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Monday, August 31, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 31, 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. Part of a dance 4
2A 5. Sch. with the Daily Bruin newspaper 4
3A 9. Slightly intoxicated 5
4A 14. Fancy 4
5A 15. Worms and such on hooks 4
6A 16. Be of the same mind 5
7A 17. Redding with two posthumous Grammys 4
8A 18. "Sesame Street" character who was once sung to sleep by Andrea Bocelli 4
9A 19. Ransacks 5
10A 20. One who regularly drops things 13
11A 23. The : English :: ___ : French 3
12A 24. Letter after sigma 3
13A 25. One dining on Friskies 3
14A 28. Role for Selena Gomez on "Only Murders in the Building" 5
15A 31. Umbrella-shaped sea creature 9
16A 34. Director DuVernay 3
17A 35. Pathetic 3
18A 36. Examine at length 6
19A 37. Took shots first, then paid for them later 7
20A 40. Clothing sizes for shorter women 7
21A 41. Ski in zigzags 6
22A 42. "Far out!" 3
23A 43. Tetra- minus one 3
24A 44. Newlyweds' getaway 9
25A 46. Owl sounds 5
26A 48. Actress de Armas 3
27A 49. 401(k) relative 3
28A 50. "Need an ark? I Noah guy," e.g. 3
29A 51. "Tell everyone!" ... or what to do with the starts of 20-, 31- and 44-Across? 13
30A 58. Inuit for "house" 5
31A 60. Italian hello 4
32A 61. Et ___ (and others: Lat.) 4
33A 62. Tennis locale 5
34A 63. Pre-Easter observance 4
35A 64. R-rated, maybe 4
36A 65. A cube has 12 of them 5
37A 66. Petrol brand 4
38A 67. Easter egg decorating supplies 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Part of a dance"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
  • Similar words include: mistreat, stride, ill-treat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Sch. with the Daily Bruin newspaper"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Slightly intoxicated"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that slightly intoxicated
  • Similar words include: tiddly, potty
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIPSY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Fancy"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that elegant and sumptuous
  • Similar words include: de luxe, deluxe
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUXE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Worms and such on hooks"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that anything that serves as an enticement
  • Similar words include: rag, tantalize, twit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Be of the same mind"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be in accord; be in agreement
  • Similar words include: match, consort, tally
  • Opposite of: disagree
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Redding with two posthumous Grammys"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states inventor who manufactured the first elevator with a safety device (1811-1861)
  • Similar words include: genus Otis, Elisha Graves Otis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. "Sesame Street" character who was once sung to sleep by Andrea Bocelli"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Ransacks"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that goods or money obtained illegally
  • Similar words include: cabbage, moolah, strip
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. One who regularly drops things"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who drops things (especially one who cannot catch a ball)
  • Pattern: _____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUTTERFINGERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. The : English :: ___ : French"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints)
  • Similar words include: LE, lupus erythematosus
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Letter after sigma"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the 19th letter of the greek alphabet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. One dining on Friskies"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
  • Similar words include: kat, sick, khat
  • Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Role for Selena Gomez on "Only Murders in the Building""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Umbrella-shaped sea creature"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large siphonophore having a bladderlike float and stinging tentacles
  • Similar words include: Portuguese man-of-war, man-of-war
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JELLYFISH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Director DuVernay"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Pathetic"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; ; - christina rossetti
  • Similar words include: deplorable, pitiful, lamentable
  • Opposite of: glad
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. Examine at length"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that examine or consider with attention and in detail
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PERUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Took shots first, then paid for them later"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Clothing sizes for shorter women"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a garment size for short or slender women
  • Similar words include: petite
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PETITES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. Ski in zigzags"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a downhill race over a winding course defined by upright poles
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLALOM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. "Far out!""

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material
  • Similar words include: radian
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Tetra- minus one"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Newlyweds' getaway"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a holiday taken by a newly married couple
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HONEYMOON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "46. Owl sounds"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loud raucous cry (as of an owl)
  • Similar words include: tinker's dam, Bronx cheer, raspberry
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "48. Actress de Armas"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mother of the ancient irish gods; sometimes identified with danu
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "49. 401(k) relative"

3 letters Category: Common Word

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, individual retirement account, Irish Republican Army
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "50. "Need an ark? I Noah guy," e.g."

