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

Thursday, August 20, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 20, 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. Sound like heaven 4
2A 5. Game of observation for travel 6
3A 11. Ad free 3
4A 14. Brief in pants 4
5A 15. Correct thoroughly 6
6A 16. Bad feel 3
7A 17. Try to place connoisseurs? 11
8A 19. Cells in compound 3
9A 20. Checks with style 5
10A 21. To cop 3
11A 22. Competition, for starters 5
12A 24. York ___ 5
13A 26. Place recording 6
14A 27. Signals over game 5
15A 29. Maturity approaching 5
16A 31. Crows to relatives 6
17A 32. Free booze 3
18A 33. Confidentiality of letters? 4
19A 37. "Done well" 5
20A 38. Short for "info flight" 3
21A 39. Sponge bath 5
22A 40. Nothing doing 4
23A 41. Say "minus C" 3
24A 42. Set off 6
25A 43. Practice Japanese 5
26A 45. Equal roughly 5
27A 46. Into light 6
28A 49. Nags about noise? 5
29A 51. Land of Spot 5
30A 52. On-off signs 3
31A 53. Lines some over draw 5
32A 57. For repentance some feel 3
33A 58. Details insignificant contests 11
34A 61. Spending limits it 3
35A 62. Forum discussion, popular once 6
36A 63. Cut short 4
37A 64. Rock-___ 3
38A 65. Out with ate, ate, ate 6
39A 66. Website gift custom 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Sound like heaven"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

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: dwell, mouth organ, mouth harp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Game of observation for travel"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an overland journey by hunters (especially in africa)
  • Similar words include: hunting expedition, campaign
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAFARI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Ad free"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protein manufactured exclusively by the prostate gland; psa is produced for the ejaculate where it liquifies the semen and allows sperm cells to swim freely; elevated levels of psa in blood serum are associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer
  • Similar words include: prostate specific antigen
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Brief in pants"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Correct thoroughly"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Bad feel"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that aromatic bulb used as seasoning
  • Similar words include: garlic, trouble, pain
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Try to place connoisseurs?"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Cells in compound"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (biochemistry) a long linear polymer of nucleotides found in the nucleus but mainly in the cytoplasm of a cell where it is associated with microsomes; it transmits genetic information from dna to the cytoplasm and controls certain chemical processes in the cell
  • Similar words include: ribonucleic acid
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Checks with style"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cloth having a crisscross design
  • Similar words include: tartan
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLAID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. To cop"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have ownership or possession of
  • Similar words include: have, possess, ain
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Competition, for starters"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. York ___"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Place recording"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that workplace for the teaching or practice of an art
  • Similar words include: studio apartment
  • Opposite of: location
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STUDIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Signals over game"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
  • Similar words include: tusk, trump, automobile horn
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HORNS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Maturity approaching"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fully developed or matured and ready to be eaten or used
  • Similar words include: mature, advanced, ripe
  • Opposite of: green
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIPER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Crows to relatives"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail
  • Similar words include: devour, prey, guttle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAVENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Free booze"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "33. Confidentiality of letters?"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. "Done well""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed
  • Similar words include: assassin, assassinator
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRAVO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. Short for "info flight""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a terrorist organization organized in 1959 by student activists who were dissatisfied with the moderate nationalism of the traditional basque party; want to create an independent homeland in spain's western pyrenees
  • Similar words include: Euskadi ta Askatasuna, Basque Fatherland and Liberty, Basque Homeland and Freedom
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Sponge bath"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the dried fibrous part of the fruit of a plant of the genus luffa; used as a washing sponge or strainer
  • Similar words include: loofah, loufah sponge, luffa
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOFA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Nothing doing"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling
  • Similar words include: stagnate, dead, groundless
  • Opposite of: run, work
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "41. Say "minus C""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "42. Set off"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that bear the expenses of
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEFRAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "43. Practice Japanese"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. Equal roughly"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Into light"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "49. Nags about noise?"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the characteristic sounds made by a horse
  • Similar words include: nicker, whinny, whicker
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEIGH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Land of Spot"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small island
  • Similar words include: isle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISLET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "52. On-off signs"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in south central united states
  • Similar words include: okeh, Oklahoma, Sooner State
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "53. Lines some over draw"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a just detectable amount
  • Similar words include: decipher, hint, hunt
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRACE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "57. For repentance some feel"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that european strong-scented perennial herb with grey-green bitter-tasting leaves; an irritant similar to poison ivy
  • Similar words include: repent, regret, sorrow
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "58. Details insignificant contests"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "61. Spending limits it"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tight-fitting headdress
  • Similar words include: hood, detonator, capital
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "62. Forum discussion, popular once"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "63. Cut short"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small piece of anything (especially a piece that has been snipped off)
  • Similar words include: nip off, clip, snippet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "64. Rock-___"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object)
  • Similar words include: EL, altitude, elevation
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "65. Out with ate, ate, ate"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that live like a pig, in squalor
  • Similar words include: farrow, devour, guttle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIGGED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "66. Website gift custom"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. URL starter 4
2D 2. Asian sea currently undergoing replenishment efforts 4
3D 3. Civil rights icon Parks 4
4D 4. Shift the gears of, in a way ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues 12
5D 5. ID in some data breaches 3
6D 6. Elite H.S. class covering the Constitution 5
7D 7. Visionary ... or what you'll need to return to when solving this puzzle's Down clues 15
8D 8. Loads 4
9D 9. Babe in the Hundred Acre Wood 3
10D 10. One advocated for by the National Prison Project 6
11D 11. Whittled (down) 5
12D 12. Biblical mount 5
13D 13. It's worth remembering! 5
14D 18. "No idea" 6
15D 23. Distinctive expression ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues 12
16D 25. Feature of San Francisco's Lombard Street 3
17D 26. Mole, e.g. 3
18D 27. Firm 4
19D 28. Like many cricket fields 4
20D 30. Plan to contribute to, for short 3
21D 31. One of 1,909 for Willie Mays, for short 3
22D 34. "___ the Explorer" 4
23D 35. Some distance away 4
24D 36. Declare 3
25D 38. "Oh no! A mouse!" 3
26D 39. What the second number indicates in men's jeans sizes 6
27D 41. Univ. with an annual Mystery Hunt 3
28D 42. Eager response to "Wanna join?" 3
29D 44. Goes nuts for 6
30D 46. Around 5
31D 47. Garden-variety 5
32D 48. Wasn't paying attention 5
33D 50. Lauder of cosmetics 5
34D 52. Designer Cassini 4
35D 54. "I don't really care / If ya think I'm strange / I ___ gonna change": Joan Jett 4
36D 55. N.F.L. commentator Collinsworth 4
37D 56. Arthur Ashe Courage Award, e.g. 4
38D 59. Letter after chi 3
39D 60. The "S" of E.S.T.: Abbr. 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. URL starter"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protocol (utilizing tcp) to transfer hypertext requests and information between servers and browsers
  • Similar words include: hypertext transfer protocol
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HTTP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Asian sea currently undergoing replenishment efforts"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Civil rights icon Parks"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large genus of erect or climbing prickly shrubs including roses
  • Similar words include: genus Rosa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Shift the gears of, in a way ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues"

