Search Clues

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

Monday, September 28, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 28, 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: 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. Widespread disorder 5
2A 6. Like the exteriors of armadillos 5
3A 11. Fall behind in payments 3
4A 14. Boxing locale 5
5A 15. Classic radio song 5
6A 16. Dessert with a crust 3
7A 17. Solid baseball hit 5
8A 18. Complete shocker 9
9A 20. Bicycle built for two 6
10A 22. Round Table title 3
11A 23. "___ time will tell" 4
12A 24. Prefix with physics or thermal 3
13A 25. Make into law 5
14A 27. Alternative to French fries 9
15A 31. Skill needed to solve sudoku 5
16A 35. Suffix with fail or forfeit 3
17A 36. Apple platform 3
18A 37. "Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___" 6
19A 38. With 41-Across, ball hit out of the park by the very first batter for either side ... or a hint to the starts of 18-, 27-, 46- and 60-Across 7
20A 41. See 38-Across 7
21A 42. Coconut Girl Scout cookies 6
22A 43. "La Cage ___ Folles" 3
23A 44. Frat member 3
24A 45. Liability's opposite 5
25A 46. Detonation region 9
26A 49. "___ I compare thee to a summer's day?": Shak. 5
27A 51. Before, poetically 3
28A 52. What's more 4
29A 55. Spoil 3
30A 56. Performs a stylish ballroom dance 6
31A 60. Tropical tree whose product is sometimes used as a meat substitute 9
32A 63. San Francisco ballplayer 5
33A 64. Actress de Armas 3
34A 65. "Take a look!" 5
35A 66. Helper for computer problems, informally 5
36A 67. Kylo ___ of "Star Wars" 3
37A 68. Stockholm native 5
38A 69. Pursue 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Widespread disorder"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that violent and needless disturbance
  • Similar words include: mayhem
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAVOC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Like the exteriors of armadillos"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rough to the touch; covered with scales or scurf
  • Similar words include: scaled, leprose, scabrous
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCALY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Fall behind in payments"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be obliged to pay or repay
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Boxing locale"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a particular environment or walk of life
  • Similar words include: bowl, scene of action, stadium
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARENA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Classic radio song"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a song that was formerly popular
  • Similar words include: golden oldie
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLDIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Dessert with a crust"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that dish baked in pastry-lined pan often with a pastry top
  • Similar words include: Proto-Indo European
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Solid baseball hit"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (baseball) a hit that flies straight out from the batter
  • Similar words include: lining, ocean liner, line drive
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LINER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Complete shocker"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an entertainer who has a sensational effect
  • Similar words include: thunderclap, thunderbolt
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOMBSHELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Bicycle built for two"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an arrangement of two or more objects or persons one behind another
  • Similar words include: in tandem, tandem bicycle, bicycle-built-for-two
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANDEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Round Table title"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that term of address for a man
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. "___ time will tell""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that being the only one; single and isolated from others
  • Similar words include: alone, exclusively, solitary
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Prefix with physics or thermal"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Make into law"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that order by virtue of superior authority; decree
  • Similar words include: reenact, ordain, act out
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENACT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Alternative to French fries"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TATERTOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Skill needed to solve sudoku"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the branch of philosophy that analyzes inference
  • Similar words include: system of logic, logical system
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOGIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Suffix with fail or forfeit"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. Apple platform"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) a maiden seduced by zeus; when hera was about to discover them together zeus turned her into a white heifer
  • Similar words include: Io
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. "Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___""

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several tropical and subtropical treelike herbs of the genus musa having a terminal crown of large entire leaves and usually bearing hanging clusters of elongated fruits
  • Similar words include: banana tree
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BANANA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "38. With 41-Across, ball hit out of the park by the very first batter for either side ... or a hint to the starts of 18-, 27-, 46- and 60-Across"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "41. See 38-Across"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "42. Coconut Girl Scout cookies"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a constitutional monarchy on the western part of the islands of samoa in the south pacific
  • Similar words include: Samoa i Sisifo, Western Samoa, Samoa
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAMOAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. "La Cage ___ Folles""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Frat member"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "45. Liability's opposite"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a useful or valuable quality
  • Similar words include: plus
  • Opposite of: liability
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "46. Detonation region"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLASTZONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. "___ I compare thee to a summer's day?": Shak."

