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 (48 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. Like Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, some say | 7 |
| 2A | 8. App brought back by Microsoft in 2024 | 3 |
| 3A | 11. Swear | 4 |
| 4A | 15. Disney film set in a fictional Colombian village | 7 |
| 5A | 16. BEFORE (Deck 1): Slackers | 8 |
| 6A | 18. Celebrity | 7 |
| 7A | 19. Fast-paced scam, such as the shell game | 8 |
| 8A | 20. BEFORE (Deck 2): PlayStation and Switch | 8 |
| 9A | 22. Laterite, for example | 3 |
| 10A | 23. Folkie DiFranco | 3 |
| 11A | 24. Chills | 5 |
| 12A | 26. "___ Recall" (1990 sci-fi film) | 5 |
| 13A | 31. Jay who hosted the 2020s revival of "You Bet Your Life" | 4 |
| 14A | 33. Wild European rabbit in Australia, e.g. | 4 |
| 15A | 36. Beer buy | 4 |
| 16A | 37. Join tightly | 4 |
| 17A | 41. BEFORE (Deck 3): Quarry | 8 |
| 18A | 43. Casino maneuvers carried out three times in this puzzle? | 14 |
| 19A | 46. AFTER (Deck 3): Crucial moment in a tennis match | 8 |
| 20A | 47. Osso ___ (veal dish) | 4 |
| 21A | 48. "The Emperor's New Groove" setting | 4 |
| 22A | 49. Blond, but not really | 4 |
| 23A | 51. Many a discovery in the Valley of the Kings | 4 |
| 24A | 55. Visit by plane | 5 |
| 25A | 57. ___ With Friends | 5 |
| 26A | 61. Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" | 3 |
| 27A | 62. Telepathy, e.g. | 3 |
| 28A | 65. AFTER (Deck 2): Noted quality of the Fonz | 8 |
| 29A | 67. Geraldo Rivera uncovered his "vaults" on live TV | 8 |
| 30A | 72. "___ the Day" (Thomas Pynchon's longest novel) | 7 |
| 31A | 73. AFTER (Deck 1): Slackers | 8 |
| 32A | 74. Was up the river | 7 |
| 33A | 75. Awards achievement reached in 2026 by Steven Spielberg | 4 |
| 34A | 76. Outdo | 3 |
| 35A | 77. Rival of a Raven | 7 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Like Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, some say"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that cast an actor, singer, or dancer in an unsuitable role
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2A: "8. App brought back by Microsoft in 2024"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3A: "11. Swear"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a persistently annoying person
- Similar words include: pest, feller, swearword
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4A: "15. Disney film set in a fictional Colombian village"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5A: "16. BEFORE (Deck 1): Slackers"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6A: "18. Celebrity"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the status of being acknowledged as a star
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7A: "19. Fast-paced scam, such as the shell game"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8A: "20. BEFORE (Deck 2): PlayStation and Switch"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small table fixed to a wall or designed to stand against a wall
- Similar words include: cabinet, solace, console table
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9A: "22. Laterite, for example"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a mineral that contains metal that is valuable enough to be mined
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10A: "23. Folkie DiFranco"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that black tropical american cuckoo
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11A: "24. Chills"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that something left after other parts have been taken away
- Similar words include: roost, residue, stay
- Opposite of: change, be active
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12A: "26. "___ Recall" (1990 sci-fi film)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the whole amount
- Similar words include: summate, add together, tot
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13A: "31. Jay who hosted the 2020s revival of "You Bet Your Life""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14A: "33. Wild European rabbit in Australia, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
- Similar words include: plague, cuss, blighter
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "36. Beer buy"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an occurrence of something
- Similar words include: compositor's case, type, pillowcase
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "37. Join tightly"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an electrical device that can interrupt the flow of electrical current when it is overloaded
- Similar words include: commingle, flux, fuze
- Opposite of: defuse
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17A: "41. BEFORE (Deck 3): Quarry"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18A: "43. Casino maneuvers carried out three times in this puzzle?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19A: "46. AFTER (Deck 3): Crucial moment in a tennis match"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20A: "47. Osso ___ (veal dish)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "48. "The Emperor's New Groove" setting"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a republic in western south america; achieved independence from spain in 1821; was the heart of the inca empire from the 12th to 16th centuries
- Similar words include: Republic of Peru
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22A: "49. Blond, but not really"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that color with dye
- Similar words include: bleached, colored, dye
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23A: "51. Many a discovery in the Valley of the Kings"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)
- Similar words include: grave
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "55. Visit by plane"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "57. ___ With Friends"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the words that are spoken
- Similar words include: quarrel, password, give-and-take
