Search Clues

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

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 01, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Moderate

Pro Tip: Start with the fill-in-the-blank clues - they're usually the easiest entry points!

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Fill the role of 5
2A 6. Informed 4
3A 10. River in which baby Moses was found 4
4A 14. Comedians' event 5
5A 15. Sword with a bowl-shaped guard 4
6A 16. Burden to bear 4
7A 17. https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil? 10
8A 19. "Ism" that might result from a schism 4
9A 20. Conditionally released 8
10A 21. Tropical fruit with black seeds 6
11A 23. Some N.F.L. blockers: Abbr. 3
12A 24. Org. for Martina Hingis and Martina Navratilova 3
13A 25. Noted magnate on the Titanic 5
14A 26. https://www.hot-dog.org? 11
15A 29. Risky bets 6
16A 32. Convened 3
17A 33. Shakespearean father of three 4
18A 35. Dings on a car 5
19A 36. Out of patience, with "up" 3
20A 37. Green sauce 5
21A 38. Prone to throwing caution to the wind 4
22A 39. Unfavorable review 3
23A 40. Split, as the Red Sea 6
24A 41. https://www.zillow.com? 11
25A 44. Plants that have been around on Earth for 375+ million years 5
26A 45. O'Hare posting, for short 3
27A 46. "My guy!" 3
28A 49. Dabble in 6
29A 51. Psychedelic experience 8
30A 53. Like Javan rhinos 4
31A 54. https://www.congress.gov? 10
32A 56. Ilhan in Congress 4
33A 57. Bad to the bone 4
34A 58. "Not gonna happen!" 5
35A 59. Pickle 4
36A 60. Secluded valley 4
37A 61. Writer ___ Rogers St. Johns 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Fill the role of"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Informed"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that express in words
  • Similar words include: distinguish, tell apart, enjoin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOLD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. River in which baby Moses was found"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the world's longest river (4150 miles); flows northward through eastern africa into the mediterranean; the nile river valley in egypt was the site of the world's first great civilization
  • Similar words include: Nile River
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NILE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Comedians' event"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a piece of meat roasted or for roasting and of a size for slicing into more than one portion
  • Similar words include: blackguard, laugh at, jest at
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROAST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Sword with a bowl-shaped guard"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fencing sword similar to a foil but with a heavier blade
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Burden to bear"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil?"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. "Ism" that might result from a schism"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a subdivision of a larger religious group
  • Similar words include: faction, religious sect, religious order
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SECT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Conditionally released"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Tropical fruit with black seeds"

6 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: Carica papaya, papaia, pawpaw
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAPAYA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Some N.F.L. blockers: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Org. for Martina Hingis and Martina Navratilova"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Noted magnate on the Titanic"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that british politician (born in the united states) who was the first woman to sit in the british house of commons (1879-1964)
  • Similar words include: Nancy Witcher Astor, John Jacob Astor, Viscountess Astor
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASTOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "26. https://www.hot-dog.org?"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Risky bets"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who travels by air
  • Similar words include: flyer, bill, flier
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FLIERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Convened"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come together
  • Similar words include: take on, gather, fulfil
  • Opposite of: diverge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Shakespearean father of three"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that british artist and writer of nonsense verse (1812-1888)
  • Similar words include: Edward Lear, King Lear
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Dings on a car"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an appreciable consequence (especially a lessening)
  • Similar words include: nick, dent, gouge
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DENTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "36. Out of patience, with "up""

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any federal law-enforcement officer
  • Similar words include: give, eat, run
  • Opposite of: starve
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "37. Green sauce"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sauce typically served with pasta; contains crushed basil leaves and garlic and pine nuts and parmesan cheese in olive oil
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PESTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "38. Prone to throwing caution to the wind"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any red eruption of the skin
  • Similar words include: reckless, foolhardy, roseola
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "39. Unfavorable review"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "40. Split, as the Red Sea"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that go one's own way; move apart
  • Similar words include: set forth, set out, start
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "41. https://www.zillow.com?"