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. Before, poetically"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "52. What's more"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in addition
  • Similar words include: likewise, besides, too
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALSO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Spoil"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: decompose, guff, molder
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "56. Performs a stylish ballroom dance"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a ballroom dance of latin-american origin
  • Similar words include: tango
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANGOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "60. Tropical tree whose product is sometimes used as a meat substitute"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that east indian tree cultivated for its immense edible fruit and seeds
  • Similar words include: jak, jack, Artocarpus heterophyllus
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JACKFRUIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "63. San Francisco ballplayer"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any creature of exceptional size
  • Similar words include: titan, gargantuan, goliath
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "64. Actress de Armas"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mother of the ancient irish gods; sometimes identified with danu
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "65. "Take a look!""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "66. Helper for computer problems, informally"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "67. Kylo ___ of "Star Wars""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "68. Stockholm native"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of sweden
  • Similar words include: rutabaga, rutabaga plant, turnip cabbage
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWEDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "69. Pursue"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture
  • Similar words include: pursuit, chamfer, chase after
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. "Stop!" 4
2D 2. Puccini's "O mio babbino caro," e.g. 4
3D 3. Kind of diagram with overlapping circles 4
4D 4. Antsy 6
5D 5. One's employment pursuit 6
6D 6. Bawl 3
7D 7. Places to hang clothes 7
8D 8. Forum overseers 6
9D 9. The Scales, zodiacally 5
10D 10. "Definitely!" 3
11D 11. Certain golf or tennis tournament 4
12D 12. Funny Ferrell or Rogers 4
13D 13. Slippery 4
14D 19. Scorcher 6
15D 21. Recurring thematic elements 6
16D 26. Happy as a ___ 4
17D 27. City NE of Oklahoma City 5
18D 28. Fields 5
19D 29. The N.H.L. has 32 5
20D 30. Cartoon brawl sound effect 3
21D 32. Actress Greta of "Queen Christina" 5
22D 33. Store, as ashes 5
23D 34. Dugout, e.g. 5
24D 37. Complete series, maybe 6
25D 39. Gets by 6
26D 40. Solemn vow 4
27D 41. ___ Guofeng, successor of Mao Zedong 3
28D 43. Like the score going into extra innings 7
29D 46. Top to accompany a skirt 6
30D 47. Like the fate of Ophelia 6
31D 48. Peak 6
32D 50. See 37-Across 5
33D 52. Cracked slightly, as a door 4
34D 53. Word following bike or memory 4
35D 54. Look at carefully 4
36D 57. "Shallow" singer Lady ___ 4
37D 58. Burden 4
38D 59. Ailment that aptly rhymes with "eye" 4
39D 61. N.F.L. three-pointers: Abbr. 3
40D 62. Top to accompany shorts 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. "Stop!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of inactivity following an interruption
  • Similar words include: lame, stoppage, stem
  • Opposite of: start
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Puccini's "O mio babbino caro," e.g."

