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Showing posts sorted by date for query AIMS. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Monday, August 10, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 10, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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: Tricky

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. "Planet of the ___" 4
2A 5. Wood strip found in many Ikea bed supports 4
3A 9. Take pleasure in 5
4A 14. Size opposite of mini- 4
5A 15. Prepares to throw a dart, say 4
6A 16. Crystal-filled rock 5
7A 17. Newspaper opinion piece 4
8A 18. *Title of a 1990s ABC sitcom and a 1990s New Kids on the Block hit 10
9A 20. Cereal often found with pretzels in a party snack mix 8
10A 22. Vertical jumping ability, in basketball lingo 3
11A 23. Sheep's cry 3
12A 24. "___ to Go!," 2024 Chappell Roan hit sometimes compared to the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." 3
13A 25. Attracted to people of any gender, for short 3
14A 28. *Detailed, real-time description of events 10
15A 33. Shape for a red-and-white striped Christmas candy 4
16A 34. Rodeo rope 5
17A 35. Foggy mental state 4
18A 36. Raisins, when on a celery-and-peanut-butter "log" 4
19A 37. Wrinkly citrus fruit 4
20A 38. "What a shame" 5
21A 39. Riverbank deposit 4
22A 40. Prompted, on stage 4
23A 41. Lyft competitor 4
24A 42. Zellweger of "Bridget Jones's Diary" 5
25A 43. Joint sometimes bent in protest 4
26A 44. *How to tackle big writing projects, per a seminal Anne Lamott book 10
27A 46. Go on and on and on 3
28A 47. LAX posting 3
29A 48. Frito-___ 3
30A 49. Not just some or most 3
31A 50. Got off the ground, as a start-up company 8
32A 55. *Many an off-road vehicle ... or a literal description of the answer to each asterisked clue (including this one!) 10
33A 59. Otherworldly glow 4
34A 60. It means slow (not big!) in music 5
35A 61. "Well, ___ that special!" 4
36A 62. Poetry competition 4
37A 63. "See what I'm talkin' 'bout?" 5
38A 64. Brooklyn basketballers ... and what they swish 4
39A 65. Effortlessness 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. "Planet of the ___""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
  • Similar words include: copycat, aper, ape
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Wood strip found in many Ikea bed supports"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a thin strip (wood or metal)
  • Similar words include: spline
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Take pleasure in"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that derive or receive pleasure from; get enjoyment from; take pleasure in
  • Similar words include: relish, savour, love
  • Opposite of: suffer
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENJOY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Size opposite of mini-"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long skirt ending below the calf
  • Opposite of: mini
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAXI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Prepares to throw a dart, say"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions
  • Similar words include: purport, object, calculate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Crystal-filled rock"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (mineralogy) a hollow rock or nodule with the cavity usually lined with crystals
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Newspaper opinion piece"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. *Title of a 1990s ABC sitcom and a 1990s New Kids on the Block hit"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEPBYSTEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Cereal often found with pretzels in a party snack mix"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RICECHEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Vertical jumping ability, in basketball lingo"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Similar words include: up
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Sheep's cry"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cry made by sheep
  • Similar words include: blat, blate, bleat
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. "___ to Go!," 2024 Chappell Roan hit sometimes compared to the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.""

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
  • Similar words include: red-hot, blistering, live
  • Opposite of: cold
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Attracted to people of any gender, for short"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel
  • Similar words include: pan off, tear apart, pan out
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. *Detailed, real-time description of events"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLAYBYPLAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "33. Shape for a red-and-white striped Christmas candy"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a stick that people can lean on to help them walk
  • Similar words include: lambaste, lambast, flog
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Rodeo rope"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that belgian composer (1532-1594)
  • Similar words include: Roland de Lassus, reata, rope
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASSO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Foggy mental state"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that atmospheric moisture or dust or smoke that causes reduced visibility
  • Similar words include: daze, fog
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. Raisins, when on a celery-and-peanut-butter "log""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers
  • Similar words include: pismire, ant, emmet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Wrinkly citrus fruit"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large sweet juicy hybrid between tangerine and grapefruit having a thick wrinkled skin
  • Similar words include: tangelo, ugli fruit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UGLI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. "What a shame""

