- Similar words include: stiff, strict, fixed
- Opposite of: nonrigid
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "34. Bad time for Caesar"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that in the roman calendar: the 15th of march or may or july or october or the 13th of any other month
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "35. Hoarse voice"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that uttering in an irritated tone
- Similar words include: wood file, rasping
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "36. "Let's call it ___""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "38. What some people think this puzzle's image represents"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs
- Similar words include: evade, duck's egg, fudge
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "40. Many Pablo Neruda works"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
- Similar words include: ode
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "43. No-name"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that make less visible or unclear
- Similar words include: unnoticeable, apart, isolated
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "47. One paying for a full-price ticket, perhaps"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a fully developed person from maturity onward
- Similar words include: full-grown, fully grown, grownup
- Opposite of: juvenile
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "48. Life story"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "50. Fish in a poke bowl"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "51. Soccer great Rapinoe"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "52. Wrinkly fruit"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of
- Similar words include: rationalise, rationalize, trim
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "53. Pixelated, informally"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote
- Similar words include: lore, traditional knowledge
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "54. Cable show covering the red carpet"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
38D: "55. Nickname of the "Love Yourself" singer, with "the""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
39D: "56. Wrinkly fruit"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that large sweet juicy hybrid between tangerine and grapefruit having a thick wrinkled skin
- Similar words include: ugli fruit, tangelo
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
40D: "57. Isaac's favorite son"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (old testament) the eldest son of isaac who would have inherited the covenant that god made with abraham and that abraham passed on to isaac; he traded his birthright to his twin brother jacob for a mess of pottage
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
41D: "59. Counterpart of down: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
42D: "60. Billy bawl?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
43D: "61. "Just a sec," in a text"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
44D: "62. Four-term prez"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that 32nd president of the united states; elected four times; instituted new deal to counter the great depression and led country during world war ii (1882-1945)
- Similar words include: President Franklin Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Roosevelt
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Expert Solving Strategies
Start Smart
Begin with fill-in-the-blank clues and short 3-4 letter words. These are your foundation.
Decode the Clues
Question marks indicate wordplay or puns. "Maybe" suggests multiple interpretations.
Use Cross-References
Let intersecting letters guide you. One correct answer unlocks several others.
Build Vocabulary
Common crossword words repeat. Learning them speeds up future solving.
Today's Puzzle Stats
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