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Monday, August 31, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 31, 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. Part of a dance 4
2A 5. Sch. with the Daily Bruin newspaper 4
3A 9. Slightly intoxicated 5
4A 14. Fancy 4
5A 15. Worms and such on hooks 4
6A 16. Be of the same mind 5
7A 17. Redding with two posthumous Grammys 4
8A 18. "Sesame Street" character who was once sung to sleep by Andrea Bocelli 4
9A 19. Ransacks 5
10A 20. One who regularly drops things 13
11A 23. The : English :: ___ : French 3
12A 24. Letter after sigma 3
13A 25. One dining on Friskies 3
14A 28. Role for Selena Gomez on "Only Murders in the Building" 5
15A 31. Umbrella-shaped sea creature 9
16A 34. Director DuVernay 3
17A 35. Pathetic 3
18A 36. Examine at length 6
19A 37. Took shots first, then paid for them later 7
20A 40. Clothing sizes for shorter women 7
21A 41. Ski in zigzags 6
22A 42. "Far out!" 3
23A 43. Tetra- minus one 3
24A 44. Newlyweds' getaway 9
25A 46. Owl sounds 5
26A 48. Actress de Armas 3
27A 49. 401(k) relative 3
28A 50. "Need an ark? I Noah guy," e.g. 3
29A 51. "Tell everyone!" ... or what to do with the starts of 20-, 31- and 44-Across? 13
30A 58. Inuit for "house" 5
31A 60. Italian hello 4
32A 61. Et ___ (and others: Lat.) 4
33A 62. Tennis locale 5
34A 63. Pre-Easter observance 4
35A 64. R-rated, maybe 4
36A 65. A cube has 12 of them 5
37A 66. Petrol brand 4
38A 67. Easter egg decorating supplies 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Part of a dance"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
  • Similar words include: mistreat, stride, ill-treat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Sch. with the Daily Bruin newspaper"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Slightly intoxicated"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that slightly intoxicated
  • Similar words include: tiddly, potty
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIPSY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Fancy"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that elegant and sumptuous
  • Similar words include: de luxe, deluxe
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUXE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Worms and such on hooks"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that anything that serves as an enticement
  • Similar words include: rag, tantalize, twit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Be of the same mind"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be in accord; be in agreement
  • Similar words include: match, consort, tally
  • Opposite of: disagree
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Redding with two posthumous Grammys"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states inventor who manufactured the first elevator with a safety device (1811-1861)
  • Similar words include: genus Otis, Elisha Graves Otis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. "Sesame Street" character who was once sung to sleep by Andrea Bocelli"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Ransacks"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that goods or money obtained illegally
  • Similar words include: cabbage, moolah, strip
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. One who regularly drops things"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who drops things (especially one who cannot catch a ball)
  • Pattern: _____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUTTERFINGERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. The : English :: ___ : French"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints)
  • Similar words include: LE, lupus erythematosus
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Letter after sigma"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the 19th letter of the greek alphabet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. One dining on Friskies"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
  • Similar words include: kat, sick, khat
  • Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Role for Selena Gomez on "Only Murders in the Building""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Umbrella-shaped sea creature"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large siphonophore having a bladderlike float and stinging tentacles
  • Similar words include: Portuguese man-of-war, man-of-war
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JELLYFISH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Director DuVernay"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Pathetic"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; ; - christina rossetti
  • Similar words include: deplorable, pitiful, lamentable
  • Opposite of: glad
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. Examine at length"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that examine or consider with attention and in detail
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PERUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Took shots first, then paid for them later"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Clothing sizes for shorter women"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a garment size for short or slender women
  • Similar words include: petite
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PETITES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. Ski in zigzags"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a downhill race over a winding course defined by upright poles
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLALOM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. "Far out!""