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOSAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Riverbank deposit"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake
  • Similar words include: silt up
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SILT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Prompted, on stage"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that assist (somebody acting or reciting) by suggesting the next words of something forgotten or imperfectly learned
  • Similar words include: remind, prompt, cue
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "41. Lyft competitor"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UBER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "42. Zellweger of "Bridget Jones's Diary""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RENEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "43. Joint sometimes bent in protest"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
  • Similar words include: knee joint, genu, articulatio genus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KNEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "44. *How to tackle big writing projects, per a seminal Anne Lamott book"

10 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BIRDBYBIRD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Go on and on and on"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for the mouth
  • Similar words include: maw, yip, gob
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "47. LAX posting"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a terrorist organization organized in 1959 by student activists who were dissatisfied with the moderate nationalism of the traditional basque party; want to create an independent homeland in spain's western pyrenees
  • Similar words include: Basque Fatherland and Liberty, Euskadi ta Askatasuna, Basque Homeland and Freedom
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "48. Frito-___"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
  • Similar words include: repose, put, pose
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "49. Not just some or most"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that quantifier; used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
  • Similar words include: totally, whole, entirely
  • Opposite of: partly, some
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "50. Got off the ground, as a start-up company"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that set up or found
  • Similar words include: plunge, set in motion, launch
  • Opposite of: abolish
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAUNCHED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "55. *Many an off-road vehicle ... or a literal description of the answer to each asterisked clue (including this one!)"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOURBYFOUR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "59. Otherworldly glow"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sensation (as of a cold breeze or bright light) that precedes the onset of certain disorders such as a migraine attack or epileptic seizure
  • Similar words include: gloriole, halo, aureole
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AURA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "60. It means slow (not big!) in music"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (music) a composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LARGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "61. "Well, ___ that special!""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISNT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "62. Poetry competition"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge
  • Similar words include: jibe, bang, sweep
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "63. "See what I'm talkin' 'bout?""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YKNOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "64. Brooklyn basketballers ... and what they swish"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the tcp/ip network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange
  • Similar words include: mesh, net income, network
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "65. Effortlessness"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort
  • Similar words include: repose, relief, informality
  • Opposite of: difficulty
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Spanish love 4
2D 2. Big ___ (nickname of baseball's David Ortiz) 4
3D 3. Company bigwig 4
4D 4. *Next to each other, like many washers and dryers 10
5D 5. Strut down the "RuPaul's Drag Race" runway, say 6
6D 6. Lo-cal 4
7D 7. Visa or Mastercard rival, informally 4
8D 8. Small recipe amt. 3
9D 9. Home of the Great Pyramid 5
10D 10. Loch ___ monster 4
11D 11. Scribble (down) 3
12D 12. Sappho's "___ to Aphrodite" 3
13D 13. Slangy affirmative 3
14D 19. Lifted, as one's spirits 6
15D 21. ___ San Lucas, Mexico 4
16D 24. Venture, as a guess 6
17D 25. Pressed sandwich 6
18D 26. Part of a reindeer's rack 6
19D 27. Prepared one's home for a new arrival 6
20D 28. Spirited and determined 6
21D 29. "___ Beach: The Real Orange County" (MTV reality show of the mid-aughts) 6
22D 30. Catching some Z's 6
23D 31. Irrational fear 6
24D 32. Word before printer or pointer 5
25D 33. *Considered individually 10
26D 38. In a nonobvious way 6
27D 42. "Deadpool" actor Reynolds 4
28D 45. Says out loud without thinking 6
29D 47. Spot for a roller skater's pad 5
30D 49. Best Picture winner found hiding in "and the Oscar goes to ..." 4
31D 50. "Heads, I win. Tails, you ___!" (sneaky coin flip agreement) 4
32D 51. Parent's sister 4
33D 52. Hawaiian storytelling dance 4
34D 53. Times of one's life, say 4
35D 54. Title for Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson 4
36D 55. Take to the sky 3
37D 56. Acorn-bearing tree 3
38D 57. Caterer's coffee dispenser 3
39D 58. Above-water sign of a shark 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Spanish love"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (roman mythology) god of love; counterpart of greek eros
  • Similar words include: Cupid
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Big ___ (nickname of baseball's David Ortiz)"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAPI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Company bigwig"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the chief executive department of the united states government
  • Similar words include: White House
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXEC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. *Next to each other, like many washers and dryers"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIDEBYSIDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Strut down the "RuPaul's Drag Race" runway, say"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a square dance figure; partners circle each other taking sideways steps
  • Similar words include: jaunt, ruffle, excursion
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SASHAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Lo-cal"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that having relatively few calories
  • Similar words include: light, low-cal, calorie-free
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LITE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Visa or Mastercard rival, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a stock exchange in new york
  • Similar words include: American Stock Exchange, Curb
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Small recipe amt."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TSP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Home of the Great Pyramid"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic in northeastern africa known as the united arab republic until 1971; site of an ancient civilization that flourished from 2600 to 30 bc
  • Similar words include: United Arab Republic, Egyptian Empire, Arab Republic of Egypt
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGYPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Loch ___ monster"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