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a humorous play on words
  • Similar words include: wordplay, punning, paronomasia
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PUN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. "Tell everyone!" ... or what to do with the starts of 20-, 31- and 44-Across?"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "58. Inuit for "house""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an eskimo hut; usually built of blocks (of sod or snow) in the shape of a dome
  • Similar words include: iglu
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IGLOO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "60. Italian hello"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an acknowledgment that can be used to say hello or goodbye (aloha is hawaiian and ciao is italian)
  • Similar words include: aloha
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "61. Et ___ (and others: Lat.)"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "62. Tennis locale"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
  • Similar words include: tribunal, courtroom, motor lodge
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COURT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "63. Pre-Easter observance"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a period of 40 weekdays from ash wednesday to holy saturday
  • Similar words include: lend, bestow, add
  • Opposite of: borrow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "64. R-rated, maybe"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that full of zest or vigor
  • Similar words include: robust, naughty, gamey
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RACY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "65. A cube has 12 of them"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the boundary of a surface
  • Similar words include: inch, butt, edge
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "66. Petrol brand"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "67. Easter egg decorating supplies"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair
  • Similar words include: dyestuff, dye
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DYES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Mess maker 4
2D 2. Attire for the Sugar Plum Fairy 4
3D 3. Off-ramp 4
4D 4. Pulverizing tool 6
5D 5. Alternatives to Lyfts 5
6D 6. Baby whale 4
7D 7. In finite supply 7
8D 8. Lacking a musical key 6
9D 9. A ___ as old as time 4
10D 10. Composer Stravinsky 4
11D 11. Ham on an antipasto platter 10
12D 12. Solidify 3
13D 13. "You called?" 3
14D 21. Sinuous swimmer 3
15D 22. Swallowed hard 6
16D 26. Aver 6
17D 27. Graduate student's project 6
18D 28. ___ P. Johnson (gay rights activist) 6
19D 29. Island of Arthurian legend 6
20D 30. Fruit-resembling mollusk 10
21D 31. The "one" of a one-two 3
22D 32. So far 3
23D 33. Part of the week that workers look forward to: Abbr. 3
24D 35. Lunch item that might be made with cold cuts, in slang 6
25D 38. Ginger ___ 3
26D 39. Cup-and-ball or yo-yo 3
27D 40. Deep-dish vessel 3
28D 42. Support staff for a rock band 7
29D 45. Soothsayer 6
30D 46. Tint 3
31D 47. "To victory!" 6
32D 50. Part of an Instagram post 5
33D 52. Skin opening 4
34D 53. Goes bad 4
35D 54. Gets bronzed at the beach 4
36D 55. Brand with "anti-aging" products 4
37D 56. Bibimbap base 4
38D 57. Pages on a desk calendar 4
39D 58. "Rocks" at a bar 3
40D 59. Lead-in to forbid or forsaken 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Mess maker"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a coarse obnoxious person
  • Similar words include: pig, slovenly person, sloven
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Attire for the Sugar Plum Fairy"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that south african prelate and leader of the antiapartheid struggle (born in 1931)
  • Similar words include: ballet skirt, Desmond Tutu
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUTU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Off-ramp"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an opening that permits escape or release
  • Similar words include: snuff it, croak, cash in one's chips
  • Opposite of: be born, enter
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Pulverizing tool"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that machine consisting of a heavy bar that moves vertically for pounding or crushing ores
  • Similar words include: pounder, muller, stamp
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PESTLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Alternatives to Lyfts"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Baby whale"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that young of domestic cattle
  • Similar words include: sura, calfskin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CALF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. In finite supply"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that public transport consisting of a fast train or bus that makes only a few scheduled stops
  • Similar words include: confine, restrain, express
  • Opposite of: unlimited, local
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIMITED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Lacking a musical key"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that characterized by avoidance of traditional western tonality
  • Similar words include: unkeyed
  • Opposite of: tonal
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATONAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. A ___ as old as time"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

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, narration, tarradiddle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TALE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Composer Stravinsky"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Ham on an antipasto platter"

10 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that italian salt-cured ham usually sliced paper thin
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROSCIUTTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Solidify"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. "You called?""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

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!

