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Wednesday, September 9, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 09, 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. "OK," in modern slang 3
2A 4. Develop 5
3A 9. Postlarval insects 5
4A 14. Prefix with skeleton 3
5A 15. Ewok's home 5
6A 16. Blow, as 13-Down does repeatedly 5
7A 17. Top starter 3
8A 18. Unsecured artillery that can slide across the deck 11
9A 20. "Semper Fidelis," for one 5
10A 22. Advantage 5
11A 23. Me-time destination 3
12A 24. Creature of Egyptian myth 6
13A 26. Bus schedule component 4
14A 28. Some landscaping equipment 6
15A 31. Worker who's behind the Times? 6
16A 35. Plow puller of old 4
17A 37. "Verb," ironically 4
18A 39. Part of a black suit 5
19A 40. Its three largest cities all have names starting with C 4
20A 41. Completely lost ... or where the now-idiomatic answer to each italicized clue has a literal meaning 5
21A 43. Barely made (out) 4
22A 44. Chat, informally 5
23A 46. Old-timey "Listen!" 4
24A 47. Out of juice 4
25A 48. Paint options 6
26A 50. Permanent-press 6
27A 52. Part of many a shallow-water ecosystem 4
28A 54. Music genre for some yoga classes 6
29A 57. Suffix with devil 3
30A 60. Expresses approval, in a way 5
31A 63. Remove from its original packaging, say 5
32A 64. Equatorial ocean area notorious for lack of winds 11
33A 67. Consumed 3
34A 68. Character in "Monsters, Inc." 5
35A 69. Like many a campfire story 5
36A 70. Hiker to a QB: Abbr. 3
37A 71. Elevate, as a flag 5
38A 72. Shell out cash 5
39A 73. Word with sewing or starter 3

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. "OK," in modern slang"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the money risked on a gamble
  • Similar words include: depend, calculate, stake
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "4. Develop"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that constitution of the human body
  • Similar words include: physique, physical body, form
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUILD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Postlarval insects"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an insect in the inactive stage of development (when it is not feeding) intermediate between larva and adult
  • Similar words include: pupa
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PUPAE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Prefix with skeleton"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Ewok's home"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Blow, as 13-Down does repeatedly"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that start abruptly
  • Similar words include: burst, flare up, take fire
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERUPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Top starter"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Unsecured artillery that can slide across the deck"