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!)
Answer: NESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Scribble (down)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brief (and hurriedly handwritten) note
  • Similar words include: touch, hint, pinch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Sappho's "___ to Aphrodite""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Slangy affirmative"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. Lifted, as one's spirits"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that float on the surface of water
  • Similar words include: buoy, buoy up
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUOYED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. ___ San Lucas, Mexico"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CABO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Venture, as a guess"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
  • Similar words include: luck, gamble, run a risk
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAZARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Pressed sandwich"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that indian grammarian whose grammatical rules for sanskrit are the first known example of descriptive linguistics (circa 400 bc)
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PANINI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Part of a reindeer's rack"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that deciduous horn of a member of the deer family
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTLER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Prepared one's home for a new arrival"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inhabit a nest, usually after building
  • Similar words include: nestle, nuzzle, draw close
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NESTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Spirited and determined"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by courage and determination in the face of difficulties or danger; robust and uninhibited; ; -judith crist
  • Similar words include: spunky, feisty, gutsy
  • Opposite of: gutless
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLUCKY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. "___ Beach: The Real Orange County" (MTV reality show of the mid-aughts)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a body of water cut off from a larger body by a reef of sand or coral
  • Similar words include: lagoon, lagune
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAGUNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "30. Catching some Z's"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in a state of sleep
  • Similar words include: departed, benumbed, at rest
  • Opposite of: awake
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASLEEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "31. Irrational fear"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations
  • Similar words include: phobic disorder, phobic neurosis
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHOBIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "32. Word before printer or pointer"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; an optical device that produces an intense monochromatic beam of coherent light
  • Similar words include: optical maser
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "33. *Considered individually"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CASEBYCASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "38. In a nonobvious way"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in a subtle manner
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUBTLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. "Deadpool" actor Reynolds"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RYAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "45. Says out loud without thinking"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that utter impulsively
  • Similar words include: blunder, blurt, blurt out
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLURTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "47. Spot for a roller skater's pad"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hinge joint between the forearm and upper arm and the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped
  • Similar words include: human elbow, elbow joint, cubitus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELBOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "49. Best Picture winner found hiding in "and the Oscar goes to ...""

