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Thursday, July 2, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers July 02, 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. Flying high 5
2A 6. Romulus and Remus, e.g., for short 4
3A 10. "Hey ...!" 4
4A 14. Skateboarding trick 5
5A 15. "There is nothing on earth so powerful as an ___ whose time has come" (proverb) 4
6A 16. Bird related to the 46-Down 4
7A 17. City center, often 5
8A 18. Groups at the First Continental Congress in 1774 11
9A 20. "Les ___" 3
10A 21. Open mic performer, often 4
11A 22. Setting of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" 4
12A 23. 10 Hamiltons 8
13A 25. American Revolution heroes 8
14A 27. Fig. at a bus depot 3
15A 28. Defeats convincingly 7
16A 31. Fancy Dan 3
17A 32. Daiquiri flavor 6
18A 34. Bit of lore 4
19A 35. Overdo it at the beach, say 3
20A 36. George Washington's presidential status on February 4, 1789 5
21A 37. Chrome alternative 6
22A 39. Simple wooden shoes 6
23A 42. Last full year of John Adams's presidency 5
24A 46. Heart chart, for short 3
25A 49. Fail to engage 4
26A 50. Jewish mysticism 6
27A 52. "Nixon in China" tenor 3
28A 53. Periodic survey started under Secy. of State Thomas Jefferson 8
29A 55. Trunk part 3
30A 56. Disunites 6
31A 58. "Father of the Constitution" and his family 8
32A 60. Like the Revolutionary War battles led by John Paul Jones 5
33A 61. Apple Store offerings 4
34A 63. Show of friendliness 3
35A 64. First signer of the Declaration of Independence 11
36A 66. "The Divine ___" (showbiz nickname) 5
37A 68. Conglomeration 4
38A 69. Regarding, on a memo 4
39A 70. Soul singer Adams 5
40A 71. Angler's hope 4
41A 72. TV programmer's slate, in brief 4
42A 73. American settlement until 1776 ... or a hint to 13 squares in this puzzle 6

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Flying high"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
  • Similar words include: glad, well-chosen, felicitous
  • Opposite of: unhappy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAPPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Romulus and Remus, e.g., for short"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person's brother or sister
  • Similar words include: sibling, cognate, sib
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. "Hey ...!""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Skateboarding trick"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. "There is nothing on earth so powerful as an ___ whose time has come" (proverb)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
  • Similar words include: theme, estimation, musical theme
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Bird related to the 46-Down"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fertility goddess in ancient greek mythology; wife of cronus and mother of zeus; identified with roman ops and cybele of ancient asia minor
  • Similar words include: Rhea americana, Pterocnemia pennata, nandu
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RHEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. City center, often"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public square with room for pedestrians
  • Similar words include: place, mall, shopping mall
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLAZA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Groups at the First Continental Congress in 1774"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a group of representatives or delegates
  • Similar words include: commission, delegacy, relegation
  • Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DELEGATIONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Les ___""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Open mic performer, often"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Setting of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the siouan people formerly living in iowa and minnesota and missouri
  • Similar words include: Ioway, IA, Hawkeye State
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOWA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. 10 Hamiltons"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that gum resin used especially in treating skin irritation
  • Similar words include: benzoin, gum benjamin, asa dulcis
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BENJAMIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. American Revolution heroes"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one who loves and defends his or her country
  • Similar words include: nationalist, patriot
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PATRIOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Fig. at a bus depot"

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: 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!

15A: "28. Defeats convincingly"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Fancy Dan"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
  • Similar words include: fashion plate, clotheshorse, swell
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Daiquiri flavor"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several tropical and subtropical treelike herbs of the genus musa having a terminal crown of large entire leaves and usually bearing hanging clusters of elongated fruits
  • Similar words include: banana tree
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BANANA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "34. Bit of lore"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "35. Overdo it at the beach, say"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english painter and art critic (1866-1934)
  • Similar words include: nipper, electrocute, Roger Fry
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "36. George Washington's presidential status on February 4, 1789"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an exclusive group of people
  • Similar words include: chosen, elite
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELECT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "37. Chrome alternative"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

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!