11 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Semper Fidelis," for one"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a favorite saying of a sect or political group
  • Similar words include: slogan, shibboleth, catchword
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOTTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Advantage"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Me-time destination"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Creature of Egyptian myth"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inscrutable person who keeps his thoughts and intentions secret
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPHINX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Bus schedule component"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the event of something ending
  • Similar words include: full point, full stop, plosive speech sound
  • Opposite of: start, continuant consonant
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Some landscaping equipment"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who puts finishing edges on a garment
  • Similar words include: edger
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDGERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Worker who's behind the Times?"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person responsible for the editorial aspects of publication; the person who determines the final content of a text (especially of a newspaper or magazine)
  • Similar words include: editor program, editor in chief
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDITOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Plow puller of old"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse; usually sterile
  • Similar words include: scuff
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MULE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "37. "Verb," ironically"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a content word that can be used to refer to a person, place, thing, quality, or action
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOUN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "39. Part of a black suit"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
  • Similar words include: jigaboo, coon, nigra
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "40. Its three largest cities all have names starting with C"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a midwestern state in north central united states in the great lakes region
  • Similar words include: Buckeye State, Ohio River, OH
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OHIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "41. Completely lost ... or where the now-idiomatic answer to each italicized clue has a literal meaning"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Barely made (out)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "44. Chat, informally"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. Old-timey "Listen!""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that listen; used mostly in the imperative
  • Similar words include: harken, hearken
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "47. Out of juice"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that people who are no longer living
  • Similar words include: abruptly, deadened, stagnant
  • Opposite of: alive, living
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Paint options"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the visual property of something that shines with reflected light
  • Similar words include: shininess, luster, lustre
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHEENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "50. Permanent-press"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "52. Part of many a shallow-water ecosystem"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a submerged ridge of rock or coral near the surface of the water
  • Similar words include: Witwatersrand, Rand
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REEF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "54. Music genre for some yoga classes"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "57. Suffix with devil"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "60. Expresses approval, in a way"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden very loud noise
  • Similar words include: acclaim, eruption, bam
  • Opposite of: boo
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "63. Remove from its original packaging, say"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove from a box
  • Opposite of: box
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNBOX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "64. Equatorial ocean area notorious for lack of winds"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "67. Consumed"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment
  • Similar words include: eat on, consume, run through
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "68. Character in "Monsters, Inc.""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a punctuation mark (,) used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence
  • Similar words include: comma butterfly, Polygonia comma
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COMMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "69. Like many a campfire story"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that suggestive of the supernatural; mysterious
  • Similar words include: eery
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EERIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "70. Hiker to a QB: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "71. Elevate, as a flag"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lifting device for raising heavy or cumbersome objects
  • Similar words include: lift, run up, wind
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "72. Shell out cash"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that pass time in a specific way
  • Similar words include: expend, drop, pass
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "73. Word with sewing or starter"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a case for containing a set of articles
  • Similar words include: outfit, kit up, kit out
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Has a happy face 5
2D 2. Former member of the force 5
3D 3. Stand barefoot in formation along seams of deck planks 10
4D 4. Fit in 6
5D 5. Game in which players draw and skip 3
6D 6. Big celebrity 4
7D 7. When repeated, leading only to bad outcomes 4
8D 8. Leftovers 5
9D 9. Stir-fry add-ins 7
10D 10. Decorative vessel 3
11D 11. "Sofa, so good" and such 4
12D 12. Each 4
13D 13. Sicilian smoker 4
14D 19. ___ as a bug's ear 4
15D 21. Drift with the natural flow of currents 8
16D 25. TV's "Warrior Princess" 4
17D 27. Bosun's whistled call signaling a shift change 8
18D 29. I.R.A. classification 4
19D 30. Lazy ___ 5
20D 32. Flattened against the masts in a changing wind 10
21D 33. Roman theaters 4
22D 34. Comedian Foxx 4
23D 35. Soft leather shoes, for short 4
24D 36. "That's not good" 4
25D 38. Fiddler-emperor, legend has it 4
26D 42. Similar 4
27D 45. Minimal paint job 7
28D 49. Promote 4
29D 51. Not just thrown away, say 6
30D 53. Gradually tapered cuts 5
31D 55. Jailed New York crime boss 5
32D 56. Wield, as authority 5
33D 57. Bite reminder, maybe 4
34D 58. "Get away!" 4
35D 59. Prefix with sphere 4
36D 61. Dice peppers, e.g. 4
37D 62. Positive 4
38D 65. Personally contacts online, for short 3
39D 66. Max's opposite 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Has a happy face"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a signal transmitted along a narrow path; guides airplane pilots in darkness or bad weather
  • Similar words include: ray, irradiation, shaft of light
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Former member of the force"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Stand barefoot in formation along seams of deck planks"

10 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Fit in"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be owned by; be in the possession of
  • Similar words include: go, belong to
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BELONG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Game in which players draw and skip"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Big celebrity"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. When repeated, leading only to bad outcomes"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense
  • Similar words include: misplace, mislay, fall back
  • Opposite of: find, win
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Leftovers"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sediment that has settled at the bottom of a liquid
  • Similar words include: settlings, dreg
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DREGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Stir-fry add-ins"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Decorative vessel"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. "Sofa, so good" and such"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a humorous play on words
  • Similar words include: punning, wordplay, pun
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PUNS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Each"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Sicilian smoker"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inactive volcano in sicily; last erupted in 1961; the highest volcano in europe (10,500 feet)
  • Similar words include: bunsen burner, bunsen, Mount Etna
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. ___ as a bug's ear"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness
  • Similar words include: precious, cunning
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUTE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Drift with the natural flow of currents"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. TV's "Warrior Princess""

