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 (35 clues)
- Across Clues - Detailed Hints
- Down Clues Table (43 clues)
- Down Clues - Detailed Hints
- Expert Solving Strategies
- Today's Puzzle Statistics
Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Medium
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. Paths for lobbed tennis balls | 4 |
| 2A | 5. Tribe of Arizona | 4 |
| 3A | 9. Flinch, say | 5 |
| 4A | 14. Short blast from a horn | 4 |
| 5A | 15. Actor McGregor of "Trainspotting" | 4 |
| 6A | 16. Han Solo's response to Leia's "I love you" | 5 |
| 7A | 17. Singer's recovery period | 9 |
| 8A | 19. "Catch my drift?" | 5 |
| 9A | 20. Shop | 5 |
| 10A | 21. Spot for a soak | 3 |
| 11A | 23. Dear ___ (letter start) | 3 |
| 12A | 24. Pumice or basalt | 12 |
| 13A | 29. Chemical that speeds up a fruit's aging process | 7 |
| 14A | 32. Film director Coen | 5 |
| 15A | 33. "Our Lips ___ Sealed" (hit by the Go-Go's) | 3 |
| 16A | 34. Youngest woman ever elected to Congress, familiarly | 3 |
| 17A | 36. Betraying surprise, in a way | 5 |
| 18A | 39. Spinoff of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" | 15 |
| 19A | 44. Big name in microprocessors | 5 |
| 20A | 45. "Who's Who in the Cast" blurb | 3 |
| 21A | 46. Tie-breaking periods, for short | 3 |
| 22A | 47. How a picture book may be read at bedtime | 5 |
| 23A | 50. ___ of hand (magician's skill) | 7 |
| 24A | 53. Congressional history | 12 |
| 25A | 56. Palindrome akin to "Aha!" | 3 |
| 26A | 57. Work well together | 3 |
| 27A | 58. Florida's ___-Dade County | 5 |
| 28A | 62. Jousting weapon | 5 |
| 29A | 65. Device worn by a video gamer ... or a hint to 17-, 24-, 39- and 53-Across | 9 |
| 30A | 68. Basic piano chord | 5 |
| 31A | 69. Notes of indebtedness | 4 |
| 32A | 70. Gets eyes on | 4 |
| 33A | 71. Sends frisky messages | 5 |
| 34A | 72. Strong soapmaking solutions | 4 |
| 35A | 73. Like bourbon | 4 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Paths for lobbed tennis balls"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that electrical conduction through a gas in an applied electric field
- Similar words include: arc, bow, spark
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2A: "5. Tribe of Arizona"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a member of the shoshonean people of northeastern arizona
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3A: "9. Flinch, say"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that show a response or a reaction to something
- Similar words include: respond, oppose
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4A: "14. Short blast from a horn"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a blast of a horn
- Similar words include: carousal, beep, booze-up
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5A: "15. Actor McGregor of "Trainspotting""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6A: "16. Han Solo's response to Leia's "I love you""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7A: "17. Singer's recovery period"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8A: "19. "Catch my drift?""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9A: "20. Shop"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
- Similar words include: computer storage, memory board, put in
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10A: "21. Spot for a soak"
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: tubful, bath, bathing tub
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11A: "23. Dear ___ (letter start)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that term of address for a man
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12A: "24. Pumice or basalt"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13A: "29. Chemical that speeds up a fruit's aging process"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14A: "32. Film director Coen"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "33. "Our Lips ___ Sealed" (hit by the Go-Go's)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters
- Similar words include: equal, ar, be
- Opposite of: differ
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "34. Youngest woman ever elected to Congress, familiarly"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17A: "36. Betraying surprise, in a way"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18A: "39. Spinoff of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19A: "44. Big name in microprocessors"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20A: "45. "Who's Who in the Cast" blurb"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "46. Tie-breaking periods, for short"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22A: "47. How a picture book may be read at bedtime"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that using the voice; not silently
- Similar words include: loud, loudly, out loud
- Opposite of: softly
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23A: "50. ___ of hand (magician's skill)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that adroitness in using the hands
- Similar words include: manual dexterity, dexterity
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "53. Congressional history"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "56. Palindrome akin to "Aha!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26A: "57. Work well together"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a colloid in a more solid form than a sol
- Similar words include: gelatin, colloidal gel, mousse