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that formerly a large constellation in the southern hemisphere between canis major and the southern cross; now divided into carina and pyxis and puppis and vela
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "50. "Heads, I win. Tails, you ___!" (sneaky coin flip agreement)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
  • Similar words include: turn a loss, mislay, fall back
  • Opposite of: profit, win
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "51. Parent's sister"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
  • Similar words include: auntie, aunty
  • Opposite of: uncle
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AUNT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Hawaiian storytelling dance"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a polynesian rain dance performed by a woman
  • Similar words include: hula-hula, Hawaiian dancing
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HULA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Times of one's life, say"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event
  • Similar words include: epoch, geological era, era
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Title for Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for a (young) woman
  • Similar words include: wench, bird, doll
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Take to the sky"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that two-winged insects characterized by active flight
  • Similar words include: take flight, wing, pilot
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Acorn-bearing tree"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
  • Similar words include: oak tree
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "57. Caterer's coffee dispenser"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "58. Above-water sign of a shark"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
  • Similar words include: Little Phoebe, V, Phoebe
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FIN

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

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

Looking for more puzzle solutions? Check out our comprehensive archive of NYT crossword hints and answers. We update daily with expert analysis and solving strategies.

Disclaimer: Crossword clues and grid © The New York Times. This site provides hints and educational content for puzzle enthusiasts. XWordHint is not affiliated with The New York Times.

Last updated: August 10, 2026 at 05:00 AM

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers April 14, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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: Moderate

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. Safe place to stand on a diamond 4
2A 5. Bout rout 4
3A 9. Chatted via Teams, say 4
4A 13. Tail-less cat breed 4
5A 14. Still single 5
6A 15. Defense grp. since 1949 4
7A 16. "Been a while! Any updates?" 15
8A 19. Take giant steps 6
9A 20. "Oof, that's rough" 6
10A 21. Locale for a lab rat 4
11A 22. Board game set in a mansion 4
12A 24. To the ___ degree 3
13A 26. Talks through a sticking point, say 11
14A 32. Angers 4
15A 34. Big name in pest control 4
16A 35. Catch the vibe of 5
17A 36. Network junction points 5
18A 38. Force of habit, for some, in brief 3
19A 39. Chess defeats 5
20A 40. Basic unit of work 5
21A 41. Boring routines 4
22A 43. Whiskey portion of a boilermaker 4
23A 44. Online storage option since 2011 11
24A 47. Cincinnati trio? 3
25A 48. Capital of Qatar 4
26A 49. Batch of ale 4
27A 51. Disney film featuring the Oscar-winning song "Let It Go" 6
28A 55. Temp workers dressed in red 6
29A 57. Ranch fixtures for livestock 15
30A 61. Colorful eye part 4
31A 62. Quintet seen in order in 16-, 26-, 44- and 57-Across 5
32A 63. "Come on already!" 4
33A 64. Direction for prairie schooners 4
34A 65. ___ tide 4
35A 66. "Green-eyed" emotion 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Safe place to stand on a diamond"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that installation from which a military force initiates operations
  • Similar words include: stand, foundation, substructure
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Bout rout"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a blow that renders the opponent unconscious
  • Similar words include: KO, knock cold, knock out
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAYO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Chatted via Teams, say"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "13. Tail-less cat breed"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the ancient gaelic formerly spoken on the isle of man; the language is sometimes used on ceremonial occasions
  • Similar words include: Manx cat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MANX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "14. Still single"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of someone who has not been married
  • Similar words include: unwedded
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNWED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "15. Defense grp. since 1949"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an international organization created in 1949 by the north atlantic treaty for purposes of collective security
  • Similar words include: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NATO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "16. "Been a while! Any updates?""

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHATSNEWWITHYOU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Take giant steps"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a step in walking or running
  • Similar words include: pace, footstep, tread
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STRIDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Oof, that's rough""

