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 (31 clues)
- Across Clues - Detailed Hints
- Down Clues Table (37 clues)
- Down Clues - Detailed Hints
- Expert Solving Strategies
- Today's Puzzle Statistics
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. Mensches | 9 |
| 2A | 10. "Super Dry" brewer | 5 |
| 3A | 15. Visual aid with a three-dimensional aspect | 9 |
| 4A | 16. Persona non grata | 5 |
| 5A | 17. By an even stronger argument, at law | 9 |
| 6A | 18. Stars to gaze up at | 5 |
| 7A | 19. Not mad | 4 |
| 8A | 20. Squishy projectile | 8 |
| 9A | 22. Cackling carnivores | 6 |
| 10A | 25. World's third-largest river by discharge, after the Amazon and the Congo | 7 |
| 11A | 27. Miserly sorts, informally | 8 |
| 12A | 30. Rift | 3 |
| 13A | 31. Like a certain artery | 8 |
| 14A | 32. Mango leftovers | 4 |
| 15A | 33. The astronomer Tycho Brahe, for one | 4 |
| 16A | 34. Org. concerned with screenings | 3 |
| 17A | 35. Wine leftovers | 4 |
| 18A | 36. ___ Kar-wai, acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker behind 1994's "Chungking Express" | 4 |
| 19A | 37. Hounds that can run up to 35 m.p.h. | 8 |
| 20A | 39. It's mine, all mine! | 3 |
| 21A | 40. NPR program since 1987 | 8 |
| 22A | 41. Two aces, say | 7 |
| 23A | 43. Kind of roll | 6 |
| 24A | 47. Comfortable | 8 |
| 25A | 50. "Do I ___ to eat a peach?": T.S. Eliot | 4 |
| 26A | 51. Record of the year? | 5 |
| 27A | 52. Drawing on another's life | 9 |
| 28A | 55. Handle | 5 |
| 29A | 56. Much-anticipated rivalry game in soccer's La Liga | 9 |
| 30A | 57. Hidden element of FedEx's logo | 5 |
| 31A | 58. Extremely difficult and ultimately futile | 9 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Mensches"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLASSACTS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2A: "10. "Super Dry" brewer"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASAHI
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3A: "15. Visual aid with a three-dimensional aspect"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RELIEFMAP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4A: "16. Persona non grata"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a person afflicted with leprosy
- Similar words include: lazar
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEPER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5A: "17. By an even stronger argument, at law"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFORTIORI
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6A: "18. Stars to gaze up at"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a material effigy that is worshipped
- Similar words include: matinee idol, perfection, idol
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDOLS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7A: "19. Not mad"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that mentally healthy; free from mental disorder
- Similar words include: reasonable
- Opposite of: insane
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SANE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8A: "20. Squishy projectile"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NERFBALL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9A: "22. Cackling carnivores"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that doglike nocturnal mammal of africa and southern asia that feeds chiefly on carrion
- Similar words include: hyena, hyaena
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HYENAS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10A: "25. World's third-largest river by discharge, after the Amazon and the Congo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a south american river 1,500 miles long; flows into the south atlantic
- Similar words include: Orinoco River
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORINOCO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11A: "27. Miserly sorts, informally"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a selfish person who is unwilling to give or spend
- Similar words include: niggard, scrooge, churl
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCROOGES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12A: "30. Rift"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a conspicuous disparity or difference as between two figures
- Similar words include: spread, break, col
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13A: "31. Like a certain artery"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery by a blood clot (thrombus)
- Similar words include: coronary thrombosis
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CORONARY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14A: "32. Mango leftovers"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a sizeable hole (usually in the ground)
- Similar words include: quarry, cavity, pit
- Opposite of: Heaven
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PITS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "33. The astronomer Tycho Brahe, for one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a native or inhabitant of denmark
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DANE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "34. Org. concerned with screenings"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an agency established in 2001 to safeguard united states transportation systems and insure safe air travel
- Similar words include: Transportation Security Administration
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TSA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17A: "35. Wine leftovers"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the sediment from fermentation of an alcoholic beverage
- Similar words include: Spike Lee, Gypsy Rose Lee, Henry Lee
- Opposite of: windward
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18A: "36. ___ Kar-wai, acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker behind 1994's "Chungking Express""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WONG
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19A: "37. Hounds that can run up to 35 m.p.h."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that small slender dog of greyhound type developed in england
- Similar words include: whippet
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHIPPETS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20A: "39. It's mine, all mine!"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
- Similar words include: self, egotism, self-importance
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "40. NPR program since 1987"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRESHAIR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22A: "41. Two aces, say"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOPPAIR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23A: "43. Kind of roll"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the title of the holy roman emperors or the emperors of austria or of germany until 1918
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAISER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "47. Comfortable"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WELLTODO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "50. "Do I ___ to eat a peach?": T.S. Eliot"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy
- Similar words include: defy, presume, daring
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DARE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26A: "51. Record of the year?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANNAL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27A: "52. Drawing on another's life"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that relating to or caused by parasites
- Similar words include: parasitical, bloodsucking, epenthetic
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARASITIC
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28A: "55. Handle"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEETO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29A: "56. Much-anticipated rivalry game in soccer's La Liga"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELCLASICO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30A: "57. Hidden element of FedEx's logo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a mark to indicate a direction or relation
- Similar words include: pointer
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARROW
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31A: "58. Extremely difficult and ultimately futile"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that of or relating to sisyphus
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SISYPHEAN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Hit the hay hard | 5 |
| 2D | 2. Morgan ___, sorceress in King Arthur stories | 5 |
| 3D | 3. Not having company | 5 |
| 4D | 4. What Odysseus' crew waxed on about? | 9 |
| 5D | 5. Mahjong grouping | 3 |
| 6D | 6. Org. concerned with screenings | 3 |
| 7D | 7. "Really?!" | 4 |
| 8D | 8. Zero out, in a way | 4 |
| 9D | 9. Device geared to draw rotationally symmetrical shapes | 10 |
| 10D | 10. Accounts for checking? | 6 |
| 11D | 11. Compact, maybe | 5 |
| 12D | 12. "My mistake" | 9 |
| 13D | 13. Some Navy aircraft during W.W. II | 8 |
| 14D | 14. Org. requiring crypto disclosures beginning in 2025 | 3 |
| 15D | 21. Glenn who co-founded the Eagles | 4 |
