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

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers October 13, 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. ___ classic ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Pulp Fiction," e.g.) 4
2A 5. Spongy wetlands 4
3A 9. Titleholder 5
4A 14. Engrave 4
5A 15. Dirt pie ingredient 4
6A 16. Greek goddesses of the seasons 5
7A 17. Optional mission in a video game 9
8A 19. Gradually eat away 5
9A 20. Selfless sort 8
10A 21. Shindig for someone to announce whether they're having a boy or a girl 6
11A 22. – 6
12A 23. Lie next to 4
13A 25. Show on which Tina Fey and Seth Meyers have worked as head writers, in brief 3
14A 26. Tropical cocktail with bananas, strawberries, rum and coconut cream 8
15A 31. Go downhill fast 3
16A 34. Feedbag contents 4
17A 36. Shindig for someone settling into a new home 5
18A 37. – 7
19A 40. Flips, say 7
20A 42. Skirt, as an issue 5
21A 43. Jennifer who wrote "A Visit From the Goon Squad" 4
22A 45. Auction unit 3
23A 46. Cowboy's kerchief 8
24A 48. Show stoppers? 3
25A 51. Goes bad 4
26A 52. Shindig for someone who's about to tie the knot 6
27A 56. – 6
28A 60. Like a dish of veal or chicken dipped in egg and breadcrumbs, then fried in butter 8
29A 62. Surfers ride them 5
30A 63. Lunchroom 9
31A 64. Wolf in "The Jungle Book" 5
32A 65. Initials on a map until 1991 4
33A 66. Shindig for the cast and crew after filming is done ... with a hint to entering this answer and three others in the grid 4
34A 67. – 5
35A 68. Boxing stats 4
36A 69. Jazz singer Sylvia 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. ___ classic ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Pulp Fiction," e.g.)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices
  • Similar words include: fad, rage, cultus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CULT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Spongy wetlands"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation; has poorer drainage than a swamp; soil is unfit for cultivation but can be cut and dried and used for fuel
  • Similar words include: bog, bog down, peat bog
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Titleholder"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who has won first place in a competition
  • Similar words include: chomp, title-holder, champion
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHAMP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Engrave"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make an etching of
  • Similar words include: engrave
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Dirt pie ingredient"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that chocolate cookie with white cream filling
  • Similar words include: oreo cookie
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OREO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Greek goddesses of the seasons"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Optional mission in a video game"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Gradually eat away"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that become ground down or deteriorate
  • Similar words include: gnaw, wear away, eat away
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Selfless sort"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who makes charitable donations intended to increase human well-being
  • Similar words include: philanthropist
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALTRUIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Shindig for someone to announce whether they're having a boy or a girl"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a grammatical category in inflected languages governing the agreement between nouns and pronouns and adjectives; in some languages it is quite arbitrary but in indo-european languages it is usually based on sex or animateness
  • Similar words include: sex, sexuality, grammatical gender
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GENDER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. –"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make visible
  • Similar words include: discover, let out, unwrap
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REVEAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Lie next to"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Show on which Tina Fey and Seth Meyers have worked as head writers, in brief"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "26. Tropical cocktail with bananas, strawberries, rum and coconut cream"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Go downhill fast"

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Feedbag contents"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that annual grass of europe and north africa; grains used as food and fodder (referred to primarily in the plural: `oats')
  • Similar words include: oat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OATS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. Shindig for someone settling into a new home"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
  • Similar words include: theatre, firm, planetary house
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. –"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the process of becoming warmer; a rising temperature
  • Similar words include: heating, thaw, thawing
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WARMING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "40. Flips, say"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sell (something) again after having bought it
  • Similar words include: resell
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RESELLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. Skirt, as an issue"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
  • Similar words include: deflect, stave off, head off
  • Opposite of: validate, confront
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVOID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Jennifer who wrote "A Visit From the Goon Squad""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. Auction unit"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
  • Similar words include: hatful, spate, batch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. Cowboy's kerchief"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large and brightly colored handkerchief; often used as a neckerchief
  • Similar words include: bandana
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BANDANNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "48. Show stoppers?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "51. Goes bad"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "52. Shindig for someone who's about to tie the knot"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that archaic terms for a wedding or wedding feast
  • Similar words include: espousal, spousal, nuptial
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRIDAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "56. –"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a plumbing fixture that sprays water over you
  • Similar words include: exhibitor, shower bath, rain shower
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHOWER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "60. Like a dish of veal or chicken dipped in egg and breadcrumbs, then fried in butter"

8 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of milan
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MILANESE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "62. Surfers ride them"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
  • Similar words include: Wave, flourish, waving
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WAVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "63. Lunchroom"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a restaurant where you serve yourself and pay a cashier
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAFETERIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "64. Wolf in "The Jungle Book""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "65. Initials on a map until 1991"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a former communist country in eastern europe and northern asia; established in 1922; included russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (ukraine and byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 december 1991
  • Similar words include: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Soviet Union, Russia
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USSR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "66. Shindig for the cast and crew after filming is done ... with a hint to entering this answer and three others in the grid"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cloak that is folded or wrapped around a person
  • Similar words include: enwrap, twine, wrapping
  • Opposite of: unwind, unwrap
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WRAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "67. –"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an organization to gain political power
  • Similar words include: political party, company
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARTY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "68. Boxing stats"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a knockout declared by the referee who judges one boxer unable to continue
  • Similar words include: TKO, technical knockout
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TKOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "69. Jazz singer Sylvia"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. ___ Millan, celebrity dog trainer 5
2D 2. Handy 5
3D 3. High-def flat screen, for short 5
4D 4. "Ay, ___ the rub" 6
5D 5. Broth that might come from a dissolved cube 8
6D 6. Magnetite and bauxite 4
7D 7. Whole that's greater than the sum of its parts, from the German 7
8D 8. Barfly 3
9D 9. Spotted African sprinters 8
10D 10. Car's honker 4
11D 11. Longtime Yankee slugger, familiarly 4
12D 12. Earned 4
13D 13. Member of a jury 4
14D 18. Ke Huy ___, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" actor 4
15D 21. Boss, in Britain 3
16D 24. Major Iraqi port city 5
17D 27. Adversary 3
18D 28. Quiet period 4
19D 29. Scandinavian capital 4
20D 30. Toward sunset 4
21D 31. Mop, as the deck 4
22D 32. Polynesian brew 4
23D 33. Smooth out, as a wrinkled shirt 4
24D 35. Talent broker 5
25D 38. Mediocre, in modern slang 3
26D 39. "'Tis entirely likely" 8
27D 41. Those going along