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OHDANG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Locale for a lab rat"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an enclosure made or wire or metal bars in which birds or animals can be kept
  • Similar words include: coop, John Milton Cage Jr., cage in
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Board game set in a mansion"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slight indication
  • Similar words include: cue, clew, hint
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. To the ___ degree"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that last or greatest in an indefinitely large series
  • Similar words include: n-th
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Talks through a sticking point, say"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HASHESITOUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "32. Angers"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance
  • Similar words include: wrath, anger, ira
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "34. Big name in pest control"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DCON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Catch the vibe of"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a general conscious awareness
  • Similar words include: sensory faculty, feel, common sense
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. Network junction points"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a connecting point at which several lines come together
  • Similar words include: client, nod, knob
  • Opposite of: antinode
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NODES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "38. Force of habit, for some, in brief"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OCD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "39. Chess defeats"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a pair of people who live together
  • Similar words include: fellow, twin, matte
  • Opposite of: disentangle, unsnarl
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MATES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Basic unit of work"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of electrical energy equal to the work done when a current of one ampere passes through a resistance of one ohm for one second
  • Similar words include: J, watt second, James Prescott Joule
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOULE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. Boring routines"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a groove or furrow (especially one in soft earth caused by wheels)
  • Similar words include: groove, furrow, rut
  • Opposite of: anestrus
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. Whiskey portion of a boilermaker"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of firing a projectile
  • Similar words include: flash, pip, spud
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Online storage option since 2011"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APPLEICLOUD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "47. Cincinnati trio?"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that half the width of an em
  • Similar words include: nut, en
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Capital of Qatar"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the capital and chief port of qatar
  • Similar words include: Bida, capital of Qatar, El Beda
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOHA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. Batch of ale"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that drink made by steeping and boiling and fermenting rather than distilling
  • Similar words include: brewage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BREW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. Disney film featuring the Oscar-winning song "Let It Go""

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that stop moving or become immobilized
  • Similar words include: immobilise, glacial, stop dead
  • Opposite of: unblock, boil
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FROZEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "55. Temp workers dressed in red"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the legendary patron saint of children; an imaginary being who is thought to bring presents to children at christmas
  • Similar words include: Kriss Kringle, Father Christmas, Santa
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SANTAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "57. Ranch fixtures for livestock"

