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

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 12, 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. Appropriate answer for 1-Across 5
2A 6. Have the sense of 4
3A 10. Females shepherded by shepherds 4
4A 14. Fuel-bearing ship 5
5A 15. Leer at 4
6A 16. One piece of a three-piece suit 4
7A 17. Listing at an ice cream shop in Ipswich 15
8A 20. Lou Gehrig's disease, in brief 3
9A 21. "___ Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel song) 3
10A 22. Happen afterward 5
11A 23. Some limb-moving muscles 9
12A 27. Kids' items at a day care in Derby 14
13A 32. Pack tightly 5
14A 33. Spanish for "this" 4
15A 34. Pod tidbit 3
16A 35. Spoke to a convention, say 6
17A 37. Members of the aristocracy 6
18A 40. Establishment that might offer free breakfast 3
19A 41. Quaint lead-in to while 4
20A 45. Leads off 5
21A 46. Areas on a map of Manchester 14
22A 50. Sudden, widespread appearances of illness 9
23A 51. Live (in) 5
24A 54. "Thanks a ___!" (informal appreciation) 3
25A 55. Butcher's discard 3
26A 58. "Hmm, why use the spellings of 17-, 27- and 46-Across?" 15
27A 63. Laura of "Jurassic Park" 4
28A 64. A pelican can hold more water in this than in its belly 4
29A 65. Franz ___, Prague-born writer of dark fiction 5
30A 66. Force holding us onto Earth, informally 4
31A 67. Pepsi alternative 4
32A 68. Be present 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Appropriate answer for 1-Across"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the beginning of anything
  • Similar words include: originate, bug out, pop
  • Opposite of: finish, end
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: START

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Have the sense of"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an intuitive awareness; or
  • Similar words include: look, finger, flavour
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Females shepherded by shepherds"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Fuel-bearing ship"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a worker who oils engines or machinery
  • Similar words include: tanker, oil well, tank ship
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OILER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Leer at"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that look at with amorous intentions
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. One piece of a three-piece suit"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a man's sleeveless garment worn underneath a coat
  • Similar words include: robe, undershirt, invest
  • Opposite of: divest
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Listing at an ice cream shop in Ipswich"

15 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. Lou Gehrig's disease, in brief"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that thickening of tissue in the motor tracts of the lateral columns and anterior horns of the spinal cord; results in progressive muscle atrophy that starts in the limbs
  • Similar words include: Heart of Dixie, Camellia State, Al
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. "___ Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel song)"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a form of address for a married woman
  • Similar words include: Mrs., Mr., Mister
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Happen afterward"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that issue or terminate (in a specified way, state, etc.); end
  • Similar words include: result
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENSUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Some limb-moving muscles"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom)
  • Similar words include: kidnapper, abductor muscle, snatcher
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABDUCTORS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "27. Kids' items at a day care in Derby"

14 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "32. Pack tightly"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "33. Spanish for "this""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "34. Pod tidbit"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that seed of a pea plant used for food
  • Similar words include: pea plant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Spoke to a convention, say"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that talk pompously
  • Similar words include: orate
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORATED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "37. Members of the aristocracy"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status
  • Similar words include: elite, elite group
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELITES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "40. Establishment that might offer free breakfast"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
  • Similar words include: auberge, lodge, hostelry
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Quaint lead-in to while"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at a previous time
  • Similar words include: erstwhile, once, formerly
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "45. Leads off"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
  • Similar words include: unfold, give, clear
  • Opposite of: fold, close
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "46. Areas on a map of Manchester"

14 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a surrounding or nearby region
  • Similar words include: neck of the woods, vicinity, locality
  • Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEIGHBOURHOODS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "50. Sudden, widespread appearances of illness"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (usually of some undesirable condition)
  • Similar words include: irruption, outbreak, eruption
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUTBREAKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "51. Live (in)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that think moodily or anxiously about something
  • Similar words include: brood, inhabit, harp
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DWELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "54. "Thanks a ___!" (informal appreciation)"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cypriot monetary unit equal to one thousandth of a pound
  • Similar words include: ml, Swedish mile, cc
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "55. Butcher's discard"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft greasy substance occurring in organic tissue and consisting of a mixture of lipids (mostly triglycerides)
  • Similar words include: rich, adipose tissue, blubber
  • Opposite of: thin, leanness
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "58. "Hmm, why use the spellings of 17-, 27- and 46-Across?""

