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Thursday, July 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers July 16, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Moderate

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

Across Clues - Complete List

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

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Smart"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Sensation"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "18. *Yes — three arduous ones"

16 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "21. February 14, informally"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "22. Scratch that!"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "23. El ___"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "24. Like novices"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "26. Spoil"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Patooties"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Little dipper?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. "Tout à fait!""

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Tire"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

12 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "44. Had at present?"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "47. Article of lab wear"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "53. Elizabethan curse"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "57. Important blood line"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "60. Raving"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

16 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "67. Popular Japanese brew"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "68. Alcohol, slangily"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "70. Its capital is Sanaa"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "71. Heavens"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "72. Debugging component?"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

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

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Letter after upsilon"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Trireme tool"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Cleared, as snow"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. "Messiah" composer"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Neuter"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Struggle"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Pretty much assured"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Japanese drama"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. ___-pedi"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Certain tie score"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Mince words?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Frost piece"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Sound of dissatisfaction"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Botanist's study"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Told stories"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Business ending"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Roll in dough"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Class ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Steamy occasion?"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "48. Lugubrious"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "49. Pioneers' prairie pullers"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "50. Harangues"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "51. Store"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "52. Worked sufferingly"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "56. Composure"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "60. Attest"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "62. ___-goat"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "64. One of a kind"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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44D: "66. Not needing anything else"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

37 Across Clues
44 Down Clues
81 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: July 16, 2026 at 05:58 AM

Thursday, January 15, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers January 15, 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. Cattle calls 4
2A 5. Visible sign of hard work 5
3A 10. El ___ (precursor of the Expressionists) 5
4A 15. Novelist Quindlen who wrote "One True Thing" 4
5A 16. One of five ... or maybe six? 5
6A 17. Like darts 5
7A 18. *Oft-quoted advice in Matthew 7:7 18
8A 21. Herb related to parsley 5
9A 22. Part of L.G.B.T.Q. 3
10A 23. Races longer than marathons, informally 6
11A 24. First name in rap? 3
12A 25. Stat for Aaron Judge 3
13A 27. Puts the finishing touches on, in a way 4
14A 28. *24/7/365 14
15A 32. Some scanners, for short 3
16A 35. Jan. 1 through today 3
17A 36. Oodles of time 4
18A 37. Elate 4
19A 38. Nobelist Joliot-Curie who synthesized radioactive isotopes 5
20A 41. Stereotypical dog 4
21A 42. Bases of shipbuilding 5
22A 43. Sol, but not Luna 4
23A 44. Word with sponge or fish 4
24A 45. Quarterback's asset 3
25A 46. Shiny little platters 3
26A 47. *Evening spent playing with the kids, say 15
27A 52. Stare in astonishment 4
28A 53. Just peachy 3
29A 54. Possible response to "Tu veux du chocolat?" 3
30A 55. Idiomatic partner of "lose" 6
31A 58. Disney still 3
32A 60. Directive written in currants in "Alice in Wonderland" 5
33A 62. Tendency to reinforce one's established beliefs ... or a hint to answering this puzzle's starred clues 16
34A 65. Playwright Chekhov 5
35A 66. Following 5
36A 67. "Sorry ... hard pass" 4
37A 68. Corporate musical chairs, for short 5
38A 69. Rib 5
39A 70. Quinceañera celebrant, e.g. 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Cattle calls"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a cow or bull
  • Similar words include: moo, low
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Visible sign of hard work"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that salty fluid secreted by sweat glands
  • Similar words include: fret, elbow grease, perspire
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. El ___ (precursor of the Expressionists)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that spanish painter (born in greece) remembered for his religious works characterized by elongated human forms and dramatic use of color (1541-1614)
  • Similar words include: El Greco, Domenikos Theotocopoulos
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRECO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "15. Novelist Quindlen who wrote "One True Thing""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a former copper coin of pakistan and india
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "16. One of five ... or maybe six?"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a general conscious awareness
  • Similar words include: mother wit, sensation, sensory faculty
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "17. Like darts"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that point or cause to go (blows, weapons, or objects such as photographic equipment) towards
  • Similar words include: shoot for, take aim, take
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIMED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "18. *Oft-quoted advice in Matthew 7:7"