14D: "21. Sinuous swimmer"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in europe and america; large eels are usually smoked or pickled
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Swallowed hard"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
  • Similar words include: swig, quaff, gulp
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GULPED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Aver"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that state categorically
  • Similar words include: verify, asseverate, maintain
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSERT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Graduate student's project"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument
  • Similar words include: dissertation
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THESIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. ___ P. Johnson (gay rights activist)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Island of Arthurian legend"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Fruit-resembling mollusk"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. The "one" of a one-two"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. So far"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that up to the present time
  • Similar words include: nonetheless, as yet, thus far
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Part of the week that workers look forward to: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sixth day of the week; the fifth working day
  • Similar words include: Friday
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Lunch item that might be made with cold cuts, in slang"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Ginger ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the united states an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Cup-and-ball or yo-yo"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an artifact designed to be played with
  • Similar words include: miniature, fiddle, play
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. Deep-dish vessel"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Support staff for a rock band"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Soothsayer"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an authoritative person who divines the future
  • Similar words include: prophet, vaticinator, seer
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORACLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Tint"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength
  • Similar words include: imbue, chromaticity
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. "To victory!""

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that forward in time or order or degree
  • Similar words include: forth, forrader, ahead
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONWARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. Part of an Instagram post"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide; recorded by a camera on light-sensitive material
  • Similar words include: pic, picture, photograph
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHOTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Skin opening"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any tiny hole admitting passage of a liquid (fluid or gas)
  • Similar words include: stomate, rivet, centre
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Goes bad"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: molder, bunk, rotting
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Gets bronzed at the beach"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
  • Similar words include: tangent, suntan, tan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Brand with "anti-aging" products"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Bibimbap base"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished
  • Similar words include: Elmer Leopold Rice, Sir Tim Rice, Elmer Reizenstein
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RICE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "57. Pages on a desk calendar"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the time during which someone's life continues
  • Similar words include: twenty-four hour period, mean solar day, daylight
  • Opposite of: night
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAYS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "58. "Rocks" at a bar"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
  • Similar words include: crank, methamphetamine hydrochloride, chicken feed
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "59. Lead-in to forbid or forsaken"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
  • Similar words include: divinity, idol, Supreme Being
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOD

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

38 Across Clues
40 Down Clues
78 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: August 31, 2026 at 09:56 AM

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers July 15, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Moderate

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Bold way to go when bluffing 5
2A 6. Blade brand 4
3A 10. Mocked, in a way 4
4A 14. One of approximately three million in Finland (for a population of less than six million) 5
5A 15. Artery 4
6A 16. Place for a hero 4
7A 17. Giving up one's amateur status 10
8A 19. Valhalla V.I.P. 4
9A 20. Ben Jonson wrote one to himself 3
10A 21. Name repeated in a hit 1963 rock song 5
11A 22. Emulate Cicero 5
12A 23. Frantic rushes 12
13A 25. Apple variety named for the state it was developed in 6
14A 28. Daffy Duck characteristic 4
15A 29. Thing to rule, proverbially 5
16A 30. Moon's path 5
17A 33. Largest human cells 3
18A 36. Rapper born Tracy Lauren Marrow 4
19A 37. Good source of vitamin C 5
20A 38. Thunderstruck 4
21A 39. Ballpark fig. 3
22A 40. Liam Neeson action trilogy 5
23A 41. Many a rosé wine 5
24A 42. Budget airline of Ireland, informally 4
25A 44. Word with college or message 6
26A 45. Something it's good to pass with 12
27A 50. Places for hot dates? 5
28A 51. Moves pawn to e4, e.g. 5
29A 52. "Hazy" drink 3
30A 55. One flying in to the coast, maybe 4
31A 56. Competitor suggested by 17-, 23- and 45-Across ... or by the name of the inventor jumbled in the circled letters 10
32A 58. Mortarboard wearer 4
33A 59. Steve with nine N.B.A. titles as a player and coach 4
34A 60. Island country that's an anagram of TAHITI minus T 5
35A 61. Major export of Ghana 4
36A 62. Brit's exclamation 4
37A 63. Thompson who plays Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Bold way to go when bluffing"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Blade brand"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Mocked, in a way"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that imitate uncritically and in every aspect
  • Similar words include: caricature, ape
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. One of approximately three million in Finland (for a population of less than six million)"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a finnish steam bath; steam is produced by pouring water over heated rocks
  • Similar words include: sweat room
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAUNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Artery"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
  • Similar words include: route
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Place for a hero"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shop selling ready-to-eat food products
  • Similar words include: delicatessen, food shop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DELI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Giving up one's amateur status"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Valhalla V.I.P."

