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

Monday, May 18, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 18, 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. Like a game that has gone into a penalty shootout 4
2A 5. Luxury handbag brand 5
3A 10. Petri dish gel 4
4A 14. West Coast sch. that joined the Big Ten in 2024 4
5A 15. Stereotypical meal for a college student 5
6A 16. "Veni, ___, vici" 4
7A 17. Like the Code of Hammurabi 10
8A 19. Enterprise rival 4
9A 20. Got to one's feet 5
10A 21. Elmer's product 4
11A 23. "There's a cockroach!" 3
12A 24. Patch up some clothes, say 3
13A 25. Pioneering hybrid car 11
14A 29. Pouty expression 4
15A 30. Future atty.'s exam 4
16A 31. Rae who played President Barbie in "Barbie" 4
17A 34. Tackling of the quarterback 4
18A 37. Nebraska's largest city 5
19A 40. Governing body in the Harry Potter universe 15
20A 43. Fibrous part of broccoli 5
21A 44. Nothin' 4
22A 45. Cool, slangily 4
23A 46. "___ Calm and Carry On" 4
24A 48. Region 4
25A 50. Gardener's tool 11
26A 54. Kit ___ bar 3
27A 57. Woodcutter's tool 3
28A 58. Beauty queen's accessory 4
29A 59. Garlicky condiment 5
30A 61. Eye irritation 4
31A 63. Advice for the overambitious ... or a hint to 17-, 25-, 40- and 50-Across 10
32A 66. ___ leches cake 4
33A 67. Oopsie 5
34A 68. Lotion ingredient 4
35A 69. Toward sunrise 4
36A 70. "Same!" 5
37A 71. Stereotypically antisocial pets 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Like a game that has gone into a penalty shootout"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord
  • Similar words include: trussed, draw, bind
  • Opposite of: untied, disconnect
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Luxury handbag brand"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Petri dish gel"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any culture medium that uses agar as the gelling agent
  • Similar words include: nutrient agar, agar-agar
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. West Coast sch. that joined the Big Ten in 2024"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Stereotypical meal for a college student"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. "Veni, ___, vici""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Like the Code of Hammurabi"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inhabitant of ancient babylon
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BABYLONIAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Enterprise rival"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Got to one's feet"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come into existence; take on form or shape
  • Similar words include: get up, grow, rise up
  • Opposite of: sit down, fall
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AROSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Elmer's product"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive
  • Similar words include: gum, paste, mucilage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. "There's a cockroach!""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Patch up some clothes, say"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fasten by sewing; do needlework
  • Similar words include: sew together, tailor, run up
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Pioneering hybrid car"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Pouty expression"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a disdainful grimace
  • Similar words include: pout, wry face
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Future atty.'s exam"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Rae who played President Barbie in "Barbie""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Tackling of the quarterback"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a bag made of paper or plastic for holding customer's purchases
  • Similar words include: paper bag, poke, sacking
  • Opposite of: hire
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SACK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. Nebraska's largest city"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the siouan people formerly living in the missouri river valley in northeastern nebraska
  • Similar words include: Maha
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMAHA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "40. Governing body in the Harry Potter universe"

15 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "43. Fibrous part of broccoli"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that material consisting of seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds
  • Similar words include: stem, husk, angry walk
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STALK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "44. Nothin'"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantity of no importance
  • Similar words include: cypher, nil, null
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NADA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. Cool, slangily"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that street names for marijuana
  • Similar words include: the skinny, Mary Jane, dope up
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. "___ Calm and Carry On""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the financial means whereby one lives
  • Similar words include: livelihood, dungeon, hold on
  • Opposite of: discontinue, break
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "48. Region"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