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26A: "61. Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27A: "62. Telepathy, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of pressure
- Similar words include: pounds per square inch
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28A: "65. AFTER (Deck 2): Noted quality of the Fonz"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that calm and unruffled self-assurance
- Similar words include: iciness, imperturbableness, chilliness
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29A: "67. Geraldo Rivera uncovered his "vaults" on live TV"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30A: "72. "___ the Day" (Thomas Pynchon's longest novel)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31A: "73. AFTER (Deck 1): Slackers"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32A: "74. Was up the river"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33A: "75. Awards achievement reached in 2026 by Steven Spielberg"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34A: "76. Outdo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the upper part of anything
- Similar words include: summit, meridian, spinning top
- Opposite of: bottom
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35A: "77. Rival of a Raven"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Paul who played William Shakespeare in "Hamnet" | 6 |
| 2D | 2. Vocalize | 6 |
| 3D | 3. Digitize, as a document | 6 |
| 4D | 4. "Just What I Needed" band, with "the" | 4 |
| 5D | 5. Disney+ series whose name sounds like a compound conjunction | 5 |
| 6D | 6. Got via the "five-finger discount" | 5 |
| 7D | 7. "The Complete Works of ..." books, say | 5 |
| 8D | 8. Booker T.'s backing band | 3 |
| 9D | 9. Neighborhood mentioned in "Werewolves of London" | 4 |
| 10D | 10. Former queen of Jordan | 4 |
| 11D | 11. Portable bed | 3 |
| 12D | 12. Mixed martial arts org. | 3 |
| 13D | 13. Bay Area airport code | 3 |
| 14D | 14. ID thief's target: Abbr. | 3 |
| 15D | 17. Instrument ridge | 4 |
| 16D | 21. Valvoline rival | 3 |
| 17D | 25. Gathering, informally | 4 |
| 18D | 27. Cat that's spotted in South America | 6 |
| 19D | 28. It's on a roll | 4 |
| 20D | 29. Sale caveat | 4 |
| 21D | 30. Permitted to | 3 |
| 22D | 32. Repelled | 6 |
| 23D | 34. Scrapbook keepsake | 4 |
| 24D | 35. Popcorn ___ (fried vegan treat) | 4 |
| 25D | 38. Subject of a declassified Pentagon document, in brief | 3 |
| 26D | 39. Averted a tag, maybe | 4 |
| 27D | 40. Start of a counting-out rhyme | 4 |
| 28D | 42. Lions and Bears are in it, in brief | 3 |
| 29D | 43. Stagger | 4 |
| 30D | 44. "Hey, doing my best" | 4 |
| 31D | 45. Goulash, e.g. | 4 |
| 32D | 46. UV blockage fig. | 3 |
| 33D | 50. Medical moniker | 3 |
| 34D | 52. Final score of at least 10% of professional soccer matches | 6 |
| 35D | 53. "Glad I'm back?" | 6 |
| 36D | 54. Thanksgiving kitchen tool | 6 |
| 37D | 56. Research for a political hit, slangily | 4 |
| 38D | 58. Map lines | 5 |
| 39D | 59. Give minimum effort | 5 |
| 40D | 60. British glam rock band of the 1970s | 5 |
| 41D | 63. Lenient | 4 |
| 42D | 64. 411 | 4 |
| 43D | 66. TV's Nick at ___ | 4 |
| 44D | 67. Gray, say | 3 |
| 45D | 68. Record | 3 |
| 46D | 69. Bill's partner | 3 |
| 47D | 70. Back at sea | 3 |
| 48D | 71. "Ability" that's hard to believe, for short | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Paul who played William Shakespeare in "Hamnet""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small spineless globe-shaped cactus; source of mescal buttons
- Similar words include: peyote, mezcal, Lophophora williamsii
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. Vocalize"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically
- Similar words include: cantillate, intonate, chant
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. Digitize, as a document"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. "Just What I Needed" band, with "the""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
- Similar words include: motorcar, elevator car, railcar
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. Disney+ series whose name sounds like a compound conjunction"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. Got via the "five-finger discount""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a wide scarf worn about their shoulders by women
- Similar words include: steal, slip
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. "The Complete Works of ..." books, say"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a (usually) large and scholarly book
- Similar words include: tome
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Booker T.'s backing band"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that one thousandth (1/1,000) gram
- Similar words include: milligram, magnesium, Mg
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. Neighborhood mentioned in "Werewolves of London""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a district in southwestern manhattan noted for its shops and restaurants and galleries and artist's lofts
- Similar words include: South of Houston
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Former queen of Jordan"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. Portable bed"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a sheath worn to protect a finger
- Similar words include: fingerstall, camp bed, crib
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12D: "12. Mixed martial arts org."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. Bay Area airport code"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14D: "14. ID thief's target: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15D: "17. Instrument ridge"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that agitation resulting from active worry
- Similar words include: Greek key, stew, choke
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "21. Valvoline rival"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that standard temperature and pressure
- Similar words include: s.t.p.
