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

Monday, October 5, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers October 05, 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. Write on stone, maybe 4
2A 5. Request at the bottom of an invitation 4
3A 9. Follower of Jah, informally 5
4A 14. "Me neither" 4
5A 15. Great Plains tribe 4
6A 16. Set of moral principles 5
7A 17. Famous ___ cookies 4
8A 18. Downfall in pinball 4
9A 19. Course for future therapists, for short 5
10A 20. Spot to work out knotted muscles 12
11A 23. U.F.O. occupants, in brief 3
12A 24. Yank 3
13A 25. Reach quickly, as a conclusion 6
14A 29. Internet meme feline 6
15A 31. "___ your mouth!" 4
16A 33. Stadium cheer 3
17A 34. Holiday at the end of Ramadan, informally 3
18A 35. Memphis barbecue staple 9
19A 37. Military rank above cpl. 3
20A 38. Tusked animals 5
21A 39. Squiggle shape 3
22A 40. Key to Aladdin's success 9
23A 42. ___ Paulo, Brazil 3
24A 43. Before, poetically 3
25A 44. Acorn growers 4
26A 45. Dress seen at Oktoberfest 6
27A 48. Black ___ (some spiders) 6
28A 50. Mental cloud 3
29A 51. Drag performer's accessory 3
30A 52. "Ah, that's where things get difficult" ... or what can be said about 20-, 35- and 40-Across? 12
31A 56. Singer Baker 5
32A 59. When Fantine sings "I Dreamed a Dream" in "Les Misérables" 4
33A 60. Block toy with its own chain of theme parks 4
34A 61. Bathroom door sign 5
35A 62. Occasion for a teen to rent a tux 4
36A 63. Spot for a wolf pack 4
37A 64. Weapon in a scabbard 5
38A 65. Manager of an apt. bldg. 4
39A 66. Squeaks (by) 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Write on stone, maybe"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make an etching of
  • Similar words include: engrave
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Request at the bottom of an invitation"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Follower of Jah, informally"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that follower of rastafarianism
  • Similar words include: Rastafarian
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RASTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. "Me neither""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Great Plains tribe"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the siouan people inhabiting the valleys of the platte and missouri rivers in nebraska
  • Similar words include: Oto
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Set of moral principles"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group
  • Similar words include: value orientation, ethical code, moral principle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETHIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Famous ___ cookies"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hebrew shepherd and minor prophet
  • Similar words include: Book of Amos
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Downfall in pinball"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a combat between two mounted knights tilting against each other with blunted lances
  • Similar words include: angle, disceptation, leaning
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TILT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Course for future therapists, for short"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. Spot to work out knotted muscles"

12 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. U.F.O. occupants, in brief"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Yank"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden abrupt pull
  • Similar words include: tugboat, labour, tower
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Reach quickly, as a conclusion"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Internet meme feline"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. "___ your mouth!""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
  • Similar words include: shut out, keep out, closed
  • Opposite of: admit, open
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Stadium cheer"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Holiday at the end of Ramadan, informally"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Memphis barbecue staple"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that baked or roasted with a spicy sauce
  • Similar words include: sparerib, barbecued spareribs
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPARERIBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Military rank above cpl."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. Tusked animals"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that old world wild swine having a narrow body and prominent tusks from which most domestic swine come; introduced in united states
  • Similar words include: boar, Sus scrofa, wild boar
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Squiggle shape"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium with neutrons
  • Similar words include: atomic number 99, Es, E
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Key to Aladdin's success"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. ___ Paulo, Brazil"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "43. Before, poetically"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "44. Acorn growers"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
  • Similar words include: oak, oak tree
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. Dress seen at Oktoberfest"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a full skirt with a gathered waistband
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIRNDL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "48. Black ___ (some spiders)"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried
  • Similar words include: widow woman, widow
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WIDOWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "50. Mental cloud"

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: murkiness, obnubilate, obscure
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Drag performer's accessory"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur
  • Similar words include: feather boa
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "52. "Ah, that's where things get difficult" ... or what can be said about 20-, 35- and 40-Across?"