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: surface area, sphere, domain
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AREA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "50. Gardener's tool"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "54. Kit ___ bar"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the leaves of the shrub catha edulis which are chewed like tobacco or used to make tea; has the effect of a euphoric stimulant
  • Similar words include: cat, African tea, qat
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "57. Woodcutter's tool"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle
  • Similar words include: ax
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AXE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "58. Beauty queen's accessory"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a framework that holds the panes of a window in the window frame
  • Similar words include: waistband, girdle, window sash
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "59. Garlicky condiment"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that garlic mayonnaise
  • Similar words include: aioli sauce, garlic sauce
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIOLI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "61. Eye irritation"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "63. Advice for the overambitious ... or a hint to 17-, 25-, 40- and 50-Across"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "66. ___ leches cake"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "67. Oopsie"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
  • Similar words include: mistake, erroneous belief, misplay
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERROR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "68. Lotion ingredient"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that succulent plants having rosettes of leaves usually with fiber like hemp and spikes of showy flowers; found chiefly in africa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "69. Toward sunrise"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal compass point that is at 90 degrees
  • Similar words include: Orient, E, eastern United States
  • Opposite of: west
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EAST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "70. "Same!""

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "71. Stereotypically antisocial pets"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
  • Similar words include: throw up, CT, computerized tomography
  • Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CATS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Large brass instruments 5
2D 2. "You have my sympathy" 5
3D 3. Macaroni shape 5
4D 4. 14 of these make up a fortnight 4
5D 5. Con's opposite 3
6D 6. Sprinted 3
7D 7. Friend in Mexico 5
8D 8. Gave out cards 5
9D 9. Zinnia or sunflower 6
10D 10. Director DuVernay 3
11D 11. Attempt something 9
12D 12. "Au revoir!" 5
13D 13. Puts on the line 5
14D 18. Oscar winner Jared 4
15D 22. English town famous for its salts 5
16D 26. Throw out of office 4
17D 27. Long (for) 5
18D 28. Holiday Inn competitor 6
19D 29. Sent by post 6
20D 31. Writes to on WhatsApp, in brief 3
21D 32. Puppy school command 3
22D 33. Roll of two ones 9
23D 35. "Ta-ta," in a text 3
24D 36. Camera company known for its "moments" 5
25D 38. With it 3
26D 39. Unreturned serve 3
27D 41. Distorts, as data 5
28D 42. Ticket price 4
29D 47. The "terrible twos" and the "threenager" years, for example 6
30D 49. Chapters of history 4
31D 50. Squander 5
32D 51. Outlandishly over the top, in modern slang 5
33D 52. Houston baseballer 5
34D 53. Swiss ___ (salad green) 5
35D 54. Marsupial often mistermed a "bear" 5
36D 55. Apportion 5
37D 56. There are 100 of these in every Scrabble game 5
38D 60. Apple desktop 4
39D 62. Superlative suffix 3
40D 64. Down Under bounder, for short 3
41D 65. Prefix between bi- and tetra- 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Large brass instruments"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the lowest brass wind instrument
  • Similar words include: bass horn, tuba, sousaphone
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUBAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. "You have my sympathy""

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Macaroni shape"

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, cubital joint, articulatio cubiti
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELBOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. 14 of these make up a fortnight"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the time during which someone's life continues
  • Similar words include: Day, daylight, Clarence Day
  • Opposite of: night
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAYS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Con's opposite"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an athlete who plays for pay
  • Similar words include: professional
  • Opposite of: amateur, anti
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PRO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Sprinted"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time
  • Similar words include: function, bunk, be given
  • Opposite of: idle, malfunction
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Friend in Mexico"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a friend or comrade
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMIGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Gave out cards"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that act on verbally or in some form of artistic expression
  • Similar words include: take, grapple, cover
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Zinnia or sunflower"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (botany) a plant that completes its entire life cycle within the space of a year
  • Similar words include: one-year, yearbook, yearly
  • Opposite of: biennial
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANNUAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Director DuVernay"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Attempt something"

9 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "Au revoir!""