12 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. ID in some data breaches"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Elite H.S. class covering the Constitution"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Visionary ... or what you'll need to return to when solving this puzzle's Down clues"

15 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Loads"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sun (or solar disc) which was the deity of a monotheistic cult under the pharaoh akhenaten
  • Similar words include: Aten
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Babe in the Hundred Acre Wood"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. One advocated for by the National Prison Project"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of several resident of a dwelling (especially someone confined to a prison or hospital)
  • Similar words include: yard bird, yardbird, convict
  • Opposite of: outpatient
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INMATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Whittled (down)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that decrease gradually or bit by bit
  • Similar words include: whittle, peel, trim
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Biblical mount"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mountain peak in the southern sinai peninsula (7,500 feet high); it is believed to be the peak on which moses received the ten commandments
  • Similar words include: Sinai Peninsula, Mount Sinai, Sinai Desert
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINAI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. It's worth remembering!"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a siege and massacre at a mission in san antonio in 1836; mexican forces under santa anna besieged and massacred american rebels who were fighting to make texas independent of mexico
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALAMO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. "No idea""

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "23. Distinctive expression ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues"

12 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Feature of San Francisco's Lombard Street"

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, E, Es
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Mole, e.g."

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors
  • Similar words include: descry, undercover agent, spot
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Firm"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
  • Similar words include: knockout, heavy, difficult
  • Opposite of: soft, easy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Like many cricket fields"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it
  • Similar words include: ovate, ellipse, prolate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Plan to contribute to, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. One of 1,909 for Willie Mays, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

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!