11 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "44. Plants that have been around on Earth for 375+ million years"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores
  • Similar words include: fern
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FERNS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. O'Hare posting, for short"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. "My guy!""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "49. Dabble in"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Psychedelic experience"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "53. Like Javan rhinos"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "54. https://www.congress.gov?"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "56. Ilhan in Congress"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "57. Bad to the bone"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that morally objectionable behavior
  • Similar words include: malign, vicious, immorality
  • Opposite of: goodness, good
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "58. "Not gonna happen!""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not ever; at no time in the past or future
  • Similar words include: ne'er
  • Opposite of: ever
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "59. Pickle"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of confusion and disorderliness
  • Similar words include: flock, pickle, heap
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "60. Secluded valley"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small wooded hollow
  • Similar words include: dingle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "61. Writer ___ Rogers St. Johns"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Shady spot 5
2D 2. Dracula, for one 5
3D 3. Camping covers 5
4D 4. Where Uzbeks and Uyghurs live 4
5D 5. Highest-grossing movie of the 1970s 8
6D 6. Magnetic induction units 6
7D 7. Andy Taylor's boy on old TV 4
8D 8. Cry on a tennis court 3
9D 9. Firmly held 7
10D 10. "Don't ruin the ending for me!" 10
11D 11. Genuinely 9
12D 12. "Peanuts" girl 4
13D 13. This, in Tijuana 4
14D 18. HBO's "The White ___" 5
15D 22. Locale of Coca-Cola's headquarters: Abbr. 3
16D 25. Like fine wine 4
17D 26. Amy Poehler's onetime partner on "Weekend Update" 10
18D 27. Update, perhaps 5
19D 28. Model Moss 4
20D 29. Four-term prez 3
21D 30. Wife of Jacob 4
22D 31. To the degree that 9
23D 34. Fishing pole 3
24D 36. Fidget spinners and Labubu dolls, for two 4
25D 37. Rose Bowl city 8
26D 39. Pulled down a pair? 7
27D 40. Like un homme with a Napoleon complex 5
28D 42. Distinct stretch of years 3
29D 43. Think back on 6
30D 46. Push through 5
31D 47. Orion's left-foot star 5
32D 48. "Norma" or "Tosca" 5
33D 49. Senior event 4
34D 50. Uncool 4
35D 51. Indigo dye 4
36D 52. Rolled out unannounced? 4
37D 55. Preceding night 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Shady spot"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tree (as opposed to shrub)
  • Similar words include: arbour, spindle, mandril
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARBOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Dracula, for one"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the total number counted
  • Similar words include: weigh, counting, matter
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COUNT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Camping covers"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that waterproofed canvas
  • Similar words include: tarpaulin, tarp
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TARPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Where Uzbeks and Uyghurs live"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to europe on the west to form eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Highest-grossing movie of the 1970s"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Magnetic induction units"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of magnetic flux density equal to one weber per square meter
  • Similar words include: tesla, Tesla, Nikola Tesla
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TESLAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Andy Taylor's boy on old TV"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Cry on a tennis court"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brutal terrorist group active in kashmir; fights against india with the goal of restoring islamic rule of india
  • Similar words include: have, permit, countenance
  • Opposite of: forbid, prevent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Firmly held"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. "Don't ruin the ending for me!""

10 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Genuinely"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "Peanuts" girl"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that incomplete skeleton of female found in eastern ethiopia in 1974
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUCY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. This, in Tijuana"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. HBO's "The White ___""

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that native to eastern asia; widely cultivated for its large pink or white flowers
  • Similar words include: white lily, white lotus, Indian lotus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOTUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Locale of Coca-Cola's headquarters: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Like fine wine"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that people who are old collectively
  • Similar words include: senesce, older, get on
  • Opposite of: young, rejuvenate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Amy Poehler's onetime partner on "Weekend Update""

10 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Update, perhaps"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make amendments to
  • Similar words include: ameliorate, remediate, rectify
  • Opposite of: worsen
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Model Moss"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. Four-term prez"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that 32nd president of the united states; elected four times; instituted new deal to counter the great depression and led country during world war ii (1882-1945)
  • Similar words include: President Franklin Roosevelt, F. D. Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FDR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Wife of Jacob"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "31. To the degree that"

9 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "34. Fishing pole"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long thin implement made of metal or wood
  • Similar words include: pole, gat, rod cell
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Fidget spinners and Labubu dolls, for two"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an interest followed with exaggerated zeal
  • Similar words include: rage, fad, furore
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. Rose Bowl city"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a city in southwestern california to the east of los angeles
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PASADENA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Pulled down a pair?"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. Like un homme with a Napoleon complex"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Distinct stretch of years"