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "63. Laura of "Jurassic Park""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "64. A pelican can hold more water in this than in its belly"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statute in draft before it becomes law
  • Similar words include: card, account, circular
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "65. Franz ___, Prague-born writer of dark fiction"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that czech novelist who wrote in german about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals (1883-1924)
  • Similar words include: Franz Kafka
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAFKA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "66. Force holding us onto Earth, informally"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "67. Pepsi alternative"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that carbon fuel produced by distillation of coal
  • Similar words include: snow, C, Coca Cola
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "68. Be present"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have an existence, be extant
  • Similar words include: live, be, survive
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Divan 4
2D 2. Tens or ones place? 4
3D 3. Lead-in to "poor Yorick!" 4
4D 4. Al Sharpton's title, for short 3
5D 5. Instrument with a Renaissance-era ancestor called a sackbut 8
6D 6. "Absolutely!" 7
7D 7. Sense of self 3
8D 8. Hermey is one, in TV's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" 3
9D 9. Do-over at serving 3
10D 10. "Nevertheless ..." 6
11D 11. Marries 4
12D 12. One son of Isaac and Rebekah 4
13D 13. Bacterial eye malady 4
14D 18. Pakistani language 4
15D 19. Chervil or chive 4
16D 23. Touched down 4
17D 24. Stool pigeons, in police shorthand 3
18D 25. Explosive inits. 3
19D 26. Kind of arch in architecture 4
20D 27. ___ asada 5
21D 28. Resident of a Mideast sultanate 5
22D 29. Chose, with "for" 5
23D 30. Wails 5
24D 31. Give some lip to 4
25D 32. Sign up for 4
26D 36. Some are said to be "swimming" in this 4
27D 38. Resemble 8
28D 39. Ways to raise capital, in brief 4
29D 42. Lowe on TV 3
30D 43. Big ___, West Coast tourist destination 3
31D 44. Shake with fear 7
32D 47. Sandlot QB's order to a receiver 6
33D 48. Streaming service owned by Disney 4
34D 49. Cause of a shower drain clog, maybe 4
35D 51. Birdbrain 4
36D 52. "At what time?" 4
37D 53. BrontΓ« heroine 4
38D 55. Popular female poodle name 4
39D 56. Inquires 4
40D 57. Word after "Copy" or "Fancy" 4
41D 59. Airer of "The View" 3
42D 60. Site of the world's largest Carnival celebration 3
43D 61. Wapiti, by another name 3
44D 62. Put a burden on 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Divan"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an upholstered seat for more than one person
  • Similar words include: lounge, couch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOFA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Tens or ones place?"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unstratified soil deposited by a glacier; consists of sand and clay and gravel and boulders mixed together
  • Similar words include: cashbox, public treasury, trough
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Lead-in to "poor Yorick!""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism
  • Similar words include: regrettably, unluckily, ala
  • Opposite of: fortunately, luckily
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Al Sharpton's title, for short"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rate of revolution of a motor
  • Similar words include: rpm, revolutions per minute, rev up
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REV

