Search Clues

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

Monday, September 14, 2026

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

Master today's NYT crossword with our expert hint system. We provide synonyms, antonyms, and strategic clues to help you solve without spoiling the fun. Perfect for crossword lovers who want that satisfying "aha!" moment.

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: 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. Cherokee or Wrangler 4
2A 5. Omelet ingredients 4
3A 9. Big noisy fight 5
4A 14. Cornfield measure 4
5A 15. Little flying pest 4
6A 16. Dale who sang "Happy Trails" with Roy Rogers 5
7A 17. Crew building 9
8A 19. Assigns stars to, as on Yelp 5
9A 20. "Spare" things at a barbecue 4
10A 21. Stately tree 3
11A 23. Before, in poetry 3
12A 24. Atlantic City attraction 6
13A 27. "Is it bigger than a ___?" 8
14A 29. 911 respondent, in brief 3
15A 30. Latina toon explorer 4
16A 32. Beatles song with the lyric "She promises the earth to me" 4
17A 33. Pinocchio's are easily exposed 4
18A 35. "Absolutely, amigo!" 4
19A 37. The White Stripes and the Black Keys, for two 4
20A 39. Close boxing match outcome 13
21A 42. Picket line crosser 4
22A 43. Silverstein who wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree" 4
23A 44. Contacted on Instagram, informally 4
24A 46. Bills typically found in a tip jar 4
25A 48. Mallorca or Menorca, por ejemplo 4
26A 50. Place for a piercing or a plug 3
27A 51. All-out boxing match 8
28A 54. Sarcastic 6
29A 56. "Hamilton" composer ___-Manuel Miranda 3
30A 57. Singer/actress Rita ___ 3
31A 58. It's "smashed" in a particle accelerator 4
32A 59. Playful aquatic mammal 5
33A 61. Flip out ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 27-, 39- and 51-Across 9
34A 66. Word said while pointing 5
35A 67. "Never Have I ___" (sleepover game) 4
36A 68. Coldest possible temperature on the Kelvin scale 4
37A 69. Informal hoops game 5
38A 70. Winter road application 4
39A 71. Rams' mates 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Cherokee or Wrangler"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a car suitable for traveling over rough terrain
  • Similar words include: landrover
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JEEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Omelet ingredients"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food
  • Similar words include: ball, orchis, ballock
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Big noisy fight"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a noisy riotous fight
  • Similar words include: scrimmage, battle royal
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MELEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Cornfield measure"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of area (4840 square yards) used in english-speaking countries
  • Similar words include: Akko, Akka, Accho
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Little flying pest"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various small biting flies: midges; biting midges; black flies; sand flies
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GNAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Dale who sang "Happy Trails" with Roy Rogers"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states anatomist who identified four pituitary hormones and discovered vitamin e (1882-1971)
  • Similar words include: Arthur Evans, Herbert McLean Evans, Sir Arthur John Evans
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVANS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Crew building"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shed at the edge of a river or lake; used to store boats
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOATHOUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Assigns stars to, as on Yelp"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a local tax on property (usually used in the plural)
  • Similar words include: denounce, snitch, grade
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RATES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Spare" things at a barbecue"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that support resembling the rib of an animal
  • Similar words include: roast, jest at, ridicule
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Stately tree"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various trees of the genus ulmus: important timber or shade trees
  • Similar words include: elmwood, elm tree
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Before, in poetry"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Atlantic City attraction"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public building for gambling and entertainment
  • Similar words include: gambling casino, cassino
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CASINO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. "Is it bigger than a ___?""

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a container used to keep bread or cake in
  • Similar words include: bread-bin
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BREADBOX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. 911 respondent, in brief"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Latina toon explorer"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Beatles song with the lyric "She promises the earth to me""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a young woman
  • Similar words include: fille, female child, miss
  • Opposite of: boy, male child
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIRL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Pinocchio's are easily exposed"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
  • Similar words include: Trygve Lie, lie down, lie
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. "Absolutely, amigo!""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. The White Stripes and the Black Keys, for two"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that two items of the same kind
  • Similar words include: duad, brace, couplet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DUOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "39. Close boxing match outcome"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPLITDECISION