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "25. Gathering, informally"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18D: "27. Cat that's spotted in South America"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that nocturnal wildcat of central america and south america having a dark-spotted buff-brown coat
- Similar words include: Felis pardalis, panther cat
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "28. It's on a roll"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a long thin piece of cloth or paper as used for binding or fastening
- Similar words include: videotape, tapeline, taping
- Opposite of: erase
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "29. Sale caveat"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "30. Permitted to"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a brutal terrorist group active in kashmir; fights against india with the goal of restoring islamic rule of india
- Similar words include: allow, countenance, get
- Opposite of: disallow, prevent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "32. Repelled"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23D: "34. Scrapbook keepsake"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a short piece remaining on a trunk or stem where a branch is lost
- Similar words include: ticket stub, nub, check stub
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "35. Popcorn ___ (fried vegan treat)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that cheeselike food made of curdled soybean milk
- Similar words include: bean curd
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "38. Subject of a declassified Pentagon document, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an (apparently) flying object whose nature is unknown; especially those considered to have extraterrestrial origins
- Similar words include: flying saucer, unidentified flying object
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "39. Averted a tag, maybe"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that move obliquely or sideways, usually in an uncontrolled manner
- Similar words include: slew, slue, slither
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "40. Start of a counting-out rhyme"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "42. Lions and Bears are in it, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "43. Stagger"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a roll of photographic film holding a series of frames to be projected by a movie projector
- Similar words include: stagger, whirl, swag
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "44. "Hey, doing my best""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "45. Goulash, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that agitation resulting from active worry
- Similar words include: swither, fret, sweat
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "46. UV blockage fig."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the degree to which a sunscreen protects the skin from the direct rays of the sun
- Similar words include: sun protection factor
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "50. Medical moniker"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a licensed medical practitioner
- Similar words include: MD, Commerce, medico
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "52. Final score of at least 10% of professional soccer matches"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "53. "Glad I'm back?""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "54. Thanksgiving kitchen tool"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a cook who bastes roasting meat with melted fat or gravy
- Similar words include: tacker
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "56. Research for a political hit, slangily"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
38D: "58. Map lines"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a partly sheltered anchorage
- Similar words include: road, route, roadstead
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
39D: "59. Give minimum effort"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
40D: "60. British glam rock band of the 1970s"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
41D: "63. Lenient"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that yielding readily to pressure or weight
- Similar words include: diffused, easy, gentle
- Opposite of: hard, forte
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
42D: "64. 411"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a message received and understood
- Similar words include: information
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
43D: "66. TV's Nick at ___"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
44D: "67. Gray, say"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that how long something has existed
- Similar words include: historic period, years, maturate
- Opposite of: rejuvenate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
45D: "68. Record"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a segment of the trunk of a tree when stripped of branches
- Similar words include: lumber, logarithm
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
46D: "69. Bill's partner"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the sound made by a pigeon
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
47D: "70. Back at sea"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (nautical, aeronautical) situated at or toward the stern or tail
- Similar words include: abaft, astern
- Opposite of: fore
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Remember this word for future puzzles!
48D: "71. "Ability" that's hard to believe, for short"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that apparent power to perceive things that are not present to the senses
- Similar words include: clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, E.S.P.
- 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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