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WATERINGTROUGHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "61. Colorful eye part"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals
  • Similar words include: flag, fleur-de-lis, iris diaphragm
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "62. Quintet seen in order in 16-, 26-, 44- and 57-Across"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AEIOU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "63. "Come on already!""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "64. Direction for prairie schooners"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the countries of (originally) europe and (now including) north america and south america
  • Similar words include: Benjamin West, Rebecca West, due west
  • Opposite of: east
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "65. ___ tide"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a less than average tide occurring at the first and third quarters of the moon
  • Similar words include: neap tide
  • Opposite of: springtide
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "66. "Green-eyed" emotion"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a feeling of grudging admiration and desire to have something that is possessed by another
  • Similar words include: invidia, begrudge, enviousness
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENVY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Mini maker 3
2D 2. Circus crowd chorus 4
3D 3. Grabbed, as sale items 10
4D 4. Surplus 5
5D 5. Lederhosen typically end just above one 4
6D 6. "Totes adorbs!" 3
7D 7. Bowmaker's wood 3
8D 8. Repulsive 6
9D 9. Like most TV shows, nowadays 4
10D 10. Chichén Itzá people 4
11D 11. Prep school on the Thames 4
12D 12. ___ Ross, George Clooney's role on "ER" 4
13D 14. Zombie's status 6
14D 17. [Alas!] 4
15D 18. Belief in God or gods 6
16D 22. Count in the cereal aisle 7
17D 23. Furnish with temporarily 6
18D 24. Expert in stealth 5
19D 25. Scouting party 5
20D 27. Burn while ironing, say 6
21D 28. Lipton choices 4
22D 29. Done with boozing 10
23D 30. Apply to, as an ointment 5
24D 31. Lab work 5
25D 33. Auction off 4
26D 37. Lawn-starting tool 6
27D 42. Automaker with a six-star logo 6
28D 45. ___ Sea, body between Sicily and Greece 6
29D 46. Early 007 adversary 4
30D 50. Piano practice piece 5
31D 51. "Just so you know," online 4
32D 52. Few and far between 4
33D 53. Soul legend Redding 4
34D 54. Salsa quality 4
35D 55. Dot on a transit map 4
36D 56. Jailhouse weapon 4
37D 58. Originally named 3
38D 59. Actress Scala 3
39D 60. Complete dump 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Mini maker"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BMW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Circus crowd chorus"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that express admiration and pleasure by uttering `ooh' or `aah'
  • Similar words include: ooh, aah
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AAHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Grabbed, as sale items"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNATCHEDUP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Surplus"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a minor actor in crowd scenes
  • Similar words include: surplus, spear carrier, superfluous
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXTRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Lederhosen typically end just above one"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
  • Similar words include: knee joint, genu, stifle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KNEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. "Totes adorbs!""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AWW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Bowmaker's wood"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wood of a yew; especially the durable fine-grained light brown or red wood of the english yew valued for cabinetwork and archery bows
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Repulsive"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unequivocally detestable; ; ; ; - edmund burke
  • Similar words include: abominable, execrable, detestable
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODIOUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Like most TV shows, nowadays"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INHD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Chichén Itzá people"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of an american indian people of yucatan and belize and guatemala who had a culture (which reached its peak between ad 300 and 900) characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy
  • Similar words include: Mayan, Mayan language
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAYA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Prep school on the Thames"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. ___ Ross, George Clooney's role on "ER""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOUG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "14. Zombie's status"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNDEAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "17. [Alas!]"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an utterance made by exhaling audibly
  • Similar words include: suspiration, suspire
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIGH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "18. Belief in God or gods"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the doctrine or belief in the existence of a god or gods
  • Opposite of: atheism
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THEISM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "22. Count in the cereal aisle"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHOCULA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "23. Furnish with temporarily"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENDTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "24. Expert in stealth"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the ninja who were trained in martial arts and hired for espionage or sabotage or assassinations; a person skilled in ninjutsu
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NINJA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "25. Scouting party"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a group of soldiers
  • Similar words include: scout troop, scout group, promenade
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Burn while ironing, say"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a surface burn
  • Similar words include: singe, sear, blacken
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCORCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Lipton choices"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
  • Similar words include: tea, teatime, afternoon tea
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "29. Done with boozing"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONTHEWAGON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "30. Apply to, as an ointment"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USEON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "31. Lab work"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that trying something to find out about it
  • Similar words include: try, psychometric test, mental test
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TESTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "33. Auction off"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the activity of persuading someone to buy
  • Similar words include: deal, betray, trade
  • Opposite of: buy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "37. Lawn-starting tool"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who seeds clouds
  • Similar words include: cloud seeder
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEEDER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. Automaker with a six-star logo"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUBARU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "45. ___ Sea, body between Sicily and Greece"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of one of four linguistic divisions of the prehistoric greeks
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IONIAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "46. Early 007 adversary"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRNO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "50. Piano practice piece"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETUDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "51. "Just so you know," online"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FWIW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "52. Few and far between"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness
  • Similar words include: rarefied, rarified, uncommon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "53. Soul legend Redding"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states inventor who manufactured the first elevator with a safety device (1811-1861)
  • Similar words include: Elisha Graves Otis, genus Otis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "54. Salsa quality"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that vigorous and enthusiastic enjoyment
  • Similar words include: spice up, tanginess, piquancy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZEST

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35D: "55. Dot on a transit map"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the event of something ending
  • Similar words include: occlusive, period, blockage
  • Opposite of: start, continue
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STOP

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36D: "56. Jailhouse weapon"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a knife used as a weapon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHIV

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37D: "58. Originally named"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (meaning literally `born') used to indicate the maiden or family name of a married woman
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEE

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38D: "59. Actress Scala"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a terrorist organization of islamic extremists whose violent activities began in 1992; aims to overthrow the secular algerian regime and replace it with an islamic state
  • Similar words include: Armed Islamic Group
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIA

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39D: "60. Complete dump"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid
  • Similar words include: hordeolum, stye, eye infection
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STY

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
39 Down Clues
74 Total Clues

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Last updated: April 14, 2026 at 05:36 AM