12 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "56. Singer Baker"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. When Fantine sings "I Dreamed a Dream" in "Les Misérables""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "60. Block toy with its own chain of theme parks"

4 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
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "61. Bathroom door sign"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
  • Similar words include: womanhood, charwoman, fair sex
  • Opposite of: man
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WOMEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "62. Occasion for a teen to rent a tux"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "63. Spot for a wolf pack"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the habitation of wild animals
  • Similar words include: den
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "64. Weapon in a scabbard"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
  • Similar words include: blade, brand, steel
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWORD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "65. Manager of an apt. bldg."

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "66. Squeaks (by)"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Tooth covering 6
2D 2. Fruit, botanically, that's treated as a vegetable 6
3D 3. One way to sit while meditating 11
4D 4. Snake's warning 4
5D 5. Cheap hooch 6
6D 6. ___ Larsson, author of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" 5
7D 7. Bygone electric Chevy 4
8D 8. Org. that advocates for "cruelty-free" products 4
9D 9. Filled to the gills 7
10D 10. Completely lost 5
11D 11. Not likely to make the first move, say 3
12D 12. Unconscious mannerism 3
13D 13. German outburst 3
14D 21. Slightly 4
15D 22. Things you might see when you're not wearing glasses 5
16D 26. Escape from jail 11
17D 27. Clickables at the top of a computer screen 4
18D 28. Exclamations of surprise 3
19D 30. Commercial lead-in to card 4
20D 31. Inundates with junk mail 5
21D 32. Musical instrument in the Guinness logo 4
22D 35. Luxuriate in a bathtub 4
23D 36. "___ Window" 4
24D 37. South Asian dress 4
25D 38. Nonchalant 5
26D 40. Kitten's call 3
27D 41. Ranch worker 7
28D 42. [Oh, well] 4
29D 45. Serve a jail sentence 6
30D 46. Dance craze of the 2010s 6
31D 47. Hercules had 12 of these 6
32D 49. Playful aquatic animal 5
33D 50. Camera lens setting 5
34D 53. Emulates Big Boi and Lil' Kim 4
35D 54. Light beige 4
36D 55. Woods of "Legally Blonde" 4
37D 56. Reactions to something adorable 3
38D 57. "Immediately!" 3
39D 58. "If you ask me ...," to a texter 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Tooth covering"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hard white substance covering the crown of a tooth
  • Similar words include: tooth enamel
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENAMEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Fruit, botanically, that's treated as a vegetable"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mildly acid red or yellow pulpy fruit eaten as a vegetable
  • Similar words include: Lycopersicon esculentum, tomato plant, love apple
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOMATO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. One way to sit while meditating"

11 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Snake's warning"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fricative sound (especially as an expression of disapproval)
  • Similar words include: razz, fizzle, hushing
  • Opposite of: applaud
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HISS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Cheap hooch"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any alcoholic beverage of inferior quality
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTGUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. ___ Larsson, author of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo""

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Bygone electric Chevy"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of potential equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a current of 1 ampere when the power dissipated between the two points is 1 watt; equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of 1 ohm when 1 ampere of current flows through it
  • Similar words include: V
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VOLT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Org. that advocates for "cruelty-free" products"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Filled to the gills"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fill to satisfaction
  • Similar words include: sate, full, instinct
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REPLETE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Completely lost"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Not likely to make the first move, say"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quick throw
  • Similar words include: diffident, timid, unsure
  • Opposite of: confident
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Unconscious mannerism"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a local and habitual twitching especially in the face
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. German outburst"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "21. Slightly"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Things you might see when you're not wearing glasses"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hazy or indistinct representation
  • Similar words include: slur, blur, obnubilate
  • Opposite of: focus
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLURS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Escape from jail"

11 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an escape from jail
  • Similar words include: breakout, jailbreak, gaolbreak
  • Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PRISONBREAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Clickables at the top of a computer screen"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the bill in a restaurant
  • Similar words include: tabloid, chit, tablet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Exclamations of surprise"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "30. Commercial lead-in to card"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "31. Inundates with junk mail"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Musical instrument in the Guinness logo"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked with the fingers
  • Similar words include: mouth organ, mouth harp, dwell
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "35. Luxuriate in a bathtub"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid)
  • Similar words include: surcharge, sop, dowse
  • Opposite of: undercharge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. "___ Window""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the back of a military formation or procession
  • Similar words include: tooshie, tail end, hind end
  • Opposite of: front, head
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. South Asian dress"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

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!