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material
  • Similar words include: radian
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Tetra- minus one"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Newlyweds' getaway"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a holiday taken by a newly married couple
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HONEYMOON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "46. Owl sounds"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loud raucous cry (as of an owl)
  • Similar words include: tinker's dam, Bronx cheer, raspberry
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "48. Actress de Armas"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mother of the ancient irish gods; sometimes identified with danu
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "49. 401(k) relative"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a militant organization of irish nationalists who used terrorism and guerilla warfare in an effort to drive british forces from northern ireland and achieve a united independent ireland
  • Similar words include: wrath, individual retirement account, Irish Republican Army
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "50. "Need an ark? I Noah guy," e.g."

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. "Tell everyone!" ... or what to do with the starts of 20-, 31- and 44-Across?"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "58. Inuit for "house""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an eskimo hut; usually built of blocks (of sod or snow) in the shape of a dome
  • Similar words include: iglu
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IGLOO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "60. Italian hello"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "61. Et ___ (and others: Lat.)"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "62. Tennis locale"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
  • Similar words include: tribunal, courtroom, motor lodge
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COURT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "63. Pre-Easter observance"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a period of 40 weekdays from ash wednesday to holy saturday
  • Similar words include: lend, bestow, add
  • Opposite of: borrow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "64. R-rated, maybe"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that full of zest or vigor
  • Similar words include: robust, naughty, gamey
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RACY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "65. A cube has 12 of them"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the boundary of a surface
  • Similar words include: inch, butt, edge
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "66. Petrol brand"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "67. Easter egg decorating supplies"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair
  • Similar words include: dyestuff, dye
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DYES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Mess maker 4
2D 2. Attire for the Sugar Plum Fairy 4
3D 3. Off-ramp 4
4D 4. Pulverizing tool 6
5D 5. Alternatives to Lyfts 5
6D 6. Baby whale 4
7D 7. In finite supply 7
8D 8. Lacking a musical key 6
9D 9. A ___ as old as time 4
10D 10. Composer Stravinsky 4
11D 11. Ham on an antipasto platter 10
12D 12. Solidify 3
13D 13. "You called?" 3
14D 21. Sinuous swimmer 3
15D 22. Swallowed hard 6
16D 26. Aver 6
17D 27. Graduate student's project 6
18D 28. ___ P. Johnson (gay rights activist) 6
19D 29. Island of Arthurian legend 6
20D 30. Fruit-resembling mollusk 10
21D 31. The "one" of a one-two 3
22D 32. So far 3
23D 33. Part of the week that workers look forward to: Abbr. 3
24D 35. Lunch item that might be made with cold cuts, in slang 6
25D 38. Ginger ___ 3
26D 39. Cup-and-ball or yo-yo 3
27D 40. Deep-dish vessel 3
28D 42. Support staff for a rock band 7
29D 45. Soothsayer 6
30D 46. Tint 3
31D 47. "To victory!" 6
32D 50. Part of an Instagram post 5
33D 52. Skin opening 4
34D 53. Goes bad 4
35D 54. Gets bronzed at the beach 4
36D 55. Brand with "anti-aging" products 4
37D 56. Bibimbap base 4
38D 57. Pages on a desk calendar 4
39D 58. "Rocks" at a bar 3
40D 59. Lead-in to forbid or forsaken 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Mess maker"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a coarse obnoxious person
  • Similar words include: pig, slovenly person, sloven
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Attire for the Sugar Plum Fairy"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that south african prelate and leader of the antiapartheid struggle (born in 1931)
  • Similar words include: ballet skirt, Desmond Tutu
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUTU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Off-ramp"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an opening that permits escape or release
  • Similar words include: snuff it, croak, cash in one's chips
  • Opposite of: be born, enter
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Pulverizing tool"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that machine consisting of a heavy bar that moves vertically for pounding or crushing ores
  • Similar words include: pounder, muller, stamp
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PESTLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Alternatives to Lyfts"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Baby whale"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that young of domestic cattle
  • Similar words include: sura, calfskin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CALF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. In finite supply"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that public transport consisting of a fast train or bus that makes only a few scheduled stops
  • Similar words include: confine, restrain, express
  • Opposite of: unlimited, local
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIMITED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Lacking a musical key"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that characterized by avoidance of traditional western tonality
  • Similar words include: unkeyed
  • Opposite of: tonal
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATONAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. A ___ as old as time"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
  • Similar words include: narrative, narration, tarradiddle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TALE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Composer Stravinsky"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Ham on an antipasto platter"