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Instrument with a Renaissance-era ancestor called a sackbut"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brass instrument consisting of a long tube whose length can be varied by a u-shaped slide
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROMBONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. "Absolutely!""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Sense of self"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
  • Similar words include: self-importance, self, egotism
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Hermey is one, in TV's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous
  • Similar words include: pixy, gremlin, extremely low frequency
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Do-over at serving"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brutal terrorist group active in kashmir; fights against india with the goal of restoring islamic rule of india
  • Similar words include: Army of the Pure, lease, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
  • Opposite of: disallow, prevent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. "Nevertheless ...""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Marries"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fourth day of the week; the third working day
  • Similar words include: splice, Midweek, hook up with
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. One son of Isaac and Rebekah"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) the eldest son of isaac who would have inherited the covenant that god made with abraham and that abraham passed on to isaac; he traded his birthright to his twin brother jacob for a mess of pottage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESAU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Bacterial eye malady"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid
  • Similar words include: sty, eye infection, hordeolum
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STYE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Pakistani language"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the official literary language of pakistan, closely related to hindi; widely used in india (mostly by moslems); written in arabic script
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URDU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Chervil or chive"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests
  • Similar words include: herbaceous plant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HERB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Touched down"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Stool pigeons, in police shorthand"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an alliance made up of states that had been soviet socialist republics in the soviet union prior to its dissolution in dec 1991
  • Similar words include: Commonwealth of Independent States, curie, Ci
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Explosive inits."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that explosive consisting of a yellow crystalline compound that is a flammable toxic derivative of toluene
  • Similar words include: trinitrotoluene
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TNT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Kind of arch in architecture"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a molding that (in section) has the shape of an s with the convex part above and the concave part below
  • Similar words include: cyma reversa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. ___ asada"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Resident of a Mideast sultanate"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of oman
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMANI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "29. Chose, with "for""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that select as an alternative over another
  • Similar words include: choose, opt, prefer
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "30. Wails"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a funeral lament sung with loud wailing
  • Similar words include: keen, lament
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "31. Give some lip to"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an impudent or insolent rejoinder
  • Similar words include: lip, back talk, Special Air Service
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SASS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "32. Sign up for"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the shape or manner in which things come together and a connection is made
  • Similar words include: articulation, joint, junction
  • Opposite of: disjoin
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. Some are said to be "swimming" in this"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of owing something (especially money)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEBT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. Resemble"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "39. Ways to raise capital, in brief"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a corporation's first offer to sell stock to the public
  • Similar words include: initial offering, initial public offering, IPO
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IPOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "42. Lowe on TV"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
  • Similar words include: overcharge, gazump, soak
  • Opposite of: undercharge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "43. Big ___, West Coast tourist destination"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a port in southern lebanon on the mediterranean sea; formerly a major phoenician seaport famous for silks
  • Similar words include: Tyre
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "44. Shake with fear"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement
  • Similar words include: shake, shiver
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREMBLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "47. Sandlot QB's order to a receiver"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "48. Streaming service owned by Disney"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "49. Cause of a shower drain clog, maybe"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
  • Similar words include: hairsbreadth, pilus, hair's-breadth
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "51. Birdbrain"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone whose style is out of fashion
  • Similar words include: fogy, fogey, Raphus cucullatus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DODO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "52. "At what time?""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "53. BrontΓ« heroine"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "55. Popular female poodle name"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "56. Inquires"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inquire about
  • Similar words include: expect, demand, ask
  • Opposite of: obviate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "57. Word after "Copy" or "Fancy""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "59. Airer of "The View""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)
  • Similar words include: alphabet, ABC's, rudiment
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "60. Site of the world's largest Carnival celebration"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "61. Wapiti, by another name"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in europe and `moose' in north america
  • Similar words include: Alces alces, wapiti, red deer
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

44D: "62. Put a burden on"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government
  • Similar words include: revenue enhancement, assess, taxation
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAX

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

32 Across Clues
44 Down Clues
76 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: May 12, 2026 at 06:25 AM

Thursday, February 5, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers February 05, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: 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. Dives into 5
2A 6. Cause to crack up 4
3A 10. Pillow covering 4
4A 14. Florida's ___ National Forest 5
5A 15. Give quite a shock 4
6A 16. Antifur org. 4
7A 17. | $ | $ | $ | $ | 10
8A 19. Sheltered from the wind 4
9A 20. Charge on imports 4
10A 21. Bible-inspired tourist attraction in Williamstown, Ky. 3
11A 22. Excel spreadsheets, essentially 5
12A 23. Go (for) 3
13A 24. | : : : | / / 11
14A 27. "How dare you!" looks 6
15A 29. Tree whose "slippery" variety has medicinal bark 3
16A 30. Mistake "air" for "heir," say 3
17A 31. Chick checker of a sort 5
18A 32. Put one's hands together 4
19A 34. About 4
20A 35. Classic Jack Kerouac novel ... or where you'll find 17-, 24-, 49- and 58-Across 9
21A 38. Fundamentals 4
22A 41. Helps out 4
23A 42. Spinal stack 5
24A 46. Grassy grazing ground 3
25A 47. Wrestling match ender 3
26A 48. Racer's final go-round 6
27A 49. | : : :--| 11
28A 53. Gershwin brother 3
29A 54. Adds to a stuffed suitcase, say 5
30A 55. Schedule pro 3
31A 56. Choice of bands, for short 4
32A 57. Church nook 4
33A 58. |X:X:X:X|
|X:X:X:X|
|X:X:X:X|
10
34A 61. Crown 4
35A 62. Dynamic starter? 4
36A 63. Fictional region that includes Bag End 5
37A 64. Slap (at) 4
38A 65. "Your turn," on a radio 4
39A 66. Sent up on social media, say 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Dives into"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Cause to crack up"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that kill intentionally and with premeditation
  • Similar words include: off, bump off, polish off
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Pillow covering"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be
  • Similar words include: imposter, affect, postiche
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Florida's ___ National Forest"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Give quite a shock"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Antifur org."

