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 (41 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. Assistance | 4 |
| 2A | 5. Dickens villain ___ Heep | 5 |
| 3A | 10. Bears' lairs | 4 |
| 4A | 14. Plant with many topical uses | 4 |
| 5A | 15. Downright unpleasant | 5 |
| 6A | 16. Meaning of "vidi," in Caesar's boast | 4 |
| 7A | 17. Classic Beethoven piano piece | 15 |
| 8A | 20. Fed. agency overseeing the stock market | 3 |
| 9A | 21. To blame | 7 |
| 10A | 22. Online Q&A | 3 |
| 11A | 25. ___ ex machina | 4 |
| 12A | 28. Home to Kosovo and Monaco: Abbr. | 3 |
| 13A | 29. Academy Award-winning tune from "La La Land" | 11 |
| 14A | 32. "Chiseled" muscles | 3 |
| 15A | 35. Of yore | 5 |
| 16A | 36. Snippet in a film review show | 9 |
| 17A | 38. "Looper" director Johnson | 4 |
| 18A | 39. Sarcastic title girl of 1990s-2000s MTV | 5 |
| 19A | 40. Utah skiing destination | 4 |
| 20A | 41. Coverers of current events | 9 |
| 21A | 43. Boss (around) | 5 |
| 22A | 44. Phoenix basketball player | 3 |
| 23A | 45. 1983 Eurythmics hit whose full title includes "(Are Made of This)" | 11 |
| 24A | 47. Popular fantasy role-playing game, in brief | 3 |
| 25A | 48. Spies | 4 |
| 26A | 49. "___-haw!" | 3 |
| 27A | 50. It has its x's and y's | 7 |
| 28A | 54. T-shirt or blouse | 3 |
| 29A | 56. Iconic number from "The Phantom of the Opera" ... or an apt title for this puzzle | 15 |
| 30A | 62. Story of one's life? | 4 |
| 31A | 63. Beforehand | 5 |
| 32A | 64. Singer Kahan with the 2026 #1 album "The Great Divide" | 4 |
| 33A | 65. Hot | 4 |
| 34A | 66. 17-, 29-, 45- and 56-Across | 5 |
| 35A | 67. Person regularly sought out for advice | 4 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Assistance"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
- Similar words include: service, serve, assistance
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HELP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2A: "5. Dickens villain ___ Heep"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (old testament) the husband of bathsheba and a soldier who was sent to die in battle so that king david could marry his wife (circa 10th century bc)
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URIAH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3A: "10. Bears' lairs"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the habitation of wild animals
- Similar words include: hideout, hideaway, den
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DENS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4A: "14. Plant with many topical uses"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that succulent plants having rosettes of leaves usually with fiber like hemp and spikes of showy flowers; found chiefly in africa
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALOE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5A: "15. Downright unpleasant"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that offensive or even (of persons) malicious; ; ; ; ; ; - ezra pound
- Similar words include: tight, awful, smutty
- Opposite of: nice
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NASTY
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6A: "16. Meaning of "vidi," in Caesar's boast"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISAW
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7A: "17. Classic Beethoven piano piece"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOONLIGHTSONATA
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8A: "20. Fed. agency overseeing the stock market"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that 1/60 of a minute; the basic unit of time adopted under the systeme international d'unites
- Similar words include: secant, unsweet, Securities and Exchange Commission
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEC
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9A: "21. To blame"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATFAULT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10A: "22. Online Q&A"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMA
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11A: "25. ___ ex machina"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEUS
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12A: "28. Home to Kosovo and Monaco: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EUR
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13A: "29. Academy Award-winning tune from "La La Land""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CITYOFSTARS
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14A: "32. "Chiseled" muscles"
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: Bachelor of Arts, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, group AB
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "35. Of yore"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLDEN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "36. Snippet in a film review show"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOVIECLIP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17A: "38. "Looper" director Johnson"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIAN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18A: "39. Sarcastic title girl of 1990s-2000s MTV"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DARIA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19A: "40. Utah skiing destination"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALTA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20A: "41. Coverers of current events"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEWSMEDIA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "43. Boss (around)"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
- Similar words include: Holy Order, tell, regulate
- Opposite of: disorderliness, disorder
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORDER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22A: "44. Phoenix basketball player"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
- Similar words include: Lord's Day, sunlight, insolate
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23A: "45. 1983 Eurythmics hit whose full title includes "(Are Made of This)""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWEETDREAMS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "47. Popular fantasy role-playing game, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DND
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "48. Spies"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the seat within a bishop's diocese where his cathedral is located
