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

Monday, June 22, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers June 22, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. The "S" of N.S.F.W. 4
2A 5. Invite to enter 5
3A 10. Artist Salvador 4
4A 14. "___ Your Enthusiasm" 4
5A 15. Totally sus, say 5
6A 16. Scholarly "same" 4
7A 17. Wave of antigovernment protests in the early 2010s 10
8A 19. Old name of Thailand 4
9A 20. What's rolled out for yoga 3
10A 21. Pint in a pub, maybe 3
11A 22. Performance at Lincoln Center 5
12A 23. Heading back to where one lives 13
13A 28. Sitting on 4
14A 30. Shows signs of hunger 6
15A 31. Harsh, as a takedown 6
16A 34. Hollywood workplace 8
17A 38. Some undergrad degs. 3
18A 39. Low-tech cooler on a hot day 3
19A 41. Container at a beer blast 3
20A 42. "Wha-a-at?" 3
21A 43. "___ Got Talent" 8
22A 46. Madame : France :: ___ : Spain 6
23A 48. Playground denial 6
24A 50. Golf club often numbered 3 to 9 4
25A 51. Repository of seeds from all corners of the globe, informally 13
26A 56. What volcanoes do 5
27A 57. Pie ___ mode 3
28A 58. What the light from a lighthouse may pierce 3
29A 61. Singer James 4
30A 62. Track-and-field event with a sandpit ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 23- and 51-Across 10
31A 66. "But ___ again ..." 4
32A 67. "Fingers crossed" 5
33A 68. Area east of the Urals 4
34A 69. Group 4
35A 70. Light brown and dull, as hair 5
36A 71. Actions at the Bellagio or Encore 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. The "S" of N.S.F.W."

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that strongbox where valuables can be safely kept
  • Similar words include: secure, good, safety
  • Opposite of: dangerous, out
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAFE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Invite to enter"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Artist Salvador"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that surrealist spanish painter (1904-1989)
  • Similar words include: Salvador Dali
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DALI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. "___ Your Enthusiasm""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an edge between a sidewalk and a roadway consisting of a line of curbstones (usually forming part of a gutter)
  • Similar words include: curb bit, subdue, control
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CURB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Totally sus, say"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
  • Similar words include: dissembler, pretender, bogus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHONY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Scholarly "same""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Wave of antigovernment protests in the early 2010s"

10 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Old name of Thailand"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a country of southeastern asia that extends southward along the isthmus of kra to the malay peninsula
  • Similar words include: Kingdom of Thailand, Thailand
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. What's rolled out for yoga"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Pint in a pub, maybe"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Performance at Lincoln Center"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

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!

12A: "23. Heading back to where one lives"

13 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "28. Sitting on"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

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!

14A: "30. Shows signs of hunger"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that pretentious or silly talk or writing
  • Similar words include: twaddle, drool, slabber
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DROOLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Harsh, as a takedown"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
  • Similar words include: roughshod, unrelenting, vicious
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRUTAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Hollywood workplace"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "38. Some undergrad degs."

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group; found in barite
  • Similar words include: Artium Baccalaurens, atomic number 56, Ba
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "39. Low-tech cooler on a hot day"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or surfaces
  • Similar words include: buff, devotee, lover
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Container at a beer blast"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the quantity contained in a keg
  • Similar words include: kegful
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. "Wha-a-at?""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. "___ Got Talent""

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that north american republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in north america plus alaska in northwest north america and the hawaiian islands in the pacific ocean; achieved independence in 1776
  • Similar words include: US, United States, the States
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMERICAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "46. Madame : France :: ___ : Spain"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a spanish title or form of address for a married woman; similar to the english `mrs' or `madam'
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENORA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "48. Playground denial"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "50. Golf club often numbered 3 to 9"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood
  • Similar words include: iron out, smoothing iron, atomic number 26
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "51. Repository of seeds from all corners of the globe, informally"

13 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "56. What volcanoes do"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that start abruptly
  • Similar words include: come out, catch fire, ignite
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERUPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "57. Pie ___ mode"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "58. What the light from a lighthouse may pierce"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
  • Similar words include: befog, murkiness, murk
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "61. Singer James"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "62. Track-and-field event with a sandpit ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 23- and 51-Across"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "66. "But ___ again ...""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that that time; that moment
  • Similar words include: and then, so, and so
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "67. "Fingers crossed""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "68. Area east of the Urals"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

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!