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an elaborate song for solo voice
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Kind of diagram with overlapping circles"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english logician who introduced venn diagrams (1834-1923)
  • Similar words include: John Venn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VENN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Antsy"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. One's employment pursuit"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the particular occupation for which you are trained
  • Similar words include: life history, calling, vocation
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAREER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Bawl"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dyspneic condition
  • Similar words include: bastard, asshole, sobbing
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Places to hang clothes"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
  • Similar words include: W.C., closet, loo
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLOSETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Forum overseers"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. The Scales, zodiacally"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in libra
  • Similar words include: Balance, Libra the Scales, Libra the Balance
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIBRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. "Definitely!""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an affirmative
  • Opposite of: no
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Certain golf or tennis tournament"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
  • Similar words include: out-of-doors, give, heart-to-heart
  • Opposite of: closed, fold
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Funny Ferrell or Rogers"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention; - george meredith
  • Similar words include: testament, bequeath, volition
  • Opposite of: disinherit
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Slippery"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. Scorcher"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Recurring thematic elements"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
  • Similar words include: theme, motive, motif
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOTIFS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Happy as a ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud; the shell closes with viselike firmness
  • Similar words include: one dollar bill, dollar, buck
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. City NE of Oklahoma City"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a major city of northeastern oklahoma on the arkansas river; once known as the oil capital of the world and still heavily involved in the oil and gas industries
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TULSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Fields"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography)
  • Similar words include: arena, orbit, surface area
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AREAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. The N.H.L. has 32"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
  • Similar words include: team up, team, squad
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Cartoon brawl sound effect"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Actress Greta of "Queen Christina""

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states film actress (born in sweden) known for her reclusiveness (1905-1990)
  • Similar words include: Greta Louisa Gustafsson, Greta Garbo
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GARBO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Store, as ashes"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "34. Dugout, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small and light boat; pointed at both ends; propelled with a paddle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. Complete series, maybe"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "39. Gets by"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. Solemn vow"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
  • Similar words include: swearing, curse word, curse
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OATH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. ___ Guofeng, successor of Mao Zedong"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an islamic fundamentalist group in pakistan that fought the soviet union in afghanistan in the 1980s; now operates as a terrorist organization primarily in kashmir and seeks kashmir's accession by pakistan
  • Similar words include: HUM, Harkat ul-Ansar, Harkat ul-Mujahedeen
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Like the score going into extra innings"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "46. Top to accompany a skirt"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a top worn by women
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLOUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "47. Like the fate of Ophelia"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
  • Similar words include: tragical
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRAGIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "48. Peak"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected
  • Opposite of: nadir
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZENITH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. See 37-Across"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

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!

33D: "52. Cracked slightly, as a door"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that slightly open
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AJAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Word following bike or memory"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow way or road
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Look at carefully"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region
  • Similar words include: skim, run down, read
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "57. "Shallow" singer Lady ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mentally or physically infirm with age
  • Similar words include: doddering, senile, dotty
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAGA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. Burden"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an onerous or difficult concern
  • Similar words include: incumbrance, load, burden
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Ailment that aptly rhymes with "eye""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "61. N.F.L. three-pointers: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "62. Top to accompany shorts"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the starting place for each hole on a golf course
  • Similar words include: teeing ground, golf tee, football tee
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEE

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

38 Across Clues
40 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: September 28, 2026 at 10:00 AM

Friday, July 10, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers July 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: Challenging

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. Acronymic weapon 5
2A 6. Suffix with caffe- 3
3A 9. Intro course? 5
4A 14. Hot shot producer 15
5A 17. What late-night partying might lead to 15
6A 18. Source of the Coneheads, in brief 3
7A 19. Strove 7
8A 20. "Jeepers!" 3
9A 21. Main ingredients in unagi don 4
10A 23. Former fillies 5
11A 24. Camp neckwear 4
12A 25. One way to check your impulses, in brief? 3
13A 27. Lo-___ 3
14A 28. Nimble 4
15A 29. Wills 7
16A 32. Bad-mouthed 7
17A 35. Spot for a mini-fridge 6
18A 36. Creator of the Detroit Industry Murals 6
19A 37. Boost 7
20A 39. Smug know-it-all type 7
21A 40. Class act? 4
22A 41. High degree 3
23A 43. Virginia Woolf's "___ Dalloway" 3
24A 44. Semi segments 4
25A 45. Yuks 5
26A 47. Merely whispered 4
27A 50. Lego founder ___ Kirk Christiansen 3
28A 51. Relative of a bandeau 7
29A 53. Mint 3
30A 54. "It hasn't happened to me, but ... wow!" 15
31A 57. What a streaker running across a baseball field could be 15
32A 58. "No cap" 5
33A 59. Saint-Maur-___-Fossés (part of Paris) 3
34A 60. Just beat 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Acronymic weapon"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Suffix with caffe-"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Intro course?"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that food mixtures either arranged on a plate or tossed and served with a moist dressing; usually consisting of or including greens
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SALAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Hot shot producer"