22A: "39. Simple wooden shoes"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shoe carved from a single block of wood
  • Similar words include: patten, wooden shoe, geta
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SABOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. Last full year of John Adams's presidency"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Heart chart, for short"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a graphical recording of the cardiac cycle produced by an electrocardiograph
  • Similar words include: EKG, cardiogram, electrocardiogram
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ECG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "49. Fail to engage"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who evokes boredom
  • Similar words include: tire, digest, have a bun in the oven
  • Opposite of: interest
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "50. Jewish mysticism"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an esoteric or occult matter resembling the kabbalah that is traditionally secret
  • Similar words include: kabbalah, kabala, qabala
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CABALA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "52. "Nixon in China" tenor"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of many body compounds (e.g., epinephrine and norepinephrine and serotonin)
  • Similar words include: Mao Zedong, Mao Tsetung, monoamine oxidase
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. Periodic survey started under Secy. of State Thomas Jefferson"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Trunk part"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that support resembling the rib of an animal
  • Similar words include: make fun, blackguard, roast
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "56. Disunites"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that undo the ties of
  • Similar words include: unbrace, untie, loosen
  • Opposite of: tie
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNTIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. "Father of the Constitution" and his family"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that 4th president of the united states; member of the continental congress and rapporteur at the constitutional convention in 1776; helped frame the bill of rights (1751-1836)
  • Similar words include: President Madison, capital of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MADISONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Like the Revolutionary War battles led by John Paul Jones"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that connected with or belonging to or used in a navy
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Apple Store offerings"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
  • Similar words include: mack, macintosh, mackintosh
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MACS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "63. Show of friendliness"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tight or amorous embrace
  • Similar words include: squeeze, bosom, clinch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "64. First signer of the Declaration of Independence"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "66. "The Divine ___" (showbiz nickname)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "68. Conglomeration"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "69. Regarding, on a memo"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "70. Soul singer Adams"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40A: "71. Angler's hope"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
  • Similar words include: chomp, seize with teeth, morsel
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BITE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41A: "72. TV programmer's slate, in brief"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42A: "73. American settlement until 1776 ... or a hint to 13 squares in this puzzle"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
  • Similar words include: settlement, dependency
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COLONY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Word with bar or bunny 3
2D 2. Unadulterated by plastic, say 8
3D 3. Ordinary 9
4D 4. You knead dough to make it 5
5D 5. A word of support 3
6D 6. Location of "Sloop John B" on the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album 7
7D 7. Just chillaxing 4
8D 8. Salad ingredient often paired with goat cheese 4
9D 9. Long account 4
10D 10. A ___ 6
11D 11. Hot dog on a roll? 7
12D 12. One whose qualifications are enumerated in Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution 7
13D 13. Some coll. instructors 3
14D 19. Uneasy giggle 6
15D 21. Printing size 4
16D 23. Two-time Tony winner Neuwirth 4
17D 24. "Yowza!" 3
18D 25. Comedian Poundstone 5
19D 26. Bug exterminator? 3
20D 29. ___ Island 6
21D 30. Graceless ones 4
22D 33. Gets going 4
23D 37. Ticked off 4
24D 38. Website that added podcast info in 2021 4
25D 40. Granada grandma 6
26D 41. Pears used for cooking 5
27D 43. Musical with the song "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" 8
28D 44. Doesn't let go of 8
29D 45. Street fleet 4
30D 46. World's second-tallest bird 3
31D 47. Trattoria treat in a shell 7
32D 48. Doubled, say 7
33D 50. Things to chew on 4
34D 51. Start to live and breathe? 3
35D 54. Kissed or whacked 7
36D 57. Rowena's love, in fiction 7
37D 59. 1970 Neil Diamond song about an imaginary childhood friend 5
38D 61. One living an orderly life? 4
39D 62. 4,840 square yards 4
40D 64. ZipRecruiter listing 3
41D 65. CBS drama starting in 2003 4
42D 66. Soft slip-on, for short 3
43D 67. Lots of 4