25D: "38. Nonchalant"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that very sophisticated especially because of surfeit; versed in the ways of the world
  • Similar words include: bored, worldly
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. Kitten's call"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Ranch worker"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hired hand who tends cattle and performs other duties on horseback
  • Similar words include: cowherd, puncher, cowpuncher
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COWHAND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. [Oh, well]"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an utterance made by exhaling audibly
  • Similar words include: suspire, suspiration
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIGH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Serve a jail sentence"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Dance craze of the 2010s"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Hercules had 12 of these"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
  • Similar words include: Labour, task, labor movement
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LABORS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "49. Playful aquatic animal"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Camera lens setting"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Emulates Big Boi and Lil' Kim"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
  • Similar words include: knap, pink, knock
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Light beige"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a very light brown
  • Similar words include: beige
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ECRU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Woods of "Legally Blonde""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Reactions to something adorable"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "57. "Immediately!""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the momentary present
  • Similar words include: straightaway, straight off, nowadays
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "58. "If you ask me ...," to a texter"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the united nations agency concerned with international maritime activities
  • Similar words include: International Maritime Organization
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMO

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.

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Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: October 05, 2026 at 10:40 AM

Monday, September 14, 2026

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

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Cherokee or Wrangler 4
2A 5. Omelet ingredients 4
3A 9. Big noisy fight 5
4A 14. Cornfield measure 4
5A 15. Little flying pest 4
6A 16. Dale who sang "Happy Trails" with Roy Rogers 5
7A 17. Crew building 9
8A 19. Assigns stars to, as on Yelp 5
9A 20. "Spare" things at a barbecue 4
10A 21. Stately tree 3
11A 23. Before, in poetry 3
12A 24. Atlantic City attraction 6
13A 27. "Is it bigger than a ___?" 8
14A 29. 911 respondent, in brief 3
15A 30. Latina toon explorer 4
16A 32. Beatles song with the lyric "She promises the earth to me" 4
17A 33. Pinocchio's are easily exposed 4
18A 35. "Absolutely, amigo!" 4
19A 37. The White Stripes and the Black Keys, for two 4
20A 39. Close boxing match outcome 13
21A 42. Picket line crosser 4
22A 43. Silverstein who wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree" 4
23A 44. Contacted on Instagram, informally 4
24A 46. Bills typically found in a tip jar 4
25A 48. Mallorca or Menorca, por ejemplo 4
26A 50. Place for a piercing or a plug 3
27A 51. All-out boxing match 8
28A 54. Sarcastic 6
29A 56. "Hamilton" composer ___-Manuel Miranda 3
30A 57. Singer/actress Rita ___ 3
31A 58. It's "smashed" in a particle accelerator 4
32A 59. Playful aquatic mammal 5
33A 61. Flip out ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 27-, 39- and 51-Across 9
34A 66. Word said while pointing 5
35A 67. "Never Have I ___" (sleepover game) 4
36A 68. Coldest possible temperature on the Kelvin scale 4
37A 69. Informal hoops game 5
38A 70. Winter road application 4
39A 71. Rams' mates 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Cherokee or Wrangler"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Omelet ingredients"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Big noisy fight"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Cornfield measure"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Little flying pest"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Crew building"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Stately tree"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Before, in poetry"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Atlantic City attraction"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Latina toon explorer"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "39. Close boxing match outcome"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "42. Picket line crosser"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "54. Sarcastic"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. Playful aquatic mammal"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "66. Word said while pointing"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "69. Informal hoops game"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "70. Winter road application"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "71. Rams' mates"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

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

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Quick boxing punch"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Slice of history"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Self-esteem builder"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. African antelopes"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Have the reins"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. One slow to develop"

11 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Beginning of el año"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Female red deer"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Out of place"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Pedometer"

11 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Ancient Celtic priest"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Clears (of)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Move stealthily"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. Soon, in poems"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "53. Wise sorts"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "55. Astound"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. Brother of Cain"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "63. Previously unseen"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
  • Similar words include: fresh, young, unexampled
  • Opposite of: worn, old
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEW

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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