18 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: __________________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEEKANDYESHALLFIND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "21. Herb related to parsley"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that native to egypt but cultivated widely for its aromatic seeds and the oil from them used medicinally and as a flavoring in cookery
  • Similar words include: anise plant, Pimpinella anisum, aniseed
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANISE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "22. Part of L.G.B.T.Q."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who practices homosexuality; having a sexual attraction to persons of the same sex
  • Similar words include: homo, jolly, festive
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "23. Races longer than marathons, informally"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "24. First name in rap?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Stat for Aaron Judge"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a run that is the result of the batter's performance
  • Similar words include: run batted in
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RBI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Puts the finishing touches on, in a way"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
  • Similar words include: water ice, internal-combustion engine, shabu
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. *24/7/365"

14 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLDAYEVERYDAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "32. Some scanners, for short"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agency established in 2001 to safeguard united states transportation systems and insure safe air travel
  • Similar words include: Transportation Security Administration
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Jan. 1 through today"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. Oodles of time"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the longest division of geological time
  • Similar words include: aeon, eon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. Elate"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause to go somewhere
  • Similar words include: ship, air, institutionalize
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "38. Nobelist Joliot-Curie who synthesized radioactive isotopes"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "41. Stereotypical dog"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "42. Bases of shipbuilding"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a projection or ridge that suggests a keel
  • Similar words include: keel, lurch, careen
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEELS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. Sol, but not Luna"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brief written record
  • Similar words include: bank bill, distinction, mention
  • Opposite of: ignore
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOTE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Word with sponge or fish"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a block of solid substance (such as soap or wax)
  • Similar words include: bar, patty, coat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "45. Quarterback's asset"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "46. Shiny little platters"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft bluish-white ductile malleable toxic bivalent metallic element; occurs in association with zinc ores
  • Similar words include: CD, standard candle, atomic number 48
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "47. *Evening spent playing with the kids, say"

15 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "52. Stare in astonishment"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an expression of openmouthed astonishment
  • Similar words include: yaw, gawk, gawp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. Just peachy"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "54. Possible response to "Tu veux du chocolat?""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "55. Idiomatic partner of "lose""

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sleeping for a short period of time (usually not in bed)
  • Similar words include: cat sleep, drowse, doze
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNOOZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. Disney still"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Directive written in currants in "Alice in Wonderland""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "62. Tendency to reinforce one's established beliefs ... or a hint to answering this puzzle's starred clues"

16 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "65. Playwright Chekhov"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "66. Following"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that located farther aft
  • Similar words include: later on, later, afterwards
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "67. "Sorry ... hard pass""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "68. Corporate musical chairs, for short"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "69. Rib"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity)
  • Similar words include: teaser, badger, tantalize
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "70. Quinceañera celebrant, e.g."

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a juvenile between the onset of puberty and maturity
  • Similar words include: teenaged, adolescent, stripling
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Indian spice blend 6
2D 2. Low soccer score 6
3D 3. Food writer Molly 6
4D 4. Fifth Avenue store 4
5D 5. W-9 fig. 3
6D 6. One method of sibling torture 6
7D 7. Oscar-nominated singer/songwriter for "May It Be" (2001) 4
8D 8. Like a used firepit 4
9D 9. What might give you a brewed awakening? 3
10D 10. Narrow kitchen 6
11D 11. Results of feuds 5
12D 12. Title for any male in the House of Saud 4
13D 13. Actor John who has granted more than 650 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation 4
14D 14. Sportsbook calculation 4
15D 19. Make bubbly 6
16D 20. Created Yoda, he did 5
17D 26. Brief letters? 3
18D 27. Fig. on a driver's license 4
19D 29. Unit of force 4
20D 30. Energy-healing practice 5
21D 31. Fluctuate between normal singing and falsetto 5
22D 32. Bit of concert merch 3
23D 33. Show that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025, in brief 3
24D 34. About a third of an N.F.L. broadcast 3
25D 37. Highway behemoth 4
26D 38. Fortune competitor 3
27D 39. 5.5 yards 3
28D 40. Subject of astrobiology, in brief 3
29D 41. Star quality 4
30D 42. Seattle N.H.L. team 6
31D 44. April fool, e.g. 5
32D 45. Sixth word of the Gettysburg Address 3
33D 47. Throwing for a loop 6
34D 48. Bulldog supporters 6
35D 49. The moment of truth 6
36D 50. "The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being ___": Mahatma Gandhi 6
37D 51. Dons, as an apron 6
38D 52. Really try to get 5
39D 55. C-section reminder 4
40D 56. Nada 4
41D 57. Not fooled by 4
42D 58. Where the coffee and Wi-Fi might both be strong 4
43D 59. "At Last" singer James 4
44D 61. Adjoin 4
45D 63. Place to strike a pose? 3
46D 64. Seam contents 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Indian spice blend"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Low soccer score"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Food writer Molly"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Fifth Avenue store"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. W-9 fig."