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "42. Picket line crosser"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike
  • Similar words include: blackleg, rat, fink
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. Silverstein who wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Contacted on Instagram, informally"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Bills typically found in a tip jar"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
  • Similar words include: one, I, unity
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Mallorca or Menorca, por ejemplo"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "50. Place for a piercing or a plug"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
  • Similar words include: pinna, spike, auricle
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. All-out boxing match"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fight with bare fists
  • Similar words include: fisticuffs, fistfight
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLUGFEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "54. Sarcastic"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "56. "Hamilton" composer ___-Manuel Miranda"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states sculptor and architect whose public works include the memorial to veterans of the vietnam war in washington (born in 1959)
  • Similar words include: Maya Lin
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Singer/actress Rita ___"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mouth or mouthlike opening
  • Similar words include: os, osmium, bone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. It's "smashed" in a particle accelerator"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element
  • Similar words include: corpuscle, speck, mote
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATOM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. Playful aquatic mammal"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fur of an otter
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Flip out ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 27-, 39- and 51-Across"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "66. Word said while pointing"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a location other than here; that place
  • Similar words include: at that place, on that point, thither
  • Opposite of: here
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THERE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "67. "Never Have I ___" (sleepover game)"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at any time
  • Similar words include: always, ever so, of all time
  • Opposite of: never
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "68. Coldest possible temperature on the Kelvin scale"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantity of no importance
  • Similar words include: cipher, zilch, zip
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZERO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "69. Informal hoops game"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
  • Similar words include: sawhorse, knight, sawbuck
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HORSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "70. Winter road application"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
  • Similar words include: salinity, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, table salt
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "71. Rams' mates"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a people living in southern benin and togo and southeastern ghana
  • Similar words include: Ewe, ewe
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EWES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Quick boxing punch 3
2D 2. Prefix with friendly or warrior 3
3D 3. Slice of history 3
4D 4. ___ dish (lab item) 5
5D 5. Self-esteem builder 8
6D 6. African antelopes 4
7D 7. Something an electric car doesn't use 3
8D 8. Have the reins 5
9D 9. Disney's Ariel and her sisters 8
10D 10. Youngest of the Gabor sisters 3
11D 11. One slow to develop 11
12D 12. Beginning of el aƱo 5
13D 13. English county NE of London 5
14D 18. Female red deer 4
15D 22. "Break a ___!" 3
16D 24. "The Simpsons" collectible 3
17D 25. Out of place 5
18D 26. Pedometer 11
19D 27. Single, double or triple 7
20D 28. Ancient Celtic priest 5
21D 31. Clears (of) 4
22D 34. Word hidden, aptly, in "teen's language" 5
23D 36. Completes, as a cake 4
24D 38. Move stealthily 5
25D 40. Lead-in to "except after C" 8
26D 41. "Let me go first" 8
27D 45. Like some humor and wine 3
28D 47. To be, in Barcelona 3
29D 49. Soon, in poems 4
30D 51. Animal that sleeps upside down 5
31D 52. Certain art print, informally 5
32D 53. Wise sorts 5
33D 55. Astound 5
34D 58. Brother of Cain 4
35D 60. TV medical drama settings, in brief 3
36D 62. Things traveling through fallopian tubes 3
37D 63. Previously unseen 3
38D 64. "Rules ___ rules" 3
39D 65. Abba title sung after the line "The love you gave me, nothing else can save me" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Quick boxing punch"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)
  • Similar words include: poking, dig, poke
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Prefix with friendly or warrior"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Slice of history"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. ___ dish (lab item)"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Self-esteem builder"

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. African antelopes"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large african antelope having a head with horns like an ox and a long tufted tail
  • Similar words include: gnu, wildebeest
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GNUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Something an electric car doesn't use"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by: relatively low density and viscosity; relatively great expansion and contraction with changes in pressure and temperature; the ability to diffuse readily; and the spontaneous tendency to become distributed uniformly throughout any container
  • Similar words include: natural gas, shoot a line, bluster
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Have the reins"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an indication of potential opportunity
  • Similar words include: bullock, direct, guide
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Disney's Ariel and her sisters"

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that half woman and half fish; lives in the sea
  • Similar words include: mermaid
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MERMAIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Youngest of the Gabor sisters"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. One slow to develop"

11 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Beginning of el aƱo"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. English county NE of London"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a county in southeastern england on the north sea and the thames estuary
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESSEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Female red deer"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several mostly spotted fishes that resemble groupers
  • Similar words include: hinder, back
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HIND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. "Break a ___!""