10 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that italian salt-cured ham usually sliced paper thin
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROSCIUTTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Solidify"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. "You called?""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an affirmative
  • Opposite of: no
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "21. Sinuous swimmer"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in europe and america; large eels are usually smoked or pickled
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Swallowed hard"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
  • Similar words include: swig, quaff, gulp
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GULPED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Aver"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that state categorically
  • Similar words include: verify, asseverate, maintain
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSERT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Graduate student's project"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument
  • Similar words include: dissertation
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THESIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. ___ P. Johnson (gay rights activist)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Island of Arthurian legend"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Fruit-resembling mollusk"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. The "one" of a one-two"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. So far"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that up to the present time
  • Similar words include: nonetheless, as yet, thus far
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Part of the week that workers look forward to: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sixth day of the week; the fifth working day
  • Similar words include: Friday
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Lunch item that might be made with cold cuts, in slang"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Ginger ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

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!

26D: "39. Cup-and-ball or yo-yo"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an artifact designed to be played with
  • Similar words include: miniature, fiddle, play
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. Deep-dish vessel"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Support staff for a rock band"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Soothsayer"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an authoritative person who divines the future
  • Similar words include: prophet, vaticinator, seer
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORACLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Tint"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength
  • Similar words include: imbue, chromaticity
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. "To victory!""

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that forward in time or order or degree
  • Similar words include: forth, forrader, ahead
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONWARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. Part of an Instagram post"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide; recorded by a camera on light-sensitive material
  • Similar words include: pic, picture, photograph
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHOTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Skin opening"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any tiny hole admitting passage of a liquid (fluid or gas)
  • Similar words include: stomate, rivet, centre
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Goes bad"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: molder, bunk, rotting
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Gets bronzed at the beach"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
  • Similar words include: tangent, suntan, tan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Brand with "anti-aging" products"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Bibimbap base"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished
  • Similar words include: Elmer Leopold Rice, Sir Tim Rice, Elmer Reizenstein
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RICE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "57. Pages on a desk calendar"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the time during which someone's life continues
  • Similar words include: twenty-four hour period, mean solar day, daylight
  • Opposite of: night
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAYS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "58. "Rocks" at a bar"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "59. Lead-in to forbid or forsaken"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
  • Similar words include: divinity, idol, Supreme Being
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOD

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

38 Across Clues
40 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: August 31, 2026 at 09:56 AM

Friday, June 26, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers June 26, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Tricky

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Hectic time for JFK 4
2A 5. Bar of note? 4
3A 9. Texter's "Hang on a sec" 3
4A 12. Tightfisted sort 5
5A 14. Took an Uber, say 4
6A 15. Top banana 4
7A 16. Biggest restaurant size that nevertheless is often topped? 15
8A 19. Logic gate that is only on when neither input is 3
9A 20. Like many films in teaser trailers 11
10A 21. Spanish "both" 6
11A 23. Top banana, for short 3
12A 24. Ocean-mapping instruments 6
13A 25. Upper limit that cannot be exceeded 7
14A 29. Torment 5
15A 30. Symbol in the Kentucky Derby logo 4
16A 31. Jazz singer Anita 4
17A 33. Holders of nets 4
18A 34. Schlepped 5
19A 35. SCOTUS head count 4
20A 36. "Got it" 4
21A 37. Those for 4
22A 38. Sing like Sinatra 5
23A 39. Mickey Mouse 7
24A 41. Jewelry fasteners 6
25A 42. ___ will 3
26A 43. Slangy response to a knock at the door 6
27A 44. Onetime rap group whose initials spell out a synonym for "Jump Around," appropriately 11
28A 49. Unresponsive, maybe, for short 3
29A 51. Current affairs? 15
30A 53. Polite request 4
31A 54. Public transport option 4
32A 55. Popular toys, in a plural form officially discouraged by their maker 5
33A 56. ___ admin (I.T. role) 3
34A 57. "Look, here's the deal ..." 4
35A 58. Refuses to 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Hectic time for JFK"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a christian holiday celebrating the birth of christ; a quarter day in england, wales, and ireland
  • Similar words include: Christmas, Dec 25, Christmas Day
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: XMAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Bar of note?"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that agitation resulting from active worry
  • Similar words include: key pattern, fuss, swither
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Texter's "Hang on a sec""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "12. Tightfisted sort"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a stingy hoarder of money and possessions (often living miserably)
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MISER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "14. Took an Uber, say"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sit and travel on the back of animal, usually while controlling its motions
  • Similar words include: depend on, tease, hinge on
  • Opposite of: walk
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "15. Top banana"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a male monarch or emperor (especially of russia prior to 1917)
  • Similar words include: tsar, tzar
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CZAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "16. Biggest restaurant size that nevertheless is often topped?"