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a farewell remark
  • Similar words include: cheerio, bye, au revoir
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADIEU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Puts on the line"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
  • Similar words include: risk of exposure, take chances, risk of infection
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RISKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Oscar winner Jared"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wife or mistress of zeus and mother of apollo and artemis in ancient mythology; called latona in roman mythology
  • Similar words include: Latona
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LETO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. English town famous for its salts"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Throw out of office"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove from a position or office
  • Similar words include: throw out, boot out, drum out
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Long (for)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that desire strongly or persistently
  • Similar words include: hanker, pine, ache
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEARN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Holiday Inn competitor"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Sent by post"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that send via the postal service
  • Similar words include: get off, mail-clad, mail
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAILED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "31. Writes to on WhatsApp, in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Puppy school command"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be around, often idly or without specific purpose
  • Similar words include: model, sit around, baby-sit
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Roll of two ones"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. "Ta-ta," in a text"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Camera company known for its "moments""

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. With it"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that either side of the body below the waist and above the thigh
  • Similar words include: hip joint, coxa, articulatio coxae
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Unreturned serve"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
  • Similar words include: 1, sensation, breeze through
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Distorts, as data"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that turn or place at an angle
  • Similar words include: skew
  • Opposite of: align
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SKEWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Ticket price"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agenda of things to do
  • Similar words include: menu, make out, come
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "47. The "terrible twos" and the "threenager" years, for example"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any distinct time period in a sequence of events
  • Similar words include: phase angle, form, phase
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHASES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "49. Chapters of history"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "50. Squander"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
  • Similar words include: wild, consume, thriftlessness
  • Opposite of: conserve
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WASTE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "51. Outlandishly over the top, in modern slang"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Houston baseballer"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Swiss ___ (salad green)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that beet lacking swollen root; grown as a vegetable for its edible leaves and stalks
  • Similar words include: spinach beet, Swiss chard, leaf beet
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Marsupial often mistermed a "bear""

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sluggish tailless australian arboreal marsupial with grey furry ears and coat; feeds on eucalyptus leaves and bark
  • Similar words include: kangaroo bear, native bear, koala bear
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KOALA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Apportion"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that allow to have
  • Similar words include: dish out, accord, assign
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. There are 100 of these in every Scrabble game"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a flat thin rectangular slab (as of fired clay or rubber or linoleum) used to cover surfaces
  • Similar words include: roofing tile, tile
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TILES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "60. Apple desktop"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "62. Superlative suffix"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that standard time in the 5th time zone west of greenwich, reckoned at the 75th meridian; used in the eastern united states
  • Similar words include: Eastern Time, Eastern Standard Time
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "64. Down Under bounder, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "65. Prefix between bi- and tetra-"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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

37 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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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: May 18, 2026 at 07:10 AM

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers April 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: 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. Sore 4
2A 5. Nail polish brand 3
3A 8. Some cantina fare 5
4A 13. "Hip hip hooray!," e.g. 5
5A 15. Sink-or-swim competition? 9
6A 17. Handles a few unresolved issues 15
7A 19. Like tears 6
8A 20. Site to build on 3
9A 21. Gossip, slangily 3
10A 22. Build on 5
11A 24. Welcome at the door, say 5
12A 27. Linguist's concern 7
13A 30. Serious in manner 5
14A 31. Bagel topping 3
15A 32. Not perfect, but acceptable 11
16A 36. Bickering 4
17A 38. Blade that's pulled 3
18A 39. Casual farewell often used outside its language of origin 4
19A 40. Station set up in a kitchen 11
20A 45. Bit of intel 3
21A 46. Coins of Cuba 5
22A 47. Ingredients in some tropical smoothies 7
23A 49. Foreign Service assignments 5
24A 50. Madrid mister 5
25A 51. Church seat 3
26A 52. Promise to pay 3
27A 54. Journalist, informally 6
28A 58. Like children, ideally, in an old adage ... or a hint to a four-letter word hidden in 17-, 32- and 40-Across 15
29A 62. Rigorous 9
30A 63. Astronomer Carl 5
31A 64. Irritable 5
32A 65. [As written] 3
33A 66. Civil rights activist Parks 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Sore"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that causing a dull and steady pain
  • Similar words include: aching
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACHY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Nail polish brand"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "8. Some cantina fare"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of mexican descent
  • Similar words include: greaser, wetback, taco
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TACOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "13. "Hip hip hooray!," e.g."