3 letters 💭 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: earned run average, geological era, epoch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "43. Think back on"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a request by the manufacturer of a defective product to return the product (as for replacement or repair)
  • Similar words include: recollect, return, come back
  • Opposite of: forget, issue
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RECALL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Push through"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a north american indian warrior
  • Similar words include: courageous, brave out, weather
  • Opposite of: timid, cowardly
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRAVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Orion's left-foot star"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the brightest star in orion
  • Similar words include: Beta Orionis
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIGEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "48. "Norma" or "Tosca""

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a drama set to music; consists of singing with orchestral accompaniment and an orchestral overture and interludes
  • Similar words include: opera house
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPERA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "49. Senior event"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a formal ball held for a school class toward the end of the academic year
  • Similar words include: promenade
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "50. Uncool"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who doesn't understand what is going on
  • Similar words include: feeble, gimpy, cripple
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "51. Indigo dye"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a blue dye obtained from plants or made synthetically
  • Similar words include: Indigofera anil, Indigofera suffruticosa, indigo
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "52. Rolled out unannounced?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "55. Preceding night"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) adam's wife in judeo-christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; god created eve from adam's rib and placed adam and eve in the garden of eden
  • Similar words include: evening, even, eventide
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVE

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
37 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: September 01, 2026 at 08:47 AM

Monday, May 25, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 25, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Medium

Pro Tip: Start with the fill-in-the-blank clues - they're usually the easiest entry points!

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Jokes (around) 4
2A 5. Not very spicy 4
3A 9. Super 8 or Red Roof Inn 5
4A 14. Paper cut? 4
5A 15. Big name in laptops 4
6A 16. Public relations concern 5
7A 17. Steamy segment in a movie 9
8A 19. Fruit that makes your lips pucker 5
9A 20. Tennis skirt feature 5
10A 21. Lack of light 8
11A 23. Locale for a plastic flamingo 4
12A 26. Yoga studio essential 3
13A 27. De-tension center? 3
14A 30. Variety of chili that can reach a Scoville score of 1+ million 11
15A 36. European ski destination 4
16A 38. Volcanic spew 3
17A 39. Sample collected by Ancestry.com 6
18A 40. Daily Planet reporter Lois 4
19A 41. Show the ropes 5
20A 43. "___ sesame!" 4
21A 44. Comfortable 6
22A 46. Anguish 3
23A 47. Manage, as a bar 4
24A 48. California national park known for its dryness 11
25A 51. Pigs' digs 3
26A 52. Number starting a countdown 3
27A 53. Sitting on 4
28A 55. Bring dishonor upon 8
29A 60. "I'm sleepy" signals 5
30A 64. Ancient Mexican empire 5
31A 65. 1980s hit with the lyric "Me mind on fire, me soul on fire" ... or how one might describe 17-, 30- and 48-Across? 9
32A 68. Back of a car or front of an elephant 5
33A 69. Orchestral woodwind 4
34A 70. Place of buzziness? 4
35A 71. Most watches have three of these 5
36A 72. Japanese electronics giant 4
37A 73. An estimated 25% of modern phone calls 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Jokes (around)"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a young person of either sex
  • Similar words include: child, jolly, kidskin
  • Opposite of: parent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Not very spicy"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme
  • Similar words include: meek, balmy, modest
  • Opposite of: intense
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MILD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Super 8 or Red Roof Inn"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a motor hotel
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOTEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Paper cut?"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that prepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting
  • Similar words include: redact, delete, cut
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Big name in laptops"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that type genus of the aceraceae; trees or shrubs having winged fruit
  • Similar words include: genus Acer
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Public relations concern"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an iconic mental representation
  • Similar words include: envision, effigy, simulacrum
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Steamy segment in a movie"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Fruit that makes your lips pucker"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that yellow oval fruit with juicy acidic flesh
  • Similar words include: lemon yellow, maize, Citrus limon
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEMON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Tennis skirt feature"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various types of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and then pressing or stitching into shape
  • Similar words include: plait, plicate, ruffle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Lack of light"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that absence of light or illumination
  • Similar words include: dark, iniquity, wickedness
  • Opposite of: lightness, light
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DARKNESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Locale for a plastic flamingo"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a field of cultivated and mowed grass
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAWN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "26. Yoga studio essential"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a thick flat pad used as a floor covering
  • Similar words include: matted, lusterlessness, matte
  • Opposite of: disentangle, unsnarl
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. De-tension center?"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a health resort near a spring or at the seaside
  • Similar words include: watering place, health club, watering hole
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "30. Variety of chili that can reach a Scoville score of 1+ million"