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Word with bar or bunny"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of hopping; jumping upward or forward (especially on one foot)
  • Similar words include: hop-skip, skip, hops
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Unadulterated by plastic, say"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Ordinary"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. You knead dough to make it"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that italian open pie made of thin bread dough spread with a spiced mixture of e.g. tomato sauce and cheese
  • Similar words include: pizza pie
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIZZA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. A word of support"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an affirmative
  • Similar words include: yeah
  • Opposite of: nay
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Location of "Sloop John B" on the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Just chillaxing"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Salad ingredient often paired with goat cheese"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that biennial eurasian plant usually having a swollen edible root; widely cultivated as a food crop
  • Similar words include: common beet, beetroot, Beta vulgaris
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Long account"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrative telling the adventures of a hero or a family; originally (12th to 14th centuries) a story of the families that settled iceland and their descendants but now any prose narrative that resembles such an account
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. A ___"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Hot dog on a roll?"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. One whose qualifications are enumerated in Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a senate
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENATOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Some coll. instructors"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hard grey lustrous metallic element that is highly resistant to corrosion; occurs in niobite and fergusonite and tantalite
  • Similar words include: tantalum, Ta, atomic number 73
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. Uneasy giggle"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a nervous restrained laugh
  • Similar words include: giggle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TITTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Printing size"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an eating disorder, frequent in children, in which non-nutritional objects are eaten persistently
  • Similar words include: pica em, em, genus Pica
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PICA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Two-time Tony winner Neuwirth"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. "Yowza!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
  • Similar words include: humankind, human race, valet
  • Opposite of: civilian, woman
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Comedian Poundstone"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Bug exterminator?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

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: snoop, sight, spot
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. ___ Island"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Graceless ones"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an awkward stupid person
  • Similar words include: gawk, lout, lummox
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAFS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Gets going"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a new testament book describing the development of the early church from christ's ascension to paul's sojourn at rome
  • Similar words include: human activity, dissemble, do
  • Opposite of: refrain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "37. Ticked off"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an open skin infection
  • Similar words include: mad, tender, painful
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Website that added podcast info in 2021"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. Granada grandma"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "41. Pears used for cooking"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that greenish-yellow pear
  • Similar words include: bosc
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOSCS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "43. Musical with the song "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?""

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a conveyer belt that carries luggage to be claimed by air travelers
  • Similar words include: whirligig, roundabout, carrousel
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAROUSEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Doesn't let go of"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Street fleet"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
  • Similar words include: hack, taxi, cab
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. World's second-tallest bird"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism
  • Similar words include: Emu novaehollandiae, electromagnetic unit, Dromaius novaehollandiae
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Trattoria treat in a shell"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "48. Doubled, say"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Things to chew on"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that food of a ruminant regurgitated to be chewed again
  • Similar words include: wad, chew, chaw
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "51. Start to live and breathe?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Kissed or whacked"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that deliver a hard blow to
  • Similar words include: peck, thwack, smack
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMACKED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "57. Rowena's love, in fiction"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "59. 1970 Neil Diamond song about an imaginary childhood friend"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "61. One living an orderly life?"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work
  • Similar words include: Thelonious Sphere Monk, Thelonious Monk, monastic
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MONK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "62. 4,840 square yards"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "64. ZipRecruiter listing"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
  • Similar words include: caper, line of work, line
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "65. CBS drama starting in 2003"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "66. Soft slip-on, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "67. Lots of"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `as' or `too' or `so' or `that'; amounting to a large but indefinite number
  • Opposite of: few
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MANY

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

42 Across Clues
43 Down Clues
85 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 02, 2026 at 06:53 AM

Saturday, May 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 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: Medium