34A: "69. Group"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
  • Similar words include: class, variety, sort out
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SORT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "70. Light brown and dull, as hair"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that quiet and timid and ineffectual
  • Similar words include: mousey, mouselike, mouse-colored
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOUSY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "71. Actions at the Bellagio or Encore"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the money risked on a gamble
  • Similar words include: wager, count, stake
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Hoodwink 4
2D 2. Vibe 4
3D 3. Beer pong venue, maybe 9
4D 4. Flow out 3
5D 5. Garden of Eden fruit 5
6D 6. Brilliant at negotiating 6
7D 7. Ornamental fish in a pond 3
8D 8. Holiday ___ 3
9D 9. MetLife Stadium team, on scoreboards 3
10D 10. Get rid (of) 7
11D 11. "Goodbye, mes amis" 5
12D 12. "Live and ___" 5
13D 13. What the "face with steam from nose" emoji suggests 5
14D 18. Piano player in "Casablanca" 3
15D 22. Compel 6
16D 24. Pick, with "for" 3
17D 25. Elbow's place 3
18D 26. King's partner in castling 4
19D 27. Birds of peace 5
20D 28. Group whose "Gold: Greatest Hits" is the second-best-selling album in U.K. history 4
21D 29. Disneyland transport 4
22D 32. Unprecedented 6
23D 33. Fastened, as a corset or shoe 5
24D 35. Explosive personality trait 9
25D 36. Continental money 4
26D 37. Greater ___ 4
27D 40. Grandma, affectionately 4
28D 44. Spreading unchecked 7
29D 45. Miso bean 3
30D 47. Zero, in soccer 3
31D 49. The Roku Channel, Hulu and others 6
32D 51. Little specifics, in slang 5
33D 52. One dental specialty, informally 5
34D 53. ___ Banks (barrier islands of North Carolina) 5
35D 54. Narrow backstreet 5
36D 55. Abu Dhabi's land, for short 3
37D 59. Leave out 4
38D 60. Transcript figs. 4
39D 62. ___ Cook, longtime tech C.E.O. 3
40D 63. Letter before sigma 3
41D 64. Debtor's note 3
42D 65. Boxing punch 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Hoodwink"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Vibe"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sensation (as of a cold breeze or bright light) that precedes the onset of certain disorders such as a migraine attack or epileptic seizure
  • Similar words include: aureole, atmosphere, glory
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AURA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Beer pong venue, maybe"

9 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Flow out"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number)
  • Similar words include: wane, ebb down, ebb out
  • Opposite of: tide
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EBB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Garden of Eden fruit"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fruit with red or yellow or green skin and sweet to tart crisp whitish flesh
  • Similar words include: orchard apple tree, Malus pumila
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APPLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Brilliant at negotiating"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
  • Similar words include: conniving, astute, sharp
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHREWD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Ornamental fish in a pond"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Holiday ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
  • Similar words include: lodge, auberge, hostel
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. MetLife Stadium team, on scoreboards"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Get rid (of)"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that give, sell, or transfer to another
  • Similar words include: throw out, toss out, discard
  • Opposite of: indispose, disqualify
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DISPOSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. "Goodbye, mes amis""

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "Live and ___""

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that gain knowledge or skills
  • Similar words include: con, watch, pick up
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEARN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. What the "face with steam from nose" emoji suggests"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Piano player in "Casablanca""

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a guided missile fired from land or shipboard against an airborne target
  • Similar words include: surface-to-air missile
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Compel"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that force somebody to do something
  • Similar words include: obligate, hold, bind
  • Opposite of: disoblige
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBLIGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Pick, with "for""

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that select as an alternative over another
  • Similar words include: choose, prefer
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Elbow's place"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
  • Similar words include: subdivision, branch, weapon
  • Opposite of: disarm
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. King's partner in castling"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard
  • Similar words include: mulct, hornswoggle, con
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROOK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Birds of peace"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous small pigeons
  • Similar words include: Columba, Dove, dove
  • Opposite of: hawk
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Group whose "Gold: Greatest Hits" is the second-best-selling album in U.K. history"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. Disneyland transport"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a conveyance that transports passengers or freight in carriers suspended from cables and supported by a series of towers
  • Similar words include: tramway, trolley car, ropeway
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Unprecedented"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Fastened, as a corset or shoe"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that spin,wind, or twist together
  • Similar words include: twine, spike, fortify
  • Opposite of: unlaced, untwine
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LACED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Explosive personality trait"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "36. Continental money"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic monetary unit of most members of the european union (introduced in 1999); in 2002 twelve european nations (germany, france, belgium, luxembourg, the netherlands, italy, spain, portugal, ireland, greece, austria, finland) adopted the euro as their basic unit of money and abandoned their traditional currencies
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EURO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "37. Greater ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. Grandma, affectionately"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Spreading unchecked"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unrestrained and violent
  • Similar words include: rearing
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAMPANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Miso bean"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a source of oil; used for forage and soil improvement and as food
  • Similar words include: soya, soya bean, soybean plant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "47. Zero, in soccer"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantity of no importance
  • Similar words include: nothing, nada, zippo
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "49. The Roku Channel, Hulu and others"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "51. Little specifics, in slang"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. One dental specialty, informally"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. ___ Banks (barrier islands of North Carolina)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that being on the outside or further from a center
  • Similar words include: verboten, tabu, out
  • Opposite of: inner, safe
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Narrow backstreet"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow street with walls on both sides
  • Similar words include: skittle alley, bowling alley, alleyway
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLEY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Abu Dhabi's land, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "59. Leave out"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that prevent from being included or considered or accepted
  • Similar words include: except, neglect, pretermit
  • Opposite of: attend to, include
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "60. Transcript figs."

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted
  • Similar words include: GPA, grade point average
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GPAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "62. ___ Cook, longtime tech C.E.O."

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "63. Letter before sigma"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the 17th letter of the greek alphabet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RHO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "64. Debtor's note"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "65. Boxing punch"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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

36 Across Clues
42 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: June 22, 2026 at 09:27 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Last updated: May 25, 2026 at 08:04 AM