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Logic gate that is only on when neither input is"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Like many films in teaser trailers"

11 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Spanish "both""

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Top banana, for short"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the corporate executive responsible for the operations of the firm; reports to a board of directors; may appoint other managers (including a president)
  • Similar words include: chief executive officer, chief operating officer
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CEO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Ocean-mapping instruments"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a measuring instrument that sends out an acoustic pulse in water and measures distances in terms of the time for the echo of the pulse to return
  • Similar words include: echo sounder, sonar, asdic
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SONARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Upper limit that cannot be exceeded"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Torment"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that intense feelings of suffering; acute mental or physical pain
  • Similar words include: torture, suffering, excruciation
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGONY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Symbol in the Kentucky Derby logo"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of many shrubs of the genus rosa that bear roses
  • Similar words include: stand up, rosaceous, rise up
  • Opposite of: turn in, wane
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Jazz singer Anita"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Holders of nets"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the shape of a raised edge of a more or less circular object
  • Similar words include: rim, brim, flange
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "34. Schlepped"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that carry with difficulty
  • Similar words include: add up, total, summate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "35. SCOTUS head count"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of eight and one
  • Similar words include: niner, baseball club, ennead
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "36. "Got it""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "37. Those for"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "38. Sing like Sinatra"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sing softly
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CROON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "39. Mickey Mouse"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (informal) small and of little importance
  • Similar words include: footling, superficial, petty
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRIVIAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "41. Jewelry fasteners"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fastener (as a buckle or hook) that is used to hold two things together
  • Similar words include: grasp, grip, clench
  • Opposite of: unclasp, unbuckle
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLASPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "42. ___ will"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
  • Similar words include: inauspicious, badly, complaint
  • Opposite of: well
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "43. Slangy response to a knock at the door"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "44. Onetime rap group whose initials spell out a synonym for "Jump Around," appropriately"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "49. Unresponsive, maybe, for short"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Current affairs?"

15 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "53. Polite request"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "54. Public transport option"