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. One method of sibling torture"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shoe with a wedge heel
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEDGIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Oscar-nominated singer/songwriter for "May It Be" (2001)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Like a used firepit"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of a light grey
  • Similar words include: ash-grey, ash-gray
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASHY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. What might give you a brewed awakening?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
  • Similar words include: teatime, Camellia sinensis, tea leaf
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Narrow kitchen"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large medieval vessel with a single deck propelled by sails and oars with guns at stern and prow; a complement of 1,000 men; used mainly in the mediterranean for war and trading
  • Similar words include: cookhouse, caboose, ship's galley
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GALLEY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Results of feuds"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a gap between cloud masses
  • Similar words include: severance, rift, breach
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIFTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Title for any male in the House of Saud"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an independent ruler or chieftain (especially in africa or arabia)
  • Similar words include: amir, ameer, emeer
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Actor John who has granted more than 650 wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. Sportsbook calculation"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the likelihood of a thing occurring rather than not occurring
  • Similar words include: betting odds
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Make bubbly"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that expose to fresh air
  • Similar words include: air, air out, oxygenize
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AERATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "20. Created Yoda, he did"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states screenwriter and filmmaker (born in 1944)
  • Similar words include: George Lucas
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUCAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Brief letters?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that trademark for men's underwear
  • Similar words include: BVD's
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BVD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Fig. on a driver's license"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Unit of force"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 cm/sec/sec to a mass of 1 gram
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DYNE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Energy-healing practice"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Fluctuate between normal singing and falsetto"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a songlike cry in which the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal voice and falsetto
  • Similar words include: warble, descant
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YODEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Bit of concert merch"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the starting place for each hole on a golf course
  • Similar words include: football tee, tee up, teeing ground
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Show that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025, in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. About a third of an N.F.L. broadcast"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public promotion of some product or service
  • Similar words include: ad, advertising, advertizing
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. Highway behemoth"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of the two competitions in the next to the last round of an elimination tournament
  • Similar words include: trailer truck, tractor trailer, semitrailer
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEMI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "38. Fortune competitor"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "39. 5.5 yards"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "40. Subject of astrobiology, in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "41. Star quality"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed
  • Similar words include: celebrity, renown
  • Opposite of: infamy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "42. Seattle N.H.L. team"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "44. April fool, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous plants of the genus capparis
  • Similar words include: gambol, capriole, job
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAPER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "45. Sixth word of the Gettysburg Address"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that gone by; or in the past
  • Similar words include: agone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGO

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33D: "47. Throwing for a loop"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that disturb the composure of
  • Similar words include: unsettle, enervate, faze
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAZING

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34D: "48. Bulldog supporters"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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35D: "49. The moment of truth"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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36D: "50. "The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being ___": Mahatma Gandhi"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that pertaining to or concerned with the humanities
  • Similar words include: humanist, humanistic
  • Opposite of: inhumane
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUMANE

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37D: "51. Dons, as an apron"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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38D: "52. Really try to get"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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39D: "55. C-section reminder"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mark left (usually on the skin) by the healing of injured tissue
  • Similar words include: pit, cicatrice, scrape
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAR

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40D: "56. Nada"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a canonical hour that is the ninth hour of the day counting from sunrise
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NONE

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41D: "57. Not fooled by"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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42D: "58. Where the coffee and Wi-Fi might both be strong"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small restaurant where drinks and snacks are sold
  • Similar words include: coffeehouse, coffee bar, coffee shop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAFE

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43D: "59. "At Last" singer James"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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44D: "61. Adjoin"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
  • Similar words include: edge, butt on, border
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABUT

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45D: "63. Place to strike a pose?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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46D: "64. Seam contents"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mineral that contains metal that is valuable enough to be mined
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORE

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Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
46 Down Clues
85 Total Clues

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Last updated: January 15, 2026 at 04:25 AM