- Similar words include: discover, realize, meet
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26A: "49. "___-haw!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27A: "50. It has its x's and y's"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the mathematics of generalized arithmetical operations
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALGEBRA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28A: "54. T-shirt or blouse"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the upper part of anything
- Similar words include: tip, pinnacle, circus tent
- Opposite of: bottom
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29A: "56. Iconic number from "The Phantom of the Opera" ... or an apt title for this puzzle"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MUSICOFTHENIGHT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30A: "62. Story of one's life?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a notice of someone's death; usually includes a short biography
- Similar words include: necrology, obituary
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBIT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31A: "63. Beforehand"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the head of a religious order; in an abbey the prior is next below the abbot
- Similar words include: anterior
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PRIOR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32A: "64. Singer Kahan with the 2026 #1 album "The Great Divide""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the hebrew patriarch who saved himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain; the story of noah and the flood is told in the book of genesis
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOAH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33A: "65. Hot"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest
- Similar words include: aphrodisiac, aphrodisiacal
- Opposite of: unsexy, anaphrodisiac
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEXY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34A: "66. 17-, 29-, 45- and 56-Across"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a short musical composition with words
- Similar words include: vocal, birdsong, Sung
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SONGS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35A: "67. Person regularly sought out for advice"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOTO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Scene stealer | 3 |
| 2D | 2. Eponym of a chess rating system | 3 |
| 3D | 3. British bathroom | 3 |
| 4D | 4. Writes | 4 |
| 5D | 5. International aid org. | 6 |
| 6D | 6. Cloth covered in dust, say | 3 |
| 7D | 7. "... or so" | 3 |
| 8D | 8. Lead-in to "boy!" or "girl!" | 4 |
| 9D | 9. Madness | 8 |
| 10D | 10. Kuwaiti currency | 5 |
| 11D | 11. The elder of a pair of biblical twins | 4 |
| 12D | 12. The "N" of N.A.A.C.P.: Abbr. | 4 |
| 13D | 13. Smack, as flies | 4 |
| 14D | 18. Gave false hopes | 5 |
| 15D | 19. Coming in handy | 5 |
| 16D | 22. Nuts whose shells look like they have little berets | 6 |
| 17D | 23. Environs | 6 |
| 18D | 24. When Hamilton and Burr had their duel | 6 |
| 19D | 26. Manufactured in America | 6 |
| 20D | 27. What gossipers and tall buildings are full of | 7 |
| 21D | 30. Desires | 4 |
| 22D | 31. Fly in the sky | 6 |
| 23D | 32. Like some theme park passes | 6 |
| 24D | 33. "Oh, buzz off" | 6 |
| 25D | 34. Thin on the ground | 6 |
| 26D | 37. Give a hoot | 4 |
| 27D | 39. Morning condensation | 8 |
| 28D | 42. Channel that rebranded with "NOW" in its name in 2025 | 5 |
| 29D | 43. "Citizen Kane" director Welles | 5 |
| 30D | 46. Forfends | 6 |
| 31D | 47. Part of a pantheon | 5 |
| 32D | 50. "Famous" cookie baker | 4 |
| 33D | 51. Anti-friction fluid | 4 |
| 34D | 52. High-end private jet, familiarly | 4 |
| 35D | 53. Hairstyle associated with Jimi Hendrix and Angela Davis | 4 |
| 36D | 55. Send an instant message | 4 |
| 37D | 57. Sardine container | 3 |
| 38D | 58. Refuse to share | 3 |
| 39D | 59. Glop | 3 |
| 40D | 60. Mario has a red "M" on his | 3 |
| 41D | 61. Howe'er | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Scene stealer"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
- Similar words include: gammon, overplay, jambon
- Opposite of: underact
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAM
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. Eponym of a chess rating system"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. British bathroom"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a toilet in britain
- Similar words include: W.C., closet, water closet
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. Writes"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a writing implement with a point from which ink flows
- Similar words include: pen, compose, write
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PENS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. International aid org."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an agency of the united nations responsible for programs to aid education and the health of children and mothers in developing countries
- Similar words include: United Nations Children's Fund, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNICEF
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. Cloth covered in dust, say"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small piece of cloth or paper
- Similar words include: annoy, nettle, bawl out
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAG
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. "... or so""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Lead-in to "boy!" or "girl!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATTA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. Madness"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that state of violent mental agitation
- Similar words include: hysterical neurosis, fury, craze
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HYSTERIA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Kuwaiti currency"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that 100 dinars equal 1 rial in iran
- Similar words include: Tunisian dinar, Libyan dinar, Yugoslavian dinar
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DINAR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. The elder of a pair of biblical twins"
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!)