11 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "36. European ski destination"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large mountain system in south-central europe; scenic beauty and winter sports make them a popular tourist attraction
  • Similar words include: the Alps, alp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "38. Volcanic spew"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the residue that remains when something is burned
  • Similar words include: ash tree
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "39. Sample collected by Ancestry.com"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth; moistens the mouth and starts the digestion of starches
  • Similar words include: spittle, spit
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SALIVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "40. Daily Planet reporter Lois"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Show the ropes"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an english pirate who operated in the caribbean and off the atlantic coast of north america (died in 1718)
  • Similar words include: instruct, learn, Thatch
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEACH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "43. "___ sesame!""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "44. Comfortable"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "46. Anguish"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that misery resulting from affliction
  • Similar words include: suffering, woefulness
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "47. Manage, as a bar"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
  • Similar words include: incline, lean, be given
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "48. California national park known for its dryness"

11 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "51. Pigs' digs"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "52. Number starting a countdown"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
  • Similar words include: decade, x, X
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "53. Sitting on"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that on, to, or at the top
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "55. Bring dishonor upon"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
  • Similar words include: asperse, sully, denigrate
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BESMIRCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "60. "I'm sleepy" signals"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an involuntary intake of breath through a wide open mouth; usually triggered by fatigue or boredom
  • Similar words include: yaw, oscitancy, yawn
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YAWNS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "64. Ancient Mexican empire"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the nahuatl people who established an empire in mexico that was overthrown by cortes in 1519
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AZTEC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "65. 1980s hit with the lyric "Me mind on fire, me soul on fire" ... or how one might describe 17-, 30- and 48-Across?"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "68. Back of a car or front of an elephant"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber
  • Similar words include: tree trunk, proboscis, torso
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRUNK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "69. Orchestral woodwind"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slender double-reed instrument; a woodwind with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece
  • Similar words include: hautboy, hautbois
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "70. Place of buzziness?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a teeming multitude
  • Similar words include: beehive
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HIVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "71. Most watches have three of these"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (with `in') guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
  • Similar words include: helping hand, bridge player, handwriting
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HANDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "72. Japanese electronics giant"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "73. An estimated 25% of modern phone calls"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a canned meat made largely from pork
  • Similar words include: junk e-mail
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Seaweed in an underwater forest 4
2D 2. Revered figure 4
3D 3. Go off the deep end? 4
4D 4. Incredible bargain 5
5D 5. Kraft ___ & Cheese 3
6D 6. Lead-in to maker or breaker 3
7D 7. Give, but expect back 4
8D 8. Experienced during sleep 6
9D 9. Frothy drink often served with boba 7
10D 10. A ladybug landing on you is considered a good one 4
11D 11. Opposite of wild 4
12D 12. Alter ___ (other selves) 4
13D 13. Camera shop purchase 4
14D 18. Adult male deer 4
15D 22. A hardened criminal might have a long one 8
16D 24. "Yeah, yeah" 8
17D 25. Missing part of the Great Sphinx of Giza 4
18D 27. Leafy lunch order 5
19D 28. Piece of armadillo armor 5
20D 29. Common sleep disorder 5
21D 31. Item worn over the shoulders 5
22D 32. "The ___ thickens ..." 4
23D 33. Vocal cords, informally 5
24D 34. Happening 5
25D 35. Singer Newman with the hit "You've Got a Friend in Me" 5
26D 37. Chair or pew 4
27D 42. Coke or Pepsi 4
28D 45. Gimmicky routines 7
29D 49. Dried poblanos used in mole sauce 6
30D 50. Toy on a string 4
31D 54. Trails 5
32D 55. Relaxing soak 4
33D 56. Book just after Ezekiel, alphabetically 4
34D 57. Flabbergast 4
35D 58. Patch up 4
36D 59. Drifter in search of work 4
37D 61. What to do with egg whites when making meringue 4
38D 62. Luminous stellar explosion 4
39D 63. Women in ___ (educational advocacy group) 4
40D 66. Colossal quantity 3
41D 67. "Yoo-hoo!" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Seaweed in an underwater forest"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large brown seaweeds having fluted leathery fronds
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KELP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Revered figure"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a material effigy that is worshipped
  • Similar words include: god, paragon, graven image
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDOL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Go off the deep end?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cheap disreputable nightclub or dance hall
  • Similar words include: plunk, nosedive, plunge
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Incredible bargain"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an advantageous purchase
  • Similar words include: slip, buy, bargain
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Kraft ___ & Cheese"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
  • Similar words include: mack, macintosh, mackintosh
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Lead-in to maker or breaker"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Give, but expect back"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that bestow a quality on
  • Similar words include: bring, contribute, add
  • Opposite of: borrow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Experienced during sleep"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy
  • Similar words include: daydream, dream, stargaze
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DREAMT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Frothy drink often served with boba"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. A ladybug landing on you is considered a good one"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sign of something about to happen
  • Similar words include: portend, predict, foretell
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Opposite of wild"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that correct by punishment or discipline
  • Similar words include: reclaim, meek, cultivate
  • Opposite of: wild
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Alter ___ (other selves)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Camera shop purchase"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a transparent optical device used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images
  • Similar words include: lens of the eye, lense, genus Lens
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Adult male deer"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a male deer, especially an adult male red deer
  • Similar words include: grass, hart, rat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STAG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. A hardened criminal might have a long one"