22D: "34. "___ the Explorer""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Some distance away"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old-fashioned) at or from or to a great distance; far
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Declare"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the chance to speak
  • Similar words include: pronounce, articulate, aver
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. "Oh no! A mouse!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. What the second number indicates in men's jeans sizes"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
  • Similar words include: distance, duration
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENGTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Univ. with an annual Mystery Hunt"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an engineering university in cambridge
  • Similar words include: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Eager response to "Wanna join?""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the united states federal department charged with conservation and the development of natural resources; created in 1849
  • Similar words include: Interior, Interior Department, Department of the Interior
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. Goes nuts for"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Around"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Garden-variety"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
  • Similar words include: common
  • Opposite of: unusual
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USUAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "48. Wasn't paying attention"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be able to accommodate for sleeping
  • Similar words include: sleep, log Z's, catch some Z's
  • Opposite of: wake
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLEPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Lauder of cosmetics"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. Designer Cassini"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. "I don't really care / If ya think I'm strange / I ___ gonna change": Joan Jett"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. N.F.L. commentator Collinsworth"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Arthur Ashe Courage Award, e.g."

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that catch sight of
  • Similar words include: descry, spy, spot
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Letter after chi"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of pressure
  • Similar words include: pounds per square inch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PSI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "60. The "S" of E.S.T.: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a communicable infection transmitted by sexual intercourse or genital contact
  • Similar words include: venereal infection, dose, sexually transmitted disease
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STD

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

More NYT Crossword Help

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Last updated: August 20, 2026 at 04:04 AM

Monday, August 10, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 10, 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. "Planet of the ___" 4
2A 5. Wood strip found in many Ikea bed supports 4
3A 9. Take pleasure in 5
4A 14. Size opposite of mini- 4
5A 15. Prepares to throw a dart, say 4
6A 16. Crystal-filled rock 5
7A 17. Newspaper opinion piece 4
8A 18. *Title of a 1990s ABC sitcom and a 1990s New Kids on the Block hit 10
9A 20. Cereal often found with pretzels in a party snack mix 8
10A 22. Vertical jumping ability, in basketball lingo 3
11A 23. Sheep's cry 3
12A 24. "___ to Go!," 2024 Chappell Roan hit sometimes compared to the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." 3
13A 25. Attracted to people of any gender, for short 3
14A 28. *Detailed, real-time description of events 10
15A 33. Shape for a red-and-white striped Christmas candy 4
16A 34. Rodeo rope 5
17A 35. Foggy mental state 4
18A 36. Raisins, when on a celery-and-peanut-butter "log" 4
19A 37. Wrinkly citrus fruit 4
20A 38. "What a shame" 5
21A 39. Riverbank deposit 4
22A 40. Prompted, on stage 4
23A 41. Lyft competitor 4
24A 42. Zellweger of "Bridget Jones's Diary" 5
25A 43. Joint sometimes bent in protest 4
26A 44. *How to tackle big writing projects, per a seminal Anne Lamott book 10
27A 46. Go on and on and on 3
28A 47. LAX posting 3
29A 48. Frito-___ 3
30A 49. Not just some or most 3
31A 50. Got off the ground, as a start-up company 8
32A 55. *Many an off-road vehicle ... or a literal description of the answer to each asterisked clue (including this one!) 10
33A 59. Otherworldly glow 4
34A 60. It means slow (not big!) in music 5
35A 61. "Well, ___ that special!" 4
36A 62. Poetry competition 4
37A 63. "See what I'm talkin' 'bout?" 5
38A 64. Brooklyn basketballers ... and what they swish 4
39A 65. Effortlessness 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. "Planet of the ___""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
  • Similar words include: copycat, aper, ape
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Wood strip found in many Ikea bed supports"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a thin strip (wood or metal)
  • Similar words include: spline
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Take pleasure in"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that derive or receive pleasure from; get enjoyment from; take pleasure in
  • Similar words include: relish, savour, love
  • Opposite of: suffer
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENJOY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Size opposite of mini-"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long skirt ending below the calf
  • Opposite of: mini
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAXI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Prepares to throw a dart, say"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions
  • Similar words include: purport, object, calculate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Crystal-filled rock"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (mineralogy) a hollow rock or nodule with the cavity usually lined with crystals
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Newspaper opinion piece"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. *Title of a 1990s ABC sitcom and a 1990s New Kids on the Block hit"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Cereal often found with pretzels in a party snack mix"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Vertical jumping ability, in basketball lingo"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Similar words include: up
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Sheep's cry"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cry made by sheep
  • Similar words include: blat, blate, bleat
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. "___ to Go!," 2024 Chappell Roan hit sometimes compared to the Village People's "Y.M.C.A.""