15 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "17. What late-night partying might lead to"

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "18. Source of the Coneheads, in brief"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "19. Strove"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that strive and make an effort to reach a goal
  • Similar words include: push, toil, moil
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LABORED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. "Jeepers!""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Main ingredients in unagi don"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in europe and america; large eels are usually smoked or pickled
  • Similar words include: eel
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EELS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "23. Former fillies"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that female equine animal
  • Similar words include: female horse, mar, impair
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MARES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "24. Camp neckwear"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur
  • Similar words include: boa, feather boa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. One way to check your impulses, in brief?"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a graphical record of electrical activity of the brain; produced by an electroencephalograph
  • Similar words include: encephalogram, electroencephalogram
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EEG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Lo-___"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a widely distributed system consisting of all the cells able to ingest bacteria or colloidal particles etc, except for certain white blood cells
  • Similar words include: Ra, atomic number 75, Re
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Nimble"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands
  • Similar words include: dexterous, dextrous
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEFT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Wills"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that order by virtue of superior authority; decree
  • Similar words include: ordinate, ordain, enact
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORDAINS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Bad-mouthed"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance
  • Similar words include: blur, smirch, denigrate
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMEARED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Spot for a mini-fridge"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. Creator of the Detroit Industry Murals"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that socialist mexican painter of murals (1886-1957)
  • Similar words include: Diego Rivera
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIVERA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Boost"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make better or more attractive
  • Similar words include: heighten, raise
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENHANCE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "39. Smug know-it-all type"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "40. Class act?"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "41. High degree"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

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!

23A: "43. Virginia Woolf's "___ Dalloway""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a form of address for a married woman
  • Similar words include: Mrs., Mr., Mister
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Semi segments"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
  • Similar words include: taxi, cabriolet, taxicab
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "45. Yuks"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "47. Merely whispered"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that yielding readily to pressure or weight
  • Similar words include: flaccid, indulgent, easy
  • Opposite of: loud, hardened
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOFT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. Lego founder ___ Kirk Christiansen"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "51. Relative of a bandeau"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "53. Mint"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
  • Similar words include: unexampled, newfangled, newly
  • Opposite of: old, worn
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "54. "It hasn't happened to me, but ... wow!""

15 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "57. What a streaker running across a baseball field could be"

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "58. "No cap""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "59. Saint-Maur-___-Fossés (part of Paris)"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a potent estrogen used in medicine and in feed for livestock and poultry
  • Similar words include: diethylstilboestrol, Diamond State, stilboestrol
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "60. Just beat"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that advance slowly, as if by inches
  • Similar words include: edge, stinging, march
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDGED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Past or present 5
2D 2. In tandem 5
3D 3. Blabbed 15
4D 4. Things that come with waffles? 3
5D 5. Short Instagram video 4
6D 6. Weather map features 7
7D 7. "Enough!" 6
8D 8. Wu Zetian of the Zhou dynasty, for one 7
9D 9. Ginormous quantity 4
10D 10. Pescatarian steak option 3
11D 11. Pathway to a conclusion 15
12D 12. Relatives of sloths 9
13D 13. Typewriter settings 5
14D 15. Catfishing, for one 4
15D 16. Subjects of certain reviews at Untappd.com 4
16D 22. Branzino, by another name 7
17D 24. Lodge builders 7
18D 26. Titanic 5
19D 28. Philosophy of many founding fathers 5
20D 29. Not be square with 3
21D 30. Dollar offering 9
22D 31. Org. concerned with reactor safety 3
23D 33. 3-D scan 3
24D 34. "___ Boot" 3
25D 38. On 7
26D 39. Speculative musings 7
27D 42. "___ Taking the Hobbits to Isengard" (viral video from 2005) 6
28D 44. Fancy dos 5
29D 45. Proceed with a game plan 4
30D 46. Quite the 4
31D 48. Yard sticks? 5
32D 49. Coat material 5
33D 51. Stylish, as at an awards show? 4
34D 52. Reduce 4
35D 55. Naught 3
36D 56. H.S.-level exam 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Past or present"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
  • Similar words include: strain, tense up
  • Opposite of: relaxed, relax
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TENSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. In tandem"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Blabbed"