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (norse mythology) ruler of the aesir; supreme god of war and poetry and knowledge and wisdom (for which he gave an eye) and husband of frigg; identified with the teutonic wotan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Ben Jonson wrote one to himself"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Name repeated in a hit 1963 rock song"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Emulate Cicero"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that talk pompously
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Frantic rushes"

12 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Apple variety named for the state it was developed in"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the domain ruled by an emperor or empress; the region over which imperial dominion is exercised
  • Similar words include: conglomerate, imperium
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMPIRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Daffy Duck characteristic"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a speech defect that involves pronouncing `s' like voiceless `th' and `z' like voiced `th'
  • Similar words include: list-processing language
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LISP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Thing to rule, proverbially"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shelter with perches for fowl or other birds
  • Similar words include: rest, perch
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROOST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "30. Moon's path"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the (usually elliptical) path described by one celestial body in its revolution about another
  • Similar words include: range, compass, cranial orbit
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORBIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Largest human cells"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. Rapper born Tracy Lauren Marrow"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Good source of vitamin C"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant
  • Similar words include: yield
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRUIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. Thunderstruck"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inspire awe in
  • Similar words include: awestricken, awful, awe
  • Opposite of: unawed
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AWED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Ballpark fig."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that standard time in the 5th time zone west of greenwich, reckoned at the 75th meridian; used in the eastern united states
  • Similar words include: Eastern Time, Eastern Standard Time
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Liam Neeson action trilogy"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that require (time or space)
  • Similar words include: rent, film, select
  • Opposite of: disclaim, abstain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAKEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "41. Many a rosé wine"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an occurrence of thorough mixing
  • Similar words include: blending, portmanteau, commingle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "42. Budget airline of Ireland, informally"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "44. Word with college or message"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the stage of a theater
  • Similar words include: display panel, plank, add-in
  • Opposite of: get off
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOARDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. Something it's good to pass with"

12 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. Places for hot dates?"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fertile tract in a desert (where the water table approaches the surface)
  • Similar words include: haven, oasis
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OASES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "51. Moves pawn to e4, e.g."

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "52. "Hazy" drink"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "55. One flying in to the coast, maybe"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of
  • Similar words include: patsy, mug, mark
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GULL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "56. Competitor suggested by 17-, 23- and 45-Across ... or by the name of the inventor jumbled in the circled letters"