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cry or shout of approval
  • Similar words include: sunshine, barrack, jolly up
  • Opposite of: complain, dishearten
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHEER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Sink-or-swim competition?"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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6A: "17. Handles a few unresolved issues"

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "19. Like tears"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an isotonic solution of sodium chloride and distilled water
  • Similar words include: saline solution
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SALINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. Site to build on"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
  • Similar words include: quite a little, sight, band
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Gossip, slangily"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
  • Similar words include: Camellia sinensis, tea leaf, teatime
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Build on"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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11A: "24. Welcome at the door, say"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "27. Linguist's concern"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics)
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRAMMAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "30. Serious in manner"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the rear part of a ship
  • Similar words include: posterior, unforgiving, exacting
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STERN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "31. Bagel topping"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a bluish translucent magnetic liquid obtained by compressing gaseous oxygen and then cooling it below its boiling point; used as an oxidizer in rocket propellants
  • Similar words include: liquid oxygen
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "32. Not perfect, but acceptable"

11 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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16A: "36. Bickering"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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17A: "38. Blade that's pulled"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an implement used to propel or steer a boat
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "39. Casual farewell often used outside its language of origin"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an acknowledgment that can be used to say hello or goodbye (aloha is hawaiian and ciao is italian)
  • Similar words include: aloha
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "40. Station set up in a kitchen"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "45. Bit of intel"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
  • Similar words include: steer, bakshish, summit
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "46. Coins of Cuba"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic unit of money in uruguay; equal to 100 centesimos
  • Similar words include: Uruguayan peso, Dominican peso, Mexican peso
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PESOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "47. Ingredients in some tropical smoothies"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tropical american shrub or small tree having huge deeply palmately cleft leaves and large oblong yellow fruit
  • Similar words include: papaya, Carica papaya, papaya tree
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAPAYAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "49. Foreign Service assignments"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the position where someone (as a guard or sentry) stands or is assigned to stand
  • Similar words include: station, military post, billet
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POSTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "50. Madrid mister"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a spanish title or form of address for a man; similar to the english `mr' or `sir'
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "51. Church seat"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long bench with backs; used in church by the congregation
  • Similar words include: church bench
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "52. Promise to pay"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an informal debt instrument; representing `i owe you'
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "54. Journalist, informally"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that french playwright (1791-1861)
  • Similar words include: penman, scrivener, scriber
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCRIBE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "58. Like children, ideally, in an old adage ... or a hint to a four-letter word hidden in 17-, 32- and 40-Across"