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
  • Similar words include: red-hot, blistering, live
  • Opposite of: cold
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Attracted to people of any gender, for short"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. *Detailed, real-time description of events"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "33. Shape for a red-and-white striped Christmas candy"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a stick that people can lean on to help them walk
  • Similar words include: lambaste, lambast, flog
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Rodeo rope"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that belgian composer (1532-1594)
  • Similar words include: Roland de Lassus, reata, rope
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASSO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Foggy mental state"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that atmospheric moisture or dust or smoke that causes reduced visibility
  • Similar words include: daze, fog
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. Raisins, when on a celery-and-peanut-butter "log""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

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, ant, emmet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Wrinkly citrus fruit"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large sweet juicy hybrid between tangerine and grapefruit having a thick wrinkled skin
  • Similar words include: tangelo, ugli fruit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UGLI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. "What a shame""

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Riverbank deposit"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake
  • Similar words include: silt up
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SILT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Prompted, on stage"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that assist (somebody acting or reciting) by suggesting the next words of something forgotten or imperfectly learned
  • Similar words include: remind, prompt, cue
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "41. Lyft competitor"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "42. Zellweger of "Bridget Jones's Diary""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "43. Joint sometimes bent in protest"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
  • Similar words include: knee joint, genu, articulatio genus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KNEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "44. *How to tackle big writing projects, per a seminal Anne Lamott book"