Answer: ESAU
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12D: "12. The "N" of N.A.A.C.P.: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NATL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. Smack, as flies"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a sharp blow
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWAT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14D: "18. Gave false hopes"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEDON
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15D: "19. Coming in handy"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OFUSE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "22. Nuts whose shells look like they have little berets"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that fruit of the oak tree: a smooth thin-walled nut in a woody cup-shaped base
- Similar words include: acorn
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACORNS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "23. Environs"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the environmental condition
- Similar words include: surroundings
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MILIEU
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18D: "24. When Hamilton and Burr had their duel"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATDAWN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "26. Manufactured in America"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USMADE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "27. What gossipers and tall buildings are full of"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
- Similar words include: narration, storey, tale
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STORIES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "30. Desires"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a yearning for something or to do something
- Similar words include: hankering, yen, yearn
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YENS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "31. Fly in the sky"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that operate an airplane
- Similar words include: pilot, fly
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVIATE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23D: "32. Like some theme park passes"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLDAY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "33. "Oh, buzz off""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BITEME
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "34. Thin on the ground"
Solving Hints:
- Similar words include: thin
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPARSE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "37. Give a hoot"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
- Similar words include: maintenance, wish, worry
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CARE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "39. Morning condensation"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a drop of dew
- Similar words include: dewdrop
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEWDROPS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "42. Channel that rebranded with "NOW" in its name in 2025"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MSNBC
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "43. "Citizen Kane" director Welles"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORSON
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "46. Forfends"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that try to prevent; show opposition to
- Similar words include: dissuade, discourage, deter
- Opposite of: persuade
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DETERS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "47. Part of a pantheon"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force
- Similar words include: immortal, divinity, god
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEITY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "50. "Famous" cookie baker"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a hebrew shepherd and minor prophet
- Similar words include: Book of Amos
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMOS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "51. Anti-friction fluid"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a substance capable of reducing friction by making surfaces smooth or slippery
- Similar words include: lubricating substance, lubricator, lubricate
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUBE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "52. High-end private jet, familiarly"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GSIX
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "53. Hairstyle associated with Jimi Hendrix and Angela Davis"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a rounded thickly curled hairdo
- Similar words include: Afro hairdo
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFRO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "55. Send an instant message"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a river in western thailand; a major tributary of the chao phraya
- Similar words include: pink, Ping River, knock
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PING
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "57. Sardine container"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide
- Similar words include: can, atomic number 50, canister
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
38D: "58. Refuse to share"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a person regarded as greedy and pig-like
- Similar words include: hogget, grunter, squealer
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOG
Remember this word for future puzzles!
39D: "59. Glop"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any thick, viscous matter
- Similar words include: ooze, gunk, gook
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
40D: "60. Mario has a red "M" on his"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
- Similar words include: chapeau, lid
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
41D: "61. Howe'er"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a branch of the tai languages
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THO
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
35 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
76 Total Clues
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