| 16D | 23. A lot of lot | 4 |
| 17D | 24. Broadway show inits. | 3 |
| 18D | 26. Psy-___ | 3 |
| 19D | 28. Near failure, colloquially | 10 |
| 20D | 29. Fertile place | 5 |
| 21D | 31. Swiss Army knife component | 9 |
| 22D | 32. Aid for someone studying a culture | 9 |
| 23D | 33. One who regularly takes a best friend out? | 8 |
| 24D | 35. Princess who says "Governor Tarkin! I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board" | 4 |
| 25D | 36. Like some noodles and martinis | 3 |
| 26D | 37. Habeas corpus, e.g. | 4 |
| 27D | 38. Cricket's Men in Green, on scoreboards | 3 |
| 28D | 40. Dormant | 6 |
| 29D | 42. Student of Socrates | 5 |
| 30D | 44. "Gymnopédies" composer | 5 |
| 31D | 45. Jong who wrote "Fear of Flying" | 5 |
| 32D | 46. Scouting trip | 5 |
| 33D | 48. Artist with an absurdist humor book all about his mustache | 4 |
| 34D | 49. Sauron's soldiers in "The Lord of the Rings" | 4 |
| 35D | 51. ___ team | 3 |
| 36D | 53. Gymnast Raisman | 3 |
| 37D | 54. Enervate | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Hit the hay hard"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a loud resonant repeating noise
- Similar words include: collapse, doss down, ram
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRASH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. Morgan ___, sorceress in King Arthur stories"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEFAY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. Not having company"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that isolated from others
- Similar words include: exclusively, lonely, solitary
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALONE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. What Odysseus' crew waxed on about?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIRENSONG
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. Mahjong grouping"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used
- Similar words include: limit, go under, determine
- Opposite of: rise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SET
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. Org. concerned with screenings"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFI
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. "Really?!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CMON
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Zero out, in a way"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an adjustment made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of the goods
- Similar words include: darnel, bearded darnel, Lolium temulentum
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TARE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. Device geared to draw rotationally symmetrical shapes"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a measuring instrument for recording the depth and rapidity of breathing movements
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPIROGRAPH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Accounts for checking?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (law) a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question
- Similar words include: self-justification, alibi, excuse
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALIBIS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. Compact, maybe"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a car that is closed and that has front and rear seats and two or four doors
- Similar words include: sedan chair, saloon
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEDAN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12D: "12. "My mistake""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an expression of regret at having caused trouble for someone
- Similar words include: apology, excuse, apologia
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APOLOGIES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. Some Navy aircraft during W.W. II"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a malicious woman with a fierce temper
- Similar words include: vixen, harpy, hellcat
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HELLCATS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14D: "14. Org. requiring crypto disclosures beginning in 2025"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the bureau of the treasury department responsible for tax collections
- Similar words include: Internal Revenue Service
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15D: "21. Glenn who co-founded the Eagles"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (norse mythology) god of earth's fertility and peace and prosperity; son of njorth and brother of freya; originally of the vanir; later with the aesir
- Similar words include: Freyr
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FREY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "23. A lot of lot"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of area (4840 square yards) used in english-speaking countries
- Similar words include: Akko, Akka, Accho
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACRE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "24. Broadway show inits."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SRO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18D: "26. Psy-___"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (roman mythology) goddess of abundance and fertility; wife of saturn; counterpart of greek rhea and cybele of ancient asia minor
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "28. Near failure, colloquially"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONTHEROPES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "29. Fertile place"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a fertile tract in a desert (where the water table approaches the surface)
- Similar words include: haven
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OASIS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "31. Swiss Army knife component"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANOPENER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "32. Aid for someone studying a culture"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PETRIDISH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23D: "33. One who regularly takes a best friend out?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOGOWNER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "35. Princess who says "Governor Tarkin! I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEIA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "36. Like some noodles and martinis"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that wetness caused by water
- Similar words include: besotted, pie-eyed, soaked
- Opposite of: dry
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WET
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "37. Habeas corpus, e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer
- Similar words include: judicial writ
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WRIT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "38. Cricket's Men in Green, on scoreboards"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAK
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "40. Dormant"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that cultivated land that is not seeded for one or more growing seasons
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FALLOW
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "42. Student of Socrates"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that ancient athenian philosopher; pupil of socrates; teacher of aristotle (428-347 bc)
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLATO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "44. "Gymnopédies" composer"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that french composer noted for his experimentalism and rejection of romanticism (1866-1925)
- Similar words include: Erik Satie, Erik Alfred Leslie Satie
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SATIE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "45. Jong who wrote "Fear of Flying""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any plant of the genus erica
- Similar words include: true heath
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERICA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "46. Scouting trip"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RECON
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "48. Artist with an absurdist humor book all about his mustache"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that surrealist spanish painter (1904-1989)
- Similar words include: Salvador Dali
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DALI
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "49. Sauron's soldiers in "The Lord of the Rings""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORCS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "51. ___ team"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "53. Gymnast Raisman"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "54. Enervate"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant
- Similar words include: muggins, run down, tire
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAP
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
31 Across Clues
37 Down Clues
68 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.