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "62. Rigorous"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that demanding strict attention to rules and procedures
  • Similar words include: tight, rigorous
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STRINGENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "63. Astronomer Carl"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "64. Irritable"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that easily irritated or annoyed
  • Similar words include: cranky, nettlesome, irritable
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TESTY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "65. [As written]"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that urge to attack someone
  • Similar words include: set
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "66. Civil rights activist Parks"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large genus of erect or climbing prickly shrubs including roses
  • Similar words include: genus Rosa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Play parts 4
2D 2. Kind of seed or pet 4
3D 3. Sometimes-raised part of a shoe 4
4D 4. Emphatic confirmation 6
5D 5. Nocturnal hooter 3
6D 6. Painter Veronese 5
7D 7. Langston Hughes poem 4
8D 8. Due + 1 3
9D 9. Mimic 3
10D 10. Script supervisor's concern 10
11D 11. ___ days 5
12D 12. Slugger Sammy 4
13D 14. "Raising Hell" rap trio 6
14D 16. Council ___ (British equivalent of a housing project) 6
15D 18. Part of a piano or loom 5
16D 23. Boots on the ground 6
17D 25. Rep.'s counterpart 3
18D 26. Ray of McDonald's 4
19D 27. Genre for Ziggy Stardust, informally 4
20D 28. Naan alternative 4
21D 29. Coalition that opposed the Allies in W.W. II 10
22D 30. Mexican wrap 6
23D 33. Kid-lit girl with a blueberry pail 3
24D 34. Greek goddess of the earth 4
25D 35. Brewing need 4
26D 37. They help you drive farther 4
27D 41. Ballpark fig. 3
28D 42. Snooping (around) 6
29D 43. "___ thou not minister to a mind diseased ...?": Macbeth 5
30D 44. Significant periods 6
31D 48. Overdue debt 6
32D 49. Golfer Calvin or QB Rodney 5
33D 50. Islam's largest branch 5
34D 51. Alternative to a tap on the shoulder 4
35D 53. Works of praise 4
36D 55. "Othello" villain 4
37D 56. Some supports 4
38D 57. ___ Lewis, the "Grande Dame of Southern Cooking" 4
39D 59. Minor complaint 3
40D 60. Unspecified amount 3
41D 61. Not Rx 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Play parts"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a new testament book describing the development of the early church from christ's ascension to paul's sojourn at rome
  • Similar words include: play, pretend, deed
  • Opposite of: refrain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Kind of seed or pet"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Sometimes-raised part of a shoe"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
  • Similar words include: bounder, reheel, hound
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Emphatic confirmation"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Nocturnal hooter"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes
  • Similar words include: bird of night, bird of Minerva, hooter
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Painter Veronese"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Langston Hughes poem"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Due + 1"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Mimic"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Script supervisor's concern"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that uninterrupted connection or union
  • Similar words include: persistence
  • Opposite of: discontinuity
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CONTINUITY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. ___ days"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Slugger Sammy"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "14. "Raising Hell" rap trio"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "16. Council ___ (British equivalent of a housing project)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that everything you own; all of your assets (whether real property or personal property) and liabilities
  • Similar words include: land, the three estates, demesne
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESTATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "18. Part of a piano or loom"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sustained bass note
  • Similar words include: foot lever, cycle, wheel
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEDAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Boots on the ground"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that soldiers collectively
  • Similar words include: scout troop, scout group, military personnel
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROOPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Rep.'s counterpart"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fractional monetary unit of japan and indonesia and cambodia; equal to one hundredth of a yen or rupiah or riel
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Ray of McDonald's"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Genre for Ziggy Stardust, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Naan alternative"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. Coalition that opposed the Allies in W.W. II"

10 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "30. Mexican wrap"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long brightly colored shawl; worn mainly by mexican men
  • Similar words include: sarape
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SERAPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Kid-lit girl with a blueberry pail"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Greek goddess of the earth"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) goddess of the earth and mother of cronus and the titans in ancient mythology
  • Similar words include: Gaea, Ge
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "35. Brewing need"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that twining perennials having cordate leaves and flowers arranged in conelike spikes; the dried flowers of this plant are used in brewing to add the characteristic bitter taste to beer
  • Similar words include: skip, hop-skip, hop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "37. They help you drive farther"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Ballpark fig."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that standard time in the 5th time zone west of greenwich, reckoned at the 75th meridian; used in the eastern united states
  • Similar words include: Eastern Time, Eastern Standard Time
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Snooping (around)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that search or inquire in a meddlesome way
  • Similar words include: horn in, intrude, nuzzle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOSING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "43. "___ thou not minister to a mind diseased ...?": Macbeth"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "44. Significant periods"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "48. Overdue debt"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "49. Golfer Calvin or QB Rodney"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Islam's largest branch"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the branch of islam that accepts the first four caliphs as rightful successors to muhammad
  • Similar words include: Sunnite, Sunni Muslim, Sunni Islam
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUNNI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "51. Alternative to a tap on the shoulder"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "53. Works of praise"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  • Similar words include: ode
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. "Othello" villain"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the villain in william shakespeare's tragedy who tricked othello into murdering his wife
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IAGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Some supports"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an undergarment worn by women to support their breasts
  • Similar words include: bandeau, brassiere, bra
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "57. ___ Lewis, the "Grande Dame of Southern Cooking""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "59. Minor complaint"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a luminance unit equal to 1 candle per square meter measured perpendicular to the rays from the source
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "60. Unspecified amount"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one or some or every or all without specification
  • Similar words include: whatsoever, whatever
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "61. Not Rx"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (of securities) not traded on a stock exchange
  • Similar words include: over-the-counter
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTC

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

33 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
74 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: April 28, 2026 at 06:18 AM