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. | $ | $ | $ | $ |"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a booth at a tollgate where the toll collector collects tolls
  • Similar words include: tollbooth, tollhouse, tolbooth
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOLLBOOTHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Sheltered from the wind"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that on or toward the lee
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Charge on imports"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force; ; - john d.rockefeller jr
  • Similar words include: tariff, obligation, responsibility
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DUTY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Bible-inspired tourist attraction in Williamstown, Ky."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (judaism) sacred chest where the ancient hebrews kept the two tablets containing the ten commandments
  • Similar words include: Ark of the Covenant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Excel spreadsheets, essentially"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a pattern of regularly spaced horizontal and vertical lines
  • Similar words include: power system, storage-battery grid, gridiron
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Go (for)"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that select as an alternative over another
  • Similar words include: choose, prefer
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "24. | : : : | / /"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. "How dare you!" looks"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a light within the field of vision that is brighter than the brightness to which the eyes are adapted
  • Similar words include: limelight, blaze, public eye
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLARES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Tree whose "slippery" variety has medicinal bark"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "30. Mistake "air" for "heir," say"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that to make a mistake or be incorrect
  • Similar words include: drift, mistake, slip
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "31. Chick checker of a sort"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "32. Put one's hands together"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden very loud noise
  • Similar words include: eruption, bam, gonorrhoea
  • Opposite of: boo
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "34. About"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "35. Classic Jack Kerouac novel ... or where you'll find 17-, 24-, 49- and 58-Across"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "38. Fundamentals"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)
  • Similar words include: first rudiment, alphabet, rudiment
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABCS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "41. Helps out"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a serious (often fatal) disease of the immune system transmitted through blood products especially by sexual contact or contaminated needles
  • Similar words include: care, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, assistance
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. Spinal stack"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sound recording consisting of a disk with a continuous groove; used to reproduce music by rotating while a phonograph needle tracks in the groove
  • Similar words include: saucer, record, disc
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DISCS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Grassy grazing ground"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of length of thread or yarn
  • Similar words include: pastureland, ley, grazing land
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "47. Wrestling match ender"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a piece of jewelry that is pinned onto the wearer's garment
  • Similar words include: pin tumbler, flag, personal identification number
  • Opposite of: unpin
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "48. Racer's final go-round"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "49. | : : :--|"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. Gershwin brother"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "54. Adds to a stuffed suitcase, say"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that crowd or pack to capacity
  • Similar words include: jam, mug up, grind away
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "55. Schedule pro"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an accountant who has passed certain examinations and met all other statutory and licensing requirements of a united states state to be certified by that state
  • Similar words include: certified public accountant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CPA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "56. Choice of bands, for short"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "57. Church nook"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a domed or vaulted recess or projection on a building especially the east end of a church; usually contains the altar
  • Similar words include: apsis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "58. |X:X:X:X|
|X:X:X:X|
|X:X:X:X|"