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Bosun's whistled call signaling a shift change"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "29. I.R.A. classification"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states writer whose novels portray middle-class jewish life (born in 1933)
  • Similar words include: Philip Milton Roth, Philip Roth
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "30. Lazy ___"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "32. Flattened against the masts in a changing wind"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "33. Roman theaters"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Comedian Foxx"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Soft leather shoes, for short"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. "That's not good""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Fiddler-emperor, legend has it"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that roman emperor notorious for his monstrous vice and fantastic luxury (was said to have started a fire that destroyed much of rome in 64) but the roman empire remained prosperous during his rule (37-68)
  • Similar words include: Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NERO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "42. Similar"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "45. Minimal paint job"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "49. Promote"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the activity of persuading someone to buy
  • Similar words include: betray, trade, deal
  • Opposite of: buy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "51. Not just thrown away, say"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that use again after processing
  • Similar words include: reprocess, recycle, reuse
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REUSED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "53. Gradually tapered cuts"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a golf shot that curves to the right for a right-handed golfer
  • Similar words include: slice, wither, blow over
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FADES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "55. Jailed New York crime boss"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "56. Wield, as authority"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have and exercise
  • Similar words include: maintain, wield, exercise
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXERT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "57. Bite reminder, maybe"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a contagious skin infection caused by the itch mite; characterized by persistent itching and skin irritation
  • Similar words include: spoil, itchiness, itching
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ITCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. "Get away!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that drive away by crying `shoo!'
  • Similar words include: shoo off, shoo away
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHOO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "59. Prefix with sphere"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "61. Dice peppers, e.g."

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that preparatory school work done outside school (especially at home)
  • Similar words include: preparation, homework
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PREP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "62. Positive"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
  • Similar words include: certain, surely, trusted
  • Opposite of: uncertain, unsure
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SURE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "65. Personally contacts online, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that diabetes caused by a relative or absolute deficiency of insulin and characterized by polyuria
  • Similar words include: decimeter, DM, decimetre
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "66. Max's opposite"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
  • Similar words include: Hokkianese, Fukien, minute
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIN

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

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Last updated: September 09, 2026 at 08:16 AM

Thursday, July 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers July 16, 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. Smart 4
2A 5. Sensation 5
3A 10. Acquisition on the big day 5
4A 15. "That's a good one!" 4
5A 16. Galápagos island that was home to Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his subspecies 5
6A 17. Who knows what preceded the Big Bang 5
7A 18. *Yes — three arduous ones 16
8A 21. February 14, informally 4
9A 22. Scratch that! 4
10A 23. El ___ 3
11A 24. Like novices 5
12A 26. Spoil 6
13A 28. Preceder of how, way or where 3
14A 29. *Yes — sometimes more than 1,000 9
15A 31. Patooties 5
16A 33. Little dipper? 3
17A 34. "Tout à fait!" 3
18A 35. Tire 4
19A 37. *Yes — exactly one, in common usage 12
20A 42. First line on many a form 4
21A 43. Common garnish in a chirashi bowl 3
22A 44. Had at present? 3
23A 47. Article of lab wear 5
24A 50. *No — but it does have three feet 9
25A 53. Elizabethan curse 3
26A 54. Country that las islas Canarias are part of 6
27A 57. Important blood line 5
28A 58. "___ is the proper task of life": Nietzsche 3
29A 59. Business whose rewards program gives "Stackholder Perks" 4
30A 60. Raving 4
31A 61. Question during a brainstorming session ... or of the answers to the starred clues 16
32A 67. Popular Japanese brew 5
33A 68. Alcohol, slangily 5
34A 69. Literary heroine who says "I would always rather be happy than dignified" 4
35A 70. Its capital is Sanaa 5
36A 71. Heavens 5
37A 72. Debugging component? 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Smart"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that elegant and fashionable; ; ; ; - julia child
  • Similar words include: classy, swish
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POSH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Sensation"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a vigorous blow
  • Similar words include: break, bash, crush
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Acquisition on the big day"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "15. "That's a good one!""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "16. Galápagos island that was home to Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his subspecies"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "17. Who knows what preceded the Big Bang"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "18. *Yes — three arduous ones"

16 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ________________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRONMANTRIATHLON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "21. February 14, informally"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "22. Scratch that!"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a contagious skin infection caused by the itch mite; characterized by persistent itching and skin irritation
  • Similar words include: urge, spoil, itching
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ITCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "23. El ___"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the united states army's principal law enforcement agency responsible for the conduct of criminal investigations for all levels of the army anywhere in the world
  • Similar words include: Criminal Investigation Command
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "24. Like novices"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that green color or pigment; resembling the color of growing grass
  • Similar words include: unripe, common, gullible
  • Opposite of: ripe
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GREEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "26. Spoil"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow pass (especially one between mountains)
  • Similar words include: corrupt, befoul, sully
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEFILE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "28. Preceder of how, way or where"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. *Yes — sometimes more than 1,000"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous herbivorous nonpoisonous arthropods having a cylindrical body of 20 to 100 or more segments most with two pairs of legs
  • Similar words include: milliped, millepede
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MILLIPEDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Patooties"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that thick end of the handle
  • Similar words include: backside, stooge, behind
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUTTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Little dipper?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of the digits of the foot
  • Similar words include: toenail
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. "Tout à fait!""