10 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Go on and on and on"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for the mouth
  • Similar words include: maw, yip, gob
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "47. LAX posting"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a terrorist organization organized in 1959 by student activists who were dissatisfied with the moderate nationalism of the traditional basque party; want to create an independent homeland in spain's western pyrenees
  • Similar words include: Basque Fatherland and Liberty, Euskadi ta Askatasuna, Basque Homeland and Freedom
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "48. Frito-___"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
  • Similar words include: repose, put, pose
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "49. Not just some or most"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that quantifier; used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
  • Similar words include: totally, whole, entirely
  • Opposite of: partly, some
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "50. Got off the ground, as a start-up company"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that set up or found
  • Similar words include: plunge, set in motion, launch
  • Opposite of: abolish
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAUNCHED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "55. *Many an off-road vehicle ... or a literal description of the answer to each asterisked clue (including this one!)"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "59. Otherworldly glow"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "60. It means slow (not big!) in music"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (music) a composition or passage that is to be performed in a slow and dignified manner
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LARGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "61. "Well, ___ that special!""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "62. Poetry competition"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that winning all or all but one of the tricks in bridge
  • Similar words include: jibe, bang, sweep
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "63. "See what I'm talkin' 'bout?""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "64. Brooklyn basketballers ... and what they swish"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the tcp/ip network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange
  • Similar words include: mesh, net income, network
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "65. Effortlessness"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort
  • Similar words include: repose, relief, informality
  • Opposite of: difficulty
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Spanish love 4
2D 2. Big ___ (nickname of baseball's David Ortiz) 4
3D 3. Company bigwig 4
4D 4. *Next to each other, like many washers and dryers 10
5D 5. Strut down the "RuPaul's Drag Race" runway, say 6
6D 6. Lo-cal 4
7D 7. Visa or Mastercard rival, informally 4
8D 8. Small recipe amt. 3
9D 9. Home of the Great Pyramid 5
10D 10. Loch ___ monster 4
11D 11. Scribble (down) 3
12D 12. Sappho's "___ to Aphrodite" 3
13D 13. Slangy affirmative 3
14D 19. Lifted, as one's spirits 6
15D 21. ___ San Lucas, Mexico 4
16D 24. Venture, as a guess 6
17D 25. Pressed sandwich 6
18D 26. Part of a reindeer's rack 6
19D 27. Prepared one's home for a new arrival 6
20D 28. Spirited and determined 6
21D 29. "___ Beach: The Real Orange County" (MTV reality show of the mid-aughts) 6
22D 30. Catching some Z's 6
23D 31. Irrational fear 6
24D 32. Word before printer or pointer 5
25D 33. *Considered individually 10
26D 38. In a nonobvious way 6
27D 42. "Deadpool" actor Reynolds 4
28D 45. Says out loud without thinking 6
29D 47. Spot for a roller skater's pad 5
30D 49. Best Picture winner found hiding in "and the Oscar goes to ..." 4
31D 50. "Heads, I win. Tails, you ___!" (sneaky coin flip agreement) 4
32D 51. Parent's sister 4
33D 52. Hawaiian storytelling dance 4
34D 53. Times of one's life, say 4
35D 54. Title for Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson 4
36D 55. Take to the sky 3
37D 56. Acorn-bearing tree 3
38D 57. Caterer's coffee dispenser 3
39D 58. Above-water sign of a shark 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Spanish love"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (roman mythology) god of love; counterpart of greek eros
  • Similar words include: Cupid
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Big ___ (nickname of baseball's David Ortiz)"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Company bigwig"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the chief executive department of the united states government
  • Similar words include: White House
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXEC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. *Next to each other, like many washers and dryers"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Strut down the "RuPaul's Drag Race" runway, say"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a square dance figure; partners circle each other taking sideways steps
  • Similar words include: jaunt, ruffle, excursion
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SASHAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Lo-cal"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that having relatively few calories
  • Similar words include: light, low-cal, calorie-free
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LITE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Visa or Mastercard rival, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a stock exchange in new york
  • Similar words include: American Stock Exchange, Curb
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Small recipe amt."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Home of the Great Pyramid"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic in northeastern africa known as the united arab republic until 1971; site of an ancient civilization that flourished from 2600 to 30 bc
  • Similar words include: United Arab Republic, Egyptian Empire, Arab Republic of Egypt
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGYPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Loch ___ monster"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strip of land projecting into a body of water
  • Similar words include: cape
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Scribble (down)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brief (and hurriedly handwritten) note
  • Similar words include: touch, hint, pinch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Sappho's "___ to Aphrodite""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Slangy affirmative"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. Lifted, as one's spirits"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that float on the surface of water
  • Similar words include: buoy, buoy up
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUOYED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. ___ San Lucas, Mexico"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Venture, as a guess"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
  • Similar words include: luck, gamble, run a risk
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAZARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Pressed sandwich"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that indian grammarian whose grammatical rules for sanskrit are the first known example of descriptive linguistics (circa 400 bc)
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PANINI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Part of a reindeer's rack"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that deciduous horn of a member of the deer family
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTLER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Prepared one's home for a new arrival"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inhabit a nest, usually after building
  • Similar words include: nestle, nuzzle, draw close
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NESTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Spirited and determined"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by courage and determination in the face of difficulties or danger; robust and uninhibited; ; -judith crist
  • Similar words include: spunky, feisty, gutsy
  • Opposite of: gutless
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLUCKY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. "___ Beach: The Real Orange County" (MTV reality show of the mid-aughts)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a body of water cut off from a larger body by a reef of sand or coral
  • Similar words include: lagoon, lagune
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAGUNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "30. Catching some Z's"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in a state of sleep
  • Similar words include: departed, benumbed, at rest
  • Opposite of: awake
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASLEEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "31. Irrational fear"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an anxiety disorder characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations
  • Similar words include: phobic disorder, phobic neurosis
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHOBIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "32. Word before printer or pointer"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; an optical device that produces an intense monochromatic beam of coherent light
  • Similar words include: optical maser
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "33. *Considered individually"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "38. In a nonobvious way"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in a subtle manner
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUBTLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. "Deadpool" actor Reynolds"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "45. Says out loud without thinking"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that utter impulsively
  • Similar words include: blunder, blurt, blurt out
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLURTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "47. Spot for a roller skater's pad"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hinge joint between the forearm and upper arm and the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped
  • Similar words include: human elbow, elbow joint, cubitus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELBOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "49. Best Picture winner found hiding in "and the Oscar goes to ...""

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that formerly a large constellation in the southern hemisphere between canis major and the southern cross; now divided into carina and pyxis and puppis and vela
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARGO

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31D: "50. "Heads, I win. Tails, you ___!" (sneaky coin flip agreement)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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32D: "51. Parent's sister"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sister of your father or mother; the wife of your uncle
  • Similar words include: auntie, aunty
  • Opposite of: uncle
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AUNT

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33D: "52. Hawaiian storytelling dance"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a polynesian rain dance performed by a woman
  • Similar words include: hula-hula, Hawaiian dancing
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HULA

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34D: "53. Times of one's life, say"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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35D: "54. Title for Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for a (young) woman
  • Similar words include: wench, bird, doll
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAME

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36D: "55. Take to the sky"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that two-winged insects characterized by active flight
  • Similar words include: take flight, wing, pilot
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FLY

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37D: "56. Acorn-bearing tree"

3 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 tree
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAK

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38D: "57. Caterer's coffee dispenser"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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39D: "58. Above-water sign of a shark"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
  • Similar words include: Little Phoebe, V, Phoebe
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FIN

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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
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: August 10, 2026 at 05:00 AM