10 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "61. Crown"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that liver or meat or fowl finely minced or ground and variously seasoned
  • Similar words include: poll, crown
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "62. Dynamic starter?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "63. Fictional region that includes Bag End"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a former administrative district of england; equivalent to a county
  • Similar words include: shire horse
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHIRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "64. Slap (at)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp blow
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "65. "Your turn," on a radio"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (cricket) the division of play during which six balls are bowled at the batsman by one player from the other team from the same end of the pitch
  • Similar words include: all over, terminated, o'er
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "66. Sent up on social media, say"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Show-offs 7
2D 2. Not many 7
3D 3. Levy that helped fund the Erie Canal 7
4D 4. Friend in tough times 4
5D 5. Paragraph starter, perhaps 3
6D 6. Archive 5
7D 7. Potato pancake for Hanukkah 5
8D 8. Campfire residue 3
9D 9. "Definitely!" 3
10D 10. Prince Harry, per his memoir's title 5
11D 11. Genomic shapes 7
12D 12. Put up with put-downs 7
13D 13. Baton wielder 7
14D 18. Galley implements 4
15D 22. Class that may require a change of clothes 3
16D 24. Leaves in a waiting room? 4
17D 25. Becomes tiresome 5
18D 26. Brand in the pet aisle 4
19D 28. Some vintage autos 4
20D 32. Khaki alternative 5
21D 33. Played the first card 3
22D 34. Possible score seven points after love-love 4
23D 36. Follow 4
24D 37. In unison, musically 4
25D 38. Case of emergency? 7
26D 39. Source of a large print 7
27D 40. Card game played with two decks 7
28D 43. Meat stick brand 7
29D 44. Commuter's charge 7
30D 45. Barraged with irrelevant material 7
31D 47. HPs, e.g. 3
32D 48. First tennis player to achieve a Golden Slam 4
33D 50. Become acquainted via Gmail, say 5
34D 51. Jump ___ (horror movie staple) 5
35D 52. Willing to take part in 5
36D 56. Pine 4
37D 58. Confucian "way" 3
38D 59. Energize, with "up" 3
39D 60. Suffix with capital 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Show-offs"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who performs dangerous stunts to attract attention to himself
  • Similar words include: frankfurter, dog, frank
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOTDOGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Not many"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Levy that helped fund the Erie Canal"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Friend in tough times"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a friendly nation
  • Similar words include: friend
  • Opposite of: foe
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Paragraph starter, perhaps"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the bill in a restaurant
  • Similar words include: pill, lozenge, tabloid
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Archive"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services
  • Similar words include: hive away, computer memory, stash away
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Potato pancake for Hanukkah"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that made of grated potato and egg with a little flour
  • Similar words include: potato pancake
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LATKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Campfire residue"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the residue that remains when something is burned
  • Similar words include: ash tree
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. "Definitely!""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Prince Harry, per his memoir's title"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an extra component of a machine or other apparatus
  • Similar words include: dispense with, fifth wheel, bare
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Genomic shapes"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a curve that lies on the surface of a cylinder or cone and cuts the element at a constant angle
  • Similar words include: genus Helix, Helix, spiral
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HELIXES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Put up with put-downs"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Baton wielder"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an artist of consummate skill
  • Similar words include: master
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAESTRO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Galley implements"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an implement used to propel or steer a boat
  • Similar words include: oar
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Class that may require a change of clothes"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that athletic facility equipped for sports or physical training
  • Similar words include: gymnasium
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GYM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Leaves in a waiting room?"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FERN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Becomes tiresome"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that impairment resulting from long use
  • Similar words include: wear upon, wear, jade
  • Opposite of: refresh
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Brand in the pet aisle"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Some vintage autos"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "32. Khaki alternative"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that trousers made with chino cloth
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHINO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "33. Played the first card"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that diode such that light emitted at a p-n junction is proportional to the bias current; color depends on the material used
  • Similar words include: contribute, head, conduct
  • Opposite of: follow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Possible score seven points after love-love"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. Follow"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
  • Similar words include: buttocks, fundament, shadower
  • Opposite of: head
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. In unison, musically"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Case of emergency?"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Source of a large print"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. Card game played with two decks"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a form of rummy using two decks of cards and four jokers; jokers and deuces are wild; the object is to form groups of the same rank
  • Similar words include: meld, basket rummy
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANASTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Meat stick brand"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. Commuter's charge"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fare charged for riding a bus or streetcar
  • Similar words include: bus fare
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CARFARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "45. Barraged with irrelevant material"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. HPs, e.g."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small digital computer based on a microprocessor and designed to be used by one person at a time
  • Similar words include: PC, microcomputer, personal computer
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PCS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "48. First tennis player to achieve a Golden Slam"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that german tennis player who won seven women's singles titles at wimbledon (born in 1969)
  • Similar words include: Stephanie Graf, Steffi Graf
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRAF

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33D: "50. Become acquainted via Gmail, say"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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34D: "51. Jump ___ (horror movie staple)"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events
  • Similar words include: affright, panic attack, frighten off
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCARE

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35D: "52. Willing to take part in"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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36D: "56. Pine"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dull persistent (usually moderately intense) pain
  • Similar words include: aching, pine, hurt
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACHE

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37D: "58. Confucian "way""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adherent of any branch of taoism
  • Similar words include: Taoist
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAO

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38D: "59. Energize, with "up""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rate of revolution of a motor
  • Similar words include: revolutions per minute, rev up, rpm
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REV

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39D: "60. Suffix with capital"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school
  • Similar words include: doctrine, philosophical system, philosophy
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISM

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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: February 05, 2026 at 05:03 AM