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27A: "58. Florida's ___-Dade County"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a member of the extinct algonquian people formerly living in northern indiana and southern michigan
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28A: "62. Jousting weapon"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a long pointed rod used as a tool or weapon
- Similar words include: spear, shaft, fizgig
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29A: "65. Device worn by a video gamer ... or a hint to 17-, 24-, 39- and 53-Across"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30A: "68. Basic piano chord"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
- Similar words include: trine, trey, triple
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31A: "69. Notes of indebtedness"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an informal debt instrument; representing `i owe you'
- Similar words include: IOU
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32A: "70. Gets eyes on"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the seat within a bishop's diocese where his cathedral is located
- Similar words include: fancy, take in, understand
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33A: "71. Sends frisky messages"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the fourth of the seven canonical hours; about noon
- Similar words include: sext
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34A: "72. Strong soapmaking solutions"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a strong solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide
- Similar words include: lye
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35A: "73. Like bourbon"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Four-wheelers, in brief | 4 |
| 2D | 2. Word before beer or after square | 4 |
| 3D | 3. Pixar film with the Oscar-winning song "Remember Me" | 4 |
| 4D | 4. "Feed a cold, ___ a fever" (dubious medical advice) | 6 |
| 5D | 5. That girl | 3 |
| 6D | 6. Have debts | 3 |
| 7D | 7. Many an Olive Garden entree | 5 |
| 8D | 8. Sounding good, as a musical instrument | 6 |
| 9D | 9. 18-wheeler | 3 |
| 10D | 10. Barely get (by) | 3 |
| 11D | 11. Snack with celery, peanut butter and raisins | 10 |
| 12D | 12. "Peanuts" or "Pickles" | 5 |
| 13D | 13. Do some booty-shaking | 5 |
| 14D | 18. Spinks who defeated Muhammad Ali | 4 |
| 15D | 22. One-eighth of a byte | 3 |
| 16D | 25. Titular Shakespearean king | 4 |
| 17D | 26. Remove outer parts from, as a photo | 4 |
| 18D | 27. Burn until black | 4 |
| 19D | 28. Prego alternative | 4 |
| 20D | 29. Sitar virtuoso Shankar | 4 |
| 21D | 30. Tehran's land | 4 |
| 22D | 31. Grammy-winning a cappella group famous for their Christmas albums | 10 |
| 23D | 35. Chicago slugger | 3 |
| 24D | 37. "Late Night" host Meyers | 4 |
| 25D | 38. "Hey! Over here!" | 4 |
| 26D | 40. Place to purchase pastrami | 4 |
| 27D | 41. North Carolina university | 4 |
| 28D | 42. Catchall category: Abbr. | 4 |
| 29D | 43. Sport on a horse | 4 |
| 30D | 48. Sheepskin boot brand | 3 |
| 31D | 49. Role for Mike Myers in the Austin Powers movies | 6 |
| 32D | 51. Columnist Bombeck | 4 |
| 33D | 52. Doubling-down assertion | 6 |
| 34D | 53. Battery measure | 5 |
| 35D | 54. Chicago airport | 5 |
| 36D | 55. "The Jetsons" boy | 5 |
| 37D | 59. On the waves | 4 |
| 38D | 60. Gentle and submissive | 4 |
| 39D | 61. ___-bitsy | 4 |
| 40D | 63. Garfield in the funny pages, e.g. | 3 |
| 41D | 64. Magazine bigwigs, in brief | 3 |
| 42D | 66. Gradation of color | 3 |
| 43D | 67. Letter before tee | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Four-wheelers, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. Word before beer or after square"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (botany) the usually underground organ that lacks buds or leaves or nodes; absorbs water and mineral salts; usually it anchors the plant to the ground
- Similar words include: rootage, theme, ancestor
- Opposite of: descendant
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. Pixar film with the Oscar-winning song "Remember Me""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that tall palm tree bearing coconuts as fruits; widely planted throughout the tropics
- Similar words include: coco palm, cocoa palm, coconut tree
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. "Feed a cold, ___ a fever" (dubious medical advice)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that be hungry; go without food
- Similar words include: hunger, famish, lust
- Opposite of: feed, be full
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. That girl"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. Have debts"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that be obliged to pay or repay
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. Many an Olive Garden entree"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a dish that contains pasta as its main ingredient
- Similar words include: alimentary paste
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Sounding good, as a musical instrument"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. 18-wheeler"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that gear (including necessary machinery) for a particular enterprise
- Similar words include: fishing rig, semi, set
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Barely get (by)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. Snack with celery, peanut butter and raisins"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12D: "12. "Peanuts" or "Pickles""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a professional performer who tells jokes and performs comical acts