10 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "58. Mortarboard wearer"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one-hundredth of a right angle
  • Similar words include: alum, alumna, grade
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "59. Steve with nine N.B.A. titles as a player and coach"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "60. Island country that's an anagram of TAHITI minus T"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "61. Major export of Ghana"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that edible tuber of any of several yams
  • Similar words include: yam plant, yam
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "62. Brit's exclamation"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "63. Thompson who plays Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Regarding 4
2D 2. Hail 4
3D 3. Draw 4
4D 4. Days or Knights follower 3
5D 5. Finger painting? 7
6D 6. Many-eyed giant of Greek myth 5
7D 7. Hot ___ (fast-fashion company) 5
8D 8. Like triplets vis-à-vis twins 5
9D 9. Botheration 3
10D 10. Cute to the max 6
11D 11. Standard bicycle propulsion 10
12D 12. Upper echelon 5
13D 13. Patronizes a four-star restaurant, say 5
14D 18. Central point 4
15D 22. Pass over 4
16D 23. Atomizer output 4
17D 24. Came to rest 4
18D 25. The "E" in HOMES 4
19D 26. Some comfy kicks 4
20D 27. Spoken-word event 10
21D 30. Mork's planet on an old sitcom 3
22D 31. Narrator on "Euphoria" 3
23D 32. Storage container 3
24D 34. Peddle 4
25D 35. Tacks on 4
26D 37. Vampire double feature? 4
27D 38. "What a pity!" 4
28D 40. Catches some rays 4
29D 41. Sour soup 7
30D 43. Rates of return 6
31D 44. Whom Austin Powers parodies 4
32D 45. Like San Francisco, frequently 5
33D 46. Early 2000s first lady 5
34D 47. Hangs in there 5
35D 48. Work with a libretto 5
36D 49. Distrustful 5
37D 52. Sacred bird of ancient Egypt 4
38D 53. Contents of some carriers 4
39D 54. Highlight of a 48-Down 4
40D 56. Word with run or lift 3
41D 57. Burj Khalifa's home, in brief 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Regarding"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Hail"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that praise, glorify, or honor
  • Similar words include: extol, exalt, proclaim
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAUD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Draw"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that qualities that attract by seeming to promise some kind of reward
  • Similar words include: tempt, enticement, come-on
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LURE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Days or Knights follower"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Finger painting?"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Many-eyed giant of Greek myth"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) a giant with 100 eyes; was guardian of the heifer io and was slain by hermes
  • Similar words include: argus pheasant
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARGUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Hot ___ (fast-fashion company)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
  • Similar words include: theme, issue, matter
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOPIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Like triplets vis-à-vis twins"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness
  • Similar words include: rarefied, uncommon, rare
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RARER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Botheration"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a rapid active commotion
  • Similar words include: bustle, fuss, stir
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Cute to the max"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Standard bicycle propulsion"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Upper echelon"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Patronizes a four-star restaurant, say"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have supper; eat dinner
  • Similar words include: boom, din, dine
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DINES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Central point"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a connecting point at which several lines come together
  • Similar words include: thickening, client, guest
  • Opposite of: antinode
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Pass over"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that prevent from being included or considered or accepted
  • Similar words include: drop, neglect, except
  • Opposite of: include, attend to
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Atomizer output"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a thin fog with condensation near the ground
  • Similar words include: haze over, obscure, befog
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Came to rest"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. The "E" in HOMES"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of an iroquoian people formerly living on the south shore of lake erie in northern ohio and northwest pennsylvania and western new york
  • Similar words include: Lake Erie
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Some comfy kicks"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Spoken-word event"

10 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Mork's planet on an old sitcom"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "31. Narrator on "Euphoria""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "32. Storage container"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a container; usually has a lid
  • Similar words include: binful, ABA transit number, bank identification number
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Peddle"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sell or offer for sale from place to place
  • Similar words include: hawk, huckster, monger
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "35. Tacks on"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders
  • Similar words include: impart, tot, tote up
  • Opposite of: take away, subtract
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "37. Vampire double feature?"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a bantu language spoken in cameroon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FANG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. "What a pity!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "40. Catches some rays"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
  • Similar words include: suntan, tangent, burn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "41. Sour soup"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a russian or polish soup usually containing beet juice as a foundation
  • Similar words include: bortsch, borsht, borsch
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BORSCHT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "43. Rates of return"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that production of a certain amount
  • Similar words include: cede, move over, take
  • Opposite of: survive, stand
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YIELDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "44. Whom Austin Powers parodies"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an electrical force linking atoms
  • Similar words include: adhesiveness, stick to, tie
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "45. Like San Francisco, frequently"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that stunned or confused and slow to react (as from blows or drunkenness or exhaustion)
  • Similar words include: bleary, groggy, misty
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOGGY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "46. Early 2000s first lady"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "47. Hangs in there"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that brick that is laid sideways at the top of a wall
  • Similar words include: get by, apprehend, manage
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COPES

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35D: "48. Work with a libretto"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a drama set to music; consists of singing with orchestral accompaniment and an orchestral overture and interludes
  • Similar words include: opera house
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPERA

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36D: "49. Distrustful"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that openly distrustful and unwilling to confide
  • Similar words include: untrusting, mistrustful, wary
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEERY

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37D: "52. Sacred bird of ancient Egypt"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wading birds of warm regions having long slender down-curved bills
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IBIS

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38D: "53. Contents of some carriers"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement
  • Similar words include: dearie, deary, favourite
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PETS

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39D: "54. Highlight of a 48-Down"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an elaborate song for solo voice
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARIA

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40D: "56. Word with run or lift"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that narrow wood or metal or plastic runners used in pairs for gliding over snow
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SKI

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41D: "57. Burj Khalifa's home, in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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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

37 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: July 15, 2026 at 05:44 AM