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
  • Similar words include: stage, pegleg, peg
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. "The Simpsons" collectible"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Out of place"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not functioning properly
  • Similar words include: awry, imperfectly, wrong
  • Opposite of: perfectly
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMISS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Pedometer"

11 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Single, double or triple"

7 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Ancient Celtic priest"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a pre-christian priest among the celts of ancient gaul and britain and ireland
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRUID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Clears (of)"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that relieve from
  • Similar words include: free, disembarrass, rid
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Word hidden, aptly, in "teen's language""

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions; often vituperative or vulgar
  • Similar words include: argot, slang expression, patois
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLANG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. Completes, as a cake"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
  • Similar words include: deoxyephedrine, meth, crank
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Move stealthily"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who is regarded as underhanded and furtive and contemptible
  • Similar words include: surreptitious, stalker, sneaky
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNEAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. Lead-in to "except after C""

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "41. "Let me go first""

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "45. Like some humor and wine"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages
  • Similar words include: prohibitionist, teetotal, ironic
  • Opposite of: phlegmy, wet
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "47. To be, in Barcelona"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. Soon, in poems"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at another time
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "51. Animal that sleeps upside down"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a disinclination to work or exert yourself
  • Similar words include: tree sloth, acedia, slothfulness
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "52. Certain art print, informally"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "53. Wise sorts"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
  • Similar words include: sag, sag down, swag
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "55. Astound"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that affect with wonder
  • Similar words include: pose, bewilder, perplex
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMAZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. Brother of Cain"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that norwegian mathematician (1802-1829)
  • Similar words include: Niels Henrik Abel, Niels Abel
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "60. TV medical drama settings, in brief"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "62. Things traveling through fallopian tubes"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the female reproductive cell; the female gamete
  • Similar words include: egg cell, ovum
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "63. Previously unseen"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

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: fresh, young, unexampled
  • Opposite of: worn, old
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "64. "Rules ___ rules""

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters
  • Similar words include: ar, constitute, be
  • Opposite of: differ
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "65. Abba title sung after the line "The love you gave me, nothing else can save me""

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an internationally recognized distress signal in radio code
  • Similar words include: soh, sol, so
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

Begin with fill-in-the-blank clues and short 3-4 letter words. These are your foundation.

Decode the Clues

Question marks indicate wordplay or puns. "Maybe" suggests multiple interpretations.

Use Cross-References

Let intersecting letters guide you. One correct answer unlocks several others.

Build Vocabulary

Common crossword words repeat. Learning them speeds up future solving.

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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

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

Last updated: September 14, 2026 at 09:06 AM

Monday, June 29, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers June 29, 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. Not true 5
2A 6. N.Y.C. club that hosted Blondie and the Ramones 4
3A 10. "Scram!" 4
4A 14. Clientele 5
5A 15. BTS fandom 4
6A 16. Classic TV series with asterisks separating the letters of its name 4
7A 17. Screen addiction, e.g. 10
8A 19. Canyon call back 4
9A 20. Word after B or D 3
10A 21. Length x width, for a rectangle 4
11A 22. What food is at dinner 5
12A 23. Where boxers trade jabs 12
13A 26. Cocktail with gin and lime juice 6
14A 29. Word before cheese or uncle 3
15A 30. Hedonistic sort 4
16A 31. Medium-spicy chili peppers 9
17A 37. Clever chap 15
18A 40. Driving slowly in the fast lane and "replying all" to a mass email, for two 9
19A 41. Vishnu avatar 4
20A 42. "Now ___ seen everything" 3
21A 43. Snail's tentacle or butterfly's antenna 6
22A 45. Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King Jr. and so on 12
23A 51. Carne ___ (Mexican dish) 5
24A 52. Uncle's wife 4
25A 53. Long sandwich with cold cuts, maybe 3
26A 56. Bouquet holder 4
27A 57. "Meow, meow, meow!," e.g. 10
28A 60. Similar (to) 4
29A 61. Like a child in an amusement park 4
30A 62. "___, meenie, miney, mo" 5
31A 63. Young lady 4
32A 64. Author Morrison who is part of the 45-Across 4
33A 65. Puffs of perfume 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Not true"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not in accordance with the fact or reality or actuality
  • Similar words include: put on, fictitious, fictive
  • Opposite of: true
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FALSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. N.Y.C. club that hosted Blondie and the Ramones"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. "Scram!""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that singing jazz; the singer substitutes nonsense syllables for the words of the song and tries to sound like a musical instrument
  • Similar words include: scarper, scat singing, run
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Clientele"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who makes use of a thing; someone who uses or employs something
  • Similar words include: drug user, exploiter, user
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. BTS fandom"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a permanent organization of the military land forces of a nation or state
  • Similar words include: ground forces, U. S. Army, United States Army
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARMY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Classic TV series with asterisks separating the letters of its name"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mixture of mashed malt grains and hot water; used in brewing
  • Similar words include: romance, grind, crunch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Screen addiction, e.g."