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Tire"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
  • Similar words include: iris, ease up, sag
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FLAG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. *Yes — exactly one, in common usage"

12 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. First line on many a form"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a language unit by which a person or thing is known
  • Similar words include: figure, public figure, identify
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Common garnish in a chirashi bowl"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fish eggs or egg-filled ovary; having a grainy texture
  • Similar words include: hard roe
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "44. Had at present?"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astronomy) the angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing; the right ascension for an observer at a particular location and time of day
  • Similar words include: give, experience, throw
  • Opposite of: lack, abstain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "47. Article of lab wear"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loose coverall (coat or frock) reaching down to the ankles
  • Similar words include: gaberdine, duster, gabardine
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMOCK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "50. *No — but it does have three feet"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a measure or standard used for comparison
  • Similar words include: yard measure
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YARDSTICK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "53. Elizabethan curse"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a common venereal disease caused by the treponema pallidum spirochete; symptoms change through progressive stages; can be congenital (transmitted through the placenta)
  • Similar words include: syphilis, lues, lues venerea
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "54. Country that las islas Canarias are part of"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a parliamentary monarchy in southwestern europe on the iberian peninsula; a former colonial power
  • Similar words include: Spain, Kingdom of Spain
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESPANA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "57. Important blood line"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the large trunk artery that carries blood from the left ventricle of the heart to branch arteries
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AORTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "58. "___ is the proper task of life": Nietzsche"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the products of human creativity; works of art collectively
  • Similar words include: artistry, artistic production, graphics
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ART

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "59. Business whose rewards program gives "Stackholder Perks""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "60. Raving"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `for') ardently or excessively desirous
  • Similar words include: zealous, greedy, esurient
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "61. Question during a brainstorming session ... or of the answers to the starred clues"

16 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ________________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOESTHISHAVELEGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "67. Popular Japanese brew"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "68. Alcohol, slangily"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that flavorful relish or dressing or topping served as an accompaniment to food
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAUCE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "69. Literary heroine who says "I would always rather be happy than dignified""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shallow salt lake in south central australia about 35 feet below sea level; the largest lake in the country and the lowest point on the continent
  • Similar words include: Lake Eyre
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EYRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "70. Its capital is Sanaa"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic on the southwestern shores of the arabian peninsula on the indian ocean; formed in 1990
  • Similar words include: Republic of Yemen
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEMEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "71. Heavens"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fifth and highest element after air and earth and fire and water; was believed to be the substance composing all heavenly bodies
  • Similar words include: aether, ethyl ether, quintessence
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETHER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "72. Debugging component?"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Letter after upsilon 3
2D 2. Trireme tool 3
3D 3. Cleared, as snow 8
4D 4. "Messiah" composer 6
5D 5. Neuter 4
6D 6. What a big hand indicates: Abbr. 3
7D 7. Its colony can be considered one superorganism 3
8D 8. Struggle 6
9D 9. World's most populous Creole-speaking country 5
10D 10. Pretty much assured 8
11D 11. Japanese drama 3
12D 12. Feline in a 2000s meme 6
13D 13. Dub ... or rub 6
14D 14. Fast-food restaurant that sells Frostys 6
15D 19. ___-pedi 4
16D 20. Oft-injured part of the knee, for short 3
17D 24. Clock-setting std. 3
18D 25. ___ Bravo (México/Tejas border) 3
19D 26. Certain tie score 5
20D 27. Mince words? 4
21D 30. Frost piece 4
22D 32. Sound of dissatisfaction 3
23D 35. Botanist's study 5
24D 36. Told stories 4
25D 38. Business ending 3
26D 39. Roll in dough 8
27D 40. Actress/union leader Drescher 4
28D 41. Symbol of spiritual insight, in Hinduism 8
29D 45. Class ___ 3
30D 46. Music genre with "walking" bass lines 3
31D 47. Steamy occasion? 6
32D 48. Lugubrious 6
33D 49. Pioneers' prairie pullers 6
34D 50. Harangues 6
35D 51. Store 4
36D 52. Worked sufferingly 6
37D 55. "Pipe down!" 3
38D 56. Composure 5
39D 60. Attest 4
40D 62. ___-goat 3
41D 63. "Wait ... really?" 3
42D 64. One of a kind 3
43D 65. Test for future Ph.D.s 3
44D 66. Not needing anything else 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Letter after upsilon"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the 21st letter of the greek alphabet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Trireme tool"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Cleared, as snow"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that dig with or as if with a shovel
  • Similar words include: shovel
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHOVELED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. "Messiah" composer"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a prolific british baroque composer (born in germany) remembered best for his oratorio messiah (1685-1759)
  • Similar words include: George Frideric Handel, George Frederick Handel, Georg Friedrich Handel
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HANDEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Neuter"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove the ovaries of
  • Similar words include: alter, neuter, castrate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. What a big hand indicates: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of time equal to 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour
  • Similar words include: Amoy, Taiwanese, Hokkianese
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Its colony can be considered one superorganism"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers
  • Similar words include: pismire, emmet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Struggle"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lack of agreement or harmony
  • Similar words include: discord
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STRIFE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. World's most populous Creole-speaking country"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic in the west indies on the western part of the island of hispaniola; achieved independence from france in 1804; the poorest and most illiterate nation in the western hemisphere
  • Similar words include: Republic of Haiti, Hispaniola, Hayti
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAITI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Pretty much assured"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Japanese drama"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Feline in a 2000s meme"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Dub ... or rub"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that choose by or as if by divine intervention
  • Similar words include: embrocate, anele, inunct
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANOINT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. Fast-food restaurant that sells Frostys"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. ___-pedi"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "20. Oft-injured part of the knee, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Clock-setting std."