- Similar words include: risible, funny, amusing
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. Do some booty-shaking"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14D: "18. Spinks who defeated Muhammad Ali"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a historical area and former kingdom in northwestern spain
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15D: "22. One-eighth of a byte"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small piece or quantity of something
- Similar words include: seize with teeth, scrap, morsel
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "25. Titular Shakespearean king"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that british artist and writer of nonsense verse (1812-1888)
- Similar words include: Edward Lear, King Lear
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "26. Remove outer parts from, as a photo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the yield from plants in a single growing season
- Similar words include: dress, craw, cut back
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18D: "27. Burn until black"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a charred substance
- Similar words include: cleaning lady, woman, sear
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "28. Prego alternative"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "29. Sitar virtuoso Shankar"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "30. Tehran's land"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a theocratic islamic republic in the middle east in western asia; iran was the core of the ancient empire that was known as persia until 1935; rich in oil
- Similar words include: Persia, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "31. Grammy-winning a cappella group famous for their Christmas albums"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23D: "35. Chicago slugger"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an awkward and inexperienced youth
- Similar words include: greenhorn, sonny, lad
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "37. "Late Night" host Meyers"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (old testament) third son of adam and eve; given by god in place of the murdered abel
- Similar words include: Set
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "38. "Hey! Over here!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "40. Place to purchase pastrami"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a shop selling ready-to-eat food products
- Similar words include: delicatessen, food shop
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "41. North Carolina university"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "42. Catchall category: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "43. Sport on a horse"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that venetian traveler who explored asia in the 13th century and served kublai khan (1254-1324)
- Similar words include: Marco Polo
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "48. Sheepskin boot brand"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "49. Role for Mike Myers in the Austin Powers movies"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "51. Columnist Bombeck"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "52. Doubling-down assertion"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "53. Battery measure"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of potential equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a current of 1 ampere when the power dissipated between the two points is 1 watt; equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of 1 ohm when 1 ampere of current flows through it
- Similar words include: volt, V
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "54. Chicago airport"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "55. "The Jetsons" boy"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "59. On the waves"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that in the direction of the sea
- Similar words include: seaward, seawards
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
38D: "60. Gentle and submissive"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that humble in spirit or manner; suggesting retiring mildness or even cowed submissiveness
- Similar words include: modest, spiritless, mild
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
39D: "61. ___-bitsy"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
40D: "63. Garfield in the funny pages, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
- Similar words include: computerized tomography, computed axial tomography, barf
- Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
41D: "64. Magazine bigwigs, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a rapid automatic system to detect plastic explosives in passengers' luggage using x-ray technology and computers; designed for use in airports
- Similar words include: male erecticle dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, ED
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
42D: "66. Gradation of color"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength
- Similar words include: imbue, chromaticity
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
43D: "67. Letter before tee"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium with neutrons
- Similar words include: einsteinium, Es, atomic number 99
- 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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