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Modern "go-to's" 4
2A 5. Curtain for silhouetting on stage 5
3A 10. Bird on the South Carolina state quarter 4
4A 14. Capote or chesterfield 4
5A 15. Emulates E.T., in a way 10
6A 17. Roman goddess who drives a two-horse chariot 4
7A 18. Precious self-reference 10
8A 19. Name shared by the singer of the #1 hit "Rock Me Gently" (1974) and the first Korean American elected to the U.S. Senate (2024) 7
9A 21. Double-___ cassowary (bird of Indonesia and Australia) 7
10A 22. Matches with forensics 14
11A 24. Occasions to relax and recharge 6
12A 25. Obama's third secretary of defense (2013-15) 5
13A 26. Gasoline brand that offered the Torch Club credit card 5
14A 27. Aid in making salsa 5
15A 28. Operculum, e.g. 3
16A 31. Capital of Greenland 4
17A 32. They're hard to pull off 5
18A 33. Spa service, in brief 4
19A 34. Up to snuff, facetiously 3
20A 35. Trickles 5
21A 36. Cup holders 5
22A 37. Many a Porsche 911 5
23A 38. Practical types who are often perfectionists, it's said 6
24A 39. Don't start with me! 14
25A 43. Difficult effort 7
26A 44. Cut out 7
27A 46. Setting for Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" 10
28A 48. Cold-smoked lox 4
29A 49. 7 up, perhaps 10
30A 50. Gulf of ___, waters that abut Djibouti and Somaliland 4
31A 51. Vanilla units 4
32A 52. Spouts 5
33A 53. Romp 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Modern "go-to's""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the address of a web page on the world wide web
  • Similar words include: universal resource locator, URL, uniform resource locator
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Curtain for silhouetting on stage"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a firm open-weave fabric used for a curtain in the theater
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCRIM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Bird on the South Carolina state quarter"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english architect who designed more than fifty london churches (1632-1723)
  • Similar words include: Sir Christopher Wren, jenny wren
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WREN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Capote or chesterfield"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an outer garment that has sleeves and covers the body from shoulder down; worn outdoors
  • Similar words include: surface, coating, pelage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Emulates E.T., in a way"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "17. Roman goddess who drives a two-horse chariot"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (roman mythology) the goddess of the moon; counterpart of greek selene
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "18. Precious self-reference"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Name shared by the singer of the #1 hit "Rock Me Gently" (1974) and the first Korean American elected to the U.S. Senate (2024)"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Double-___ cassowary (bird of Indonesia and Australia)"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that build of or with wattle
  • Similar words include: wattle
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WATTLED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Matches with forensics"

14 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "24. Occasions to relax and recharge"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Obama's third secretary of defense (2013-15)"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Gasoline brand that offered the Torch Club credit card"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Aid in making salsa"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mechanical device used for dicing food
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DICER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "28. Operculum, e.g."

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye
  • Similar words include: palpebra, hat, eyelid
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Capital of Greenland"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. They're hard to pull off"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a notable achievement
  • Similar words include: effort, exploit, feat
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEATS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "33. Spa service, in brief"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "34. Up to snuff, facetiously"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "35. Trickles"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that pass gradually or leak through or as if through small openings
  • Similar words include: ooze, seep
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEEPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "36. Cup holders"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an ornamental metal cup-shaped holder for a hot coffee cup
  • Similar words include: zarf
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZARFS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "37. Many a Porsche 911"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a car with two doors and front seats and a luggage compartment
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COUPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "38. Practical types who are often perfectionists, it's said"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in virgo
  • Similar words include: Virgo, Virgin, Virgo the Virgin
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIRGOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "39. Don't start with me!"

14 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "43. Difficult effort"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child
  • Similar words include: exertion, labour, toil
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRAVAIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "44. Cut out"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
  • Similar words include: expunge, excise, strike
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXCISED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Setting for Seurat's "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte""

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "48. Cold-smoked lox"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a star that ejects some of its material in the form of a cloud and become more luminous in the process
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "49. 7 up, perhaps"

10 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "50. Gulf of ___, waters that abut Djibouti and Somaliland"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an important port of yemen; located on the gulf of aden; its strategic location has made it a major trading center of southern arabia since ancient times
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "51. Vanilla units"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the vessel that contains the seeds of a plant (not the seeds themselves)
  • Similar words include: cod, pod, seedpod
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PODS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "52. Spouts"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that expel or eject (saliva or phlegm or sputum) from the mouth
  • Similar words include: disgorge, cat, eruct
  • Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPEWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "53. Romp"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that north american songbirds having a yellow breast
  • Similar words include: frisk, escapade, gambol
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LARK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Victor over Washington on 11/12/1955 in "Back to the Future, Pt. II" — and in real life 4
2D 2. Cattle call 9
3D 3. Went wide or long, as a tennis ball 9
4D 4. "No closer!" 8
5D 5. Takes off 6
6D 6. Wind pipe? 5
7D 7. Blight 3
8D 8. Getting a break on Broadway? 9
9D 9. Medleys 8
10D 10. Marriott property with the slogan "Whatever Whenever" 6
11D 11. Triumphs smoothly 5
12D 12. ___ Brickowski ("The Lego Movie" protagonist) 5
13D 13. "What this country ___ ..." 5
14D 16. Certain volleyballer 6
15D 20. Deck 4
16D 23. Once-popular terra-cotta figurine 7
17D 24. Trigger hair 4
18D 27. State in which Gulliver is discovered by the Lilliputians 9
19D 28. Combo meal upgrade 9
20D 29. Going back ages 9
21D 30. ___ track 4
22D 32. Folks who enjoy a well-aged beef? 8
23D 33. Borderline 8
24D 35. Echolocation systems 6
25D 36. Element between copper and gallium on the periodic table 4
26D 37. Spelling combinations? 6
27D 38. They're concerned with feeding kits 6
28D 39. Pharyngeal woe 5
29D 40. Cynthia ___, Tony winner for "The Color Purple" 5
30D 41. Buckled 5
31D 42. Extend, in a way 5
32D 45. Chilly and damp 4
33D 47. "___ noticed" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Victor over Washington on 11/12/1955 in "Back to the Future, Pt. II" — and in real life"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Cattle call"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Went wide or long, as a tennis ball"