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the local time at the 0 meridian passing through greenwich, england; it is the same everywhere
  • Similar words include: Greenwich Mean Time, UT, Greenwich Time
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GMT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. ___ Bravo (México/Tejas border)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the former capital and 2nd largest city of brazil; chief brazilian port; famous as a tourist attraction
  • Similar words include: Rio de Janeiro
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Certain tie score"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tie in tennis or table tennis that requires winning two successive points to win the game
  • Similar words include: dickens, two, devil
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEUCE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Mince words?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Frost piece"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a composition written in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines
  • Similar words include: verse form
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Sound of dissatisfaction"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Botanist's study"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that all the plant life in a particular region or period
  • Similar words include: plant life, vegetation, botany
  • Opposite of: fauna
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FLORA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Told stories"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a german art song of the 19th century for voice and piano
  • Similar words include: lie in, dwell, consist
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Business ending"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a heterogeneous collection of groups united in their opposition to saddam hussein's government of iraq; formed in 1992 it is comprised of sunni and shiite arabs and kurds who hope to build a new government
  • Similar words include: Iraqi National Congress
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Roll in dough"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. Actress/union leader Drescher"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "41. Symbol of spiritual insight, in Hinduism"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Class ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body
  • Similar words include: routine, human activity, do
  • Opposite of: refrain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Music genre with "walking" bass lines"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Steamy occasion?"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "48. Lugubrious"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that showing a brooding ill humor; ; ; ; ; ; - bruce bliven
  • Similar words include: glowering, glum, saturnine
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOROSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "49. Pioneers' prairie pullers"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "50. Harangues"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "51. Store"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (sports) the act of preventing the opposition from scoring
  • Similar words include: write, keep, make unnecessary
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "52. Worked sufferingly"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Similar words include: moil, labor, dig
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOILED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "55. "Pipe down!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "56. Composure"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cgs unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimeter; the viscosity of a fluid in which a force of one dyne per square centimeter maintains a velocity of 1 centimeter per second
  • Similar words include: cool, aplomb, assuredness
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POISE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "60. Attest"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that report or maintain
  • Similar words include: affirm, assert, say
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVER

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40D: "62. ___-goat"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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41D: "63. "Wait ... really?""

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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42D: "64. One of a kind"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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43D: "65. Test for future Ph.D.s"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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44D: "66. Not needing anything else"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used
  • Similar words include: do, circle, fix
  • Opposite of: rise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SET

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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
44 Down Clues
81 Total Clues

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Last updated: July 16, 2026 at 05:58 AM