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: ropeway, trolley, tramcar
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "55. Popular toys, in a plural form officially discouraged by their maker"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (trademark) a child's plastic construction set for making mechanical models
  • Similar words include: Lego set, Lego
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEGOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "56. ___ admin (I.T. role)"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "57. "Look, here's the deal ...""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "58. Refuses to"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an established custom
  • Similar words include: habit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WONT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Group of mutants 4
2D 2. Expert on cosmos? 10
3D 3. Expert on the cosmos 10
4D 4. "To be," in Tijuana 3
5D 5. Goals for those in a rush, informally 5
6D 6. Golf great McIlroy 4
7D 7. Unlikely scenarios, in techspeak 9
8D 8. Vacillated 8
9D 9. [WRONG!] 4
10D 10. Level 4
11D 11. Two-pronged fastener 4
12D 13. Was used up 6
13D 15. Stan's workplace on "American Dad!," for short 3
14D 17. Places to go in the U.K. 4
15D 18. Spur 4
16D 22. Third-generation Japanese American 6
17D 24. Draped garment 4
18D 25. Resting place 5
19D 26. Pulitzer-winning poet Aiken 6
20D 27. "Later, dude!" 10
21D 28. Prison design that allows one guard to keep watch on all the inmates 10
22D 30. Chess tactic in which the king and queen are attacked simultaneously by a single piece 9
23D 32. Itches 4
24D 34. Personalize for 8
25D 38. Like offspring in a strictly asexual lineage 6
26D 40. ___ Nam 4
27D 41. Likely contact point of an uppercut 4
28D 43. Self-driving car company started by Google 5
29D 44. Closes (in) 4
30D 45. Big name in skin care 4
31D 46. Some missed-exit maneuvers, informally 4
32D 47. Poli-___ (certain college major, for short) 3
33D 48. Smartphone predecessors, for short 4
34D 50. Second: Abbr. 4
35D 52. Copy cats? 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Group of mutants"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Expert on cosmos?"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an employee who mixes and serves alcoholic drinks at a bar
  • Similar words include: barkeeper, barkeep, bartender
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIXOLOGIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Expert on the cosmos"

10 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a physicist who studies astronomy
  • Similar words include: uranologist, stargazer
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASTRONOMER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. "To be," in Tijuana"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Goals for those in a rush, informally"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a social club for male undergraduates
  • Similar words include: frat, fraternity
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRATS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Golf great McIlroy"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Unlikely scenarios, in techspeak"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Vacillated"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
  • Similar words include: seesaw, teeter, totter
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEETERED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. [WRONG!]"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Level"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tear down so as to make flat with the ground
  • Similar words include: take down, level, pull down
  • Opposite of: raise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Two-pronged fastener"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small nail
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "13. Was used up"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "15. Stan's workplace on "American Dad!," for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an independent agency of the united states government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest; headed by the director of central intelligence under the supervision of the president and national security council
  • Similar words include: Central Intelligence Agency
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "17. Places to go in the U.K."

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that austrian architect (1870-1933)
  • Similar words include: closet, water closet, W.C.
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "18. Spur"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
  • Similar words include: egg on, goading, stab
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "22. Third-generation Japanese American"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Draped garment"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dress worn primarily by hindu women; consists of several yards of light material that is draped around the body
  • Similar words include: saree
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SARI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Resting place"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a building where travelers can pay for lodging and meals and other services
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOTEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Pulitzer-winning poet Aiken"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english novelist (born in poland) noted for sea stories and for his narrative technique (1857-1924)
  • Similar words include: Joseph Conrad, Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CONRAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. "Later, dude!""

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Prison design that allows one guard to keep watch on all the inmates"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an area where everything is visible
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PANOPTICON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "30. Chess tactic in which the king and queen are attacked simultaneously by a single piece"

9 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "32. Itches"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a yearning for something or to do something
  • Similar words include: yen, yearn, ache
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Personalize for"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Like offspring in a strictly asexual lineage"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of or relating to a clone
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLONAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. ___ Nam"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Likely contact point of an uppercut"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the protruding part of the lower jaw
  • Similar words include: Kuki, Kuki-Chin, chin up
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Self-driving car company started by Google"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. Closes (in)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the edge of a piece of cloth; especially the finished edge that has been doubled under and stitched down
  • Similar words include: ahem, hem
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "45. Big name in skin care"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "46. Some missed-exit maneuvers, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "47. Poli-___ (certain college major, for short)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "48. Smartphone predecessors, for short"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lightweight consumer electronic device that looks like a hand-held computer but instead performs specific tasks; can serve as a diary or a personal database or a telephone or an alarm clock etc.
  • Similar words include: personal organizer, organizer, organiser
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PDAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "50. Second: Abbr."

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "52. Copy cats?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this)
  • Similar words include: sea mew, miaou, miaul
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEW

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

35 Across Clues
35 Down Clues
70 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.

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Last updated: June 26, 2026 at 07:07 AM