9 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. "No closer!""

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Takes off"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that extending the legs at right angles to the trunk (one in front and the other in back)
  • Similar words include: Split, tear, split up
  • Opposite of: unite
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPLITS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Wind pipe?"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a percussion instrument consisting of a set of tuned bells that are struck with a hammer; used as an orchestral instrument
  • Similar words include: gong, bell
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHIME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Blight"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: putrefaction, rotting, bunkum
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Getting a break on Broadway?"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Medleys"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a motley assortment of things
  • Similar words include: hodgepodge, ragbag, melange
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MELANGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Marriott property with the slogan "Whatever Whenever""

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Triumphs smoothly"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rotary motion of an object around its own axis
  • Similar words include: revolve, bun, rolling wave
  • Opposite of: unwind
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROLLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. ___ Brickowski ("The Lego Movie" protagonist)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

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: ant, pismire
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMMET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. "What this country ___ ...""

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a condition requiring relief
  • Similar words include: penury, involve, want
  • Opposite of: obviate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEEDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "16. Certain volleyballer"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one who sets written material into type
  • Similar words include: typesetter, typographer, compositor
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SETTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "20. Deck"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a blow that renders the opponent unconscious
  • Similar words include: knockout, knock out, KO
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAYO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Once-popular terra-cotta figurine"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Trigger hair"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck
  • Similar words include: head of hair
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. State in which Gulliver is discovered by the Lilliputians"

9 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Combo meal upgrade"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. Going back ages"

9 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. ___ track"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that god of the underworld; counterpart of greek pluto
  • Similar words include: affront, Dis, Orcus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DISS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Folks who enjoy a well-aged beef?"

8 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Borderline"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at or constituting a border or edge
  • Similar words include: bare, borderline, fringy
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MARGINAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Echolocation systems"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "36. Element between copper and gallium on the periodic table"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a bluish-white lustrous metallic element; brittle at ordinary temperatures but malleable when heated; used in a wide variety of alloys and in galvanizing iron; it occurs naturally as zinc sulphide in zinc blende
  • Similar words include: Zn, atomic number 30
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZINC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "37. Spelling combinations?"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an assembly of witches; usually 13 witches
  • Similar words include: coven
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COVENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. They're concerned with feeding kits"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a malicious woman with a fierce temper
  • Similar words include: hellcat, vixen, harpy
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIXENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "39. Pharyngeal woe"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that spherical gram-positive bacteria occurring in pairs or chains; cause e.g. scarlet fever and tonsillitis
  • Similar words include: streptococcal, streptococcus, streptococcic
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STREP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "40. Cynthia ___, Tony winner for "The Color Purple""

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "41. Buckled"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hollow out as if making a cave or opening
  • Similar words include: spelunk, undermine, cave
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAVED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "42. Extend, in a way"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that reestablish on a new, usually improved, basis or make new or like new
  • Similar words include: reincarnate, regenerate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RENEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "45. Chilly and damp"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unpleasantly cool and humid
  • Similar words include: clammy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DANK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "47. "___ noticed""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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Expert Solving Strategies

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Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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Today's Puzzle Stats

33 Across Clues
33 Down Clues
66 Total Clues

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Last updated: May 16, 2026 at 06:11 AM