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Canyon call back"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the repetition of a sound resulting from reflection of the sound waves
  • Similar words include: sound reflection, resound, ring
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ECHO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Word after B or D"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that time for earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
  • Similar words include: sidereal day, twenty-four hour period, Clarence Shepard Day Jr.
  • Opposite of: night
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Length x width, for a rectangle"

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: domain, orbit, expanse
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AREA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. What food is at dinner"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that take in solid food
  • Similar words include: wipe out, use up, consume
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EATEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Where boxers trade jabs"

12 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPARRINGRING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Cocktail with gin and lime juice"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cocktail made of gin or vodka and lime juice
  • Similar words include: auger, screw auger, wimble
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIMLET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Word before cheese or uncle"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the chance to speak
  • Similar words include: pronounce, suppose, allege
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Hedonistic sort"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dissolute man in fashionable society
  • Similar words include: rip, blood, rakehell
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Medium-spicy chili peppers"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that plant bearing very hot and finely tapering long peppers; usually red
  • Similar words include: long pepper, cayenne pepper, jalapeno pepper
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JALAPENOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "37. Clever chap"

15 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "40. Driving slowly in the fast lane and "replying all" to a mass email, for two"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Vishnu avatar"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that avatar of vishnu whose name is synonymous with god; any of three incarnations: ramachandra or parashurama or balarama
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. "Now ___ seen everything""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Snail's tentacle or butterfly's antenna"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of a pair of mobile appendages on the head of e.g. insects and crustaceans; typically sensitive to touch and taste
  • Similar words include: antenna, approach, advance
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEELER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Linus Pauling, Martin Luther King Jr. and so on"

12 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOBELISTLIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "51. Carne ___ (Mexican dish)"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "52. Uncle's wife"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "53. Long sandwich with cold cuts, maybe"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the united states
  • Similar words include: Italian sandwich, U-boat, hoagie
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "56. Bouquet holder"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an open jar of glass or porcelain used as an ornament or to hold flowers
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "57. "Meow, meow, meow!," e.g."

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "60. Similar (to)"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that similar in quality or character
  • Similar words include: kindred, consanguineal, kin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AKIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "61. Like a child in an amusement park"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that highly excited
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGOG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "62. "___, meenie, miney, mo""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "63. Young lady"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a girl or young woman who is unmarried
  • Similar words include: jeune fille, lassie, young girl
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "64. Author Morrison who is part of the 45-Across"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "65. Puffs of perfume"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a thin fog with condensation near the ground
  • Similar words include: obscure, haze over, cloud
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MISTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Elmer who hunts "wabbits" 4
2D 2. On the ocean 4
3D 3. Impose, as a tax 4
4D 4. ___ Lanka 3
5D 5. Make a break from jail 6
6D 6. Spelunker 5
7D 7. Thorny patch 5
8D 8. Big inits. in pickup trucks and vans 3
9D 9. "Ta-ta!" 3
10D 10. Spread, as cream cheese 5
11D 11. Saguaros, e.g. 5
12D 12. Pale 5
13D 13. Underwear that's barely there 5
14D 18. The "E" in Q.E.D. 4
15D 22. Home to the Sphinx 5
16D 23. A quarter or more of one's life, typically 5
17D 24. Majorca and Minorca 5
18D 25. Indian bread 4
19D 26. Rubbery part of a handlebar 4
20D 27. Actress Skye 4
21D 28. Mixed-breed dog 4
22D 31. Talks in an unserious way 5
23D 32. What wines and cheeses do over time 3
24D 33. Wading bird 5
25D 34. Novelist Stephenson 4
26D 35. "My treat!" 4
27D 36. One of seven in the Big Dipper 4
28D 38. Woman's name meaning "night" 5
29D 39. ___ Strauss & Co. 4
30D 43. "Adventures of Huckleberry ___" 4
31D 44. Regard 6
32D 45. Like the force of an armada 5
33D 46. Home to Universal Studios Japan 5
34D 47. On a need-to-know ___ 5
35D 48. Utopias 5
36D 49. Claw 5
37D 50. One of the Super Mario brothers 5
38D 53. Pride and gluttony, for two 4
39D 54. Amount of work on a college transcript 4
40D 55. Drones, e.g. 4
41D 57. What puts the sizzle in bacon 3
42D 58. Freudian "I" 3
43D 59. Floral necklace 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Elmer who hunts "wabbits""