8 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. "Yeah, yeah""

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Missing part of the Great Sphinx of Giza"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
  • Similar words include: intrude, poke, scent
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Leafy lunch order"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Piece of armadillo armor"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
  • Similar words include: crustal plate, home base, home
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. Common sleep disorder"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that transient cessation of respiration
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APNEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Item worn over the shoulders"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cloak consisting of an oblong piece of cloth used to cover the head and shoulders
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHAWL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. "The ___ thickens ...""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal)
  • Similar words include: plot of ground, secret plan, diagram
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Vocal cords, informally"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tube with a small bowl at one end; used for smoking tobacco
  • Similar words include: pipe up, pip, mop up
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIPES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Happening"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something that happens at a given place and time
  • Similar words include: issue, case, outcome
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "35. Singer Newman with the hit "You've Got a Friend in Me""

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that feeling great sexual desire
  • Similar words include: horny, aroused, turned on
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RANDY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "37. Chair or pew"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a space reserved for sitting (as in a theater or on a train or airplane)
  • Similar words include: derriere, bum, nates
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. Coke or Pepsi"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large genus of african trees bearing kola nuts
  • Similar words include: El Salvadoran colon, Colon, colon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COLA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "45. Gimmicky routines"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (yiddish) a little; a piece
  • Similar words include: schtick, shtick, schtik
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHTICKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. Dried poblanos used in mole sauce"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "50. Toy on a string"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "54. Trails"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a course of conduct
  • Similar words include: itinerary, path, route
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PATHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "55. Relaxing soak"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a vessel containing liquid in which something is immersed (as to process it or to maintain it at a constant temperature or to lubricate it)
  • Similar words include: bathe, bathroom, tub
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BATH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "56. Book just after Ezekiel, alphabetically"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a jewish priest and scribe sent by the persian king to restore jewish law and worship in jerusalem
  • Similar words include: Book of Ezra
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EZRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "57. Flabbergast"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow
  • Similar words include: daze, stupefy, sandbag
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STUN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "58. Patch up"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sewing that repairs a worn or torn hole (especially in a garment)
  • Similar words include: doctor, reparation, repair
  • Opposite of: break
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "59. Drifter in search of work"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a disreputable vagrant
  • Similar words include: bum, tramp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOBO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "61. What to do with egg whites when making meringue"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an instrument with a handle and a flexible lash that is used for whipping
  • Similar words include: welt, trounce, pip
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "62. Luminous stellar explosion"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a star that ejects some of its material in the form of a cloud and become more luminous in the process
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "63. Women in ___ (educational advocacy group)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (linguistics) the form of a word after all affixes are removed
  • Similar words include: stalk, shank, stem turn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "66. Colossal quantity"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a united states unit of weight equivalent to 2000 pounds
  • Similar words include: net ton, long ton, short ton
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "67. "Yoo-hoo!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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

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: May 25, 2026 at 08:04 AM