15 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Things that come with waffles?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs with yttrium
  • Similar words include: Er, emergency room, atomic number 68
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Short Instagram video"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a roll of photographic film holding a series of frames to be projected by a movie projector
  • Similar words include: stagger, whirl, careen
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Weather map features"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (meteorology)an isogram connecting points having equal barometric pressure at a given time
  • Similar words include: isobar
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISOBARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. "Enough!""

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Wu Zetian of the Zhou dynasty, for one"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a woman emperor or the wife of an emperor
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMPRESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Ginormous quantity"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of a number of fishes of the family carangidae
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Pescatarian steak option"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Pathway to a conclusion"

15 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Relatives of sloths"

9 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that toothless mammal of southern africa and asia having a body covered with horny scales and a long snout for feeding on ants and termites
  • Similar words include: pangolin, Myrmecobius fasciatus, aardvark
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTEATERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Typewriter settings"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a piece of furniture with a writing surface and usually drawers or other compartments
  • Similar words include: desk
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DESKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "15. Catfishing, for one"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fraudulent business scheme
  • Similar words include: gyp, hornswoggle, con
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "16. Subjects of certain reviews at Untappd.com"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the united states an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume
  • Similar words include: ale
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "22. Branzino, by another name"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Lodge builders"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the soft brown fur of the beaver
  • Similar words include: beaver, beaver away, high hat
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEAVERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Titanic"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any creature of exceptional size
  • Similar words include: titan, monster, colossus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Philosophy of many founding fathers"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the form of theological rationalism that believes in god on the basis of reason without reference to revelation
  • Similar words include: free thought
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEISM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. Not be square with"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be obliged to pay or repay
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Dollar offering"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RENTALCAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "31. Org. concerned with reactor safety"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an independent federal agency created in 1974 to license and regulate nuclear power plants
  • Similar words include: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NRC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. 3-D scan"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the use of nuclear magnetic resonance of protons to produce proton density images
  • Similar words include: magnetic resonance imaging
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MRI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. "___ Boot""

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several small ungulate mammals of africa and asia with rodent-like incisors and feet with hooflike toes
  • Similar words include: coney, hyrax, DA
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. On"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that render capable or able for some task
  • Similar words include: enable
  • Opposite of: disable
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENABLED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Speculative musings"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. "___ Taking the Hobbits to Isengard" (viral video from 2005)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Fancy dos"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair)
  • Similar words include: do, coiffure, hairdo
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COIFS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Proceed with a game plan"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that englishman and pre-raphaelite painter (1827-1910)
  • Similar words include: search, William Holman Hunt, run
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUNT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Quite the"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
  • Similar words include: just about, about, approximately
  • Opposite of: no
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "48. Yard sticks?"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a barrier that serves to enclose an area
  • Similar words include: wall, debate, fence in
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FENCE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "49. Coat material"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that thick woolen fabric used for clothing; originated in scotland
  • Similar words include: flannel, gabardine, white
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TWEED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "51. Stylish, as at an awards show?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. Reduce"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that decrease gradually or bit by bit
  • Similar words include: peel, pare down, whittle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "55. Naught"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantity of no importance
  • Similar words include: aught, nada, cipher
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "56. H.S.-level exam"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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

34 Across Clues
36 Down Clues
70 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: July 10, 2026 at 06:59 AM