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. On the ocean"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in the direction of the sea
  • Similar words include: seawards, seaward
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Impose, as a tax"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a charge imposed and collected
  • Similar words include: raise, levy en masse, impose
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEVY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. ___ Lanka"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Make a break from jail"

6 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of escaping physically
  • Similar words include: outflow, flight, escape cock
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESCAPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Spelunker"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Thorny patch"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that eurasian rose with prickly stems and fragrant leaves and bright pink flowers followed by scarlet hips
  • Similar words include: Rosa eglanteria, tree heath, sweetbrier
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRIAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Big inits. in pickup trucks and vans"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. "Ta-ta!""

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that you advance to the next round in a tournament without playing an opponent
  • Similar words include: arrivederci, good-by, good day
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BYE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Spread, as cream cheese"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that slanderous defamation
  • Similar words include: slur, blur, spot
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Saguaros, e.g."

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any succulent plant of the family cactaceae native chiefly to arid regions of the new world and usually having spines
  • Similar words include: cactus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CACTI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Pale"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that anemic looking from illness or emotion; ; ; ; ; - mary w. shelley
  • Similar words include: white, bloodless, blanched
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASHEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Underwear that's barely there"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that leather strip that forms the flexible part of a whip
  • Similar words include: G-string, flip-flop, lash
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THONG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. The "E" in Q.E.D."

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Home to the Sphinx"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. A quarter or more of one's life, typically"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
  • Similar words include: sopor, quietus, catch some Z's
  • Opposite of: wake
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLEEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Majorca and Minorca"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small island
  • Similar words include: isle, islet
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISLES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Indian bread"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that leavened bread baked in a clay oven in india; usually shaped like a teardrop
  • Similar words include: nan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Rubbery part of a handlebar"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of grasping
  • Similar words include: hold, suitcase, travelling bag
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Actress Skye"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Mixed-breed dog"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inferior dog or one of mixed breed
  • Similar words include: mongrel, cur
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MUTT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "31. Talks in an unserious way"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz
  • Similar words include: swing, jive, swing music
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JIVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "32. What wines and cheeses do over time"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that how long something has existed
  • Similar words include: mature, years, long time
  • Opposite of: rejuvenate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "33. Wading bird"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various usually white herons having long plumes during breeding season
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGRET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "34. Novelist Stephenson"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "35. "My treat!""

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "36. One of seven in the Big Dipper"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior
  • Similar words include: maven, virtuoso, wiz
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "38. Woman's name meaning "night""

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "39. ___ Strauss & Co."

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (new testament) disciple of jesus; traditionally considered to be the author of the first gospel
  • Similar words include: Saint Matthew the Apostle, St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Matthew
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEVI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "43. "Adventures of Huckleberry ___""

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of finland
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FINN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "44. Regard"

6 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the condition of being honored (esteemed or respected or well regarded)
  • Similar words include: respect, prize, repute
  • Opposite of: disrespect, disesteem
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESTEEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "45. Like the force of an armada"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that connected with or belonging to or used in a navy
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "46. Home to Universal Studios Japan"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that port city on southern honshu on osaka bay; a commercial and industrial center of japan
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OSAKA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "47. On a need-to-know ___"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a relation that provides the foundation for something
  • Similar words include: fundament, foundation, groundwork
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "48. Utopias"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
  • Similar words include: paradise, heaven, Eden
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "49. Claw"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp hooked claw especially on a bird of prey
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TALON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "50. One of the Super Mario brothers"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "53. Pride and gluttony, for two"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that estrangement from god
  • Similar words include: wickedness, sinfulness, sin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "54. Amount of work on a college transcript"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any division of quantity accepted as a standard of measurement or exchange
  • Similar words include: building block, unit of measurement, social unit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "55. Drones, e.g."

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous hairy-bodied insects including social and solitary species
  • Similar words include: personify, equal, follow
  • Opposite of: differ
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "57. What puts the sizzle in bacon"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft greasy substance occurring in organic tissue and consisting of a mixture of lipids (mostly triglycerides)
  • Similar words include: fatty tissue, fatten, fatten out
  • Opposite of: thin, nonfat
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "58. Freudian "I""

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
  • Similar words include: self-importance, egotism, self
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "59. Floral necklace"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes
  • Similar words include: leu, chaplet, wreath
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEI

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
43 Down Clues
76 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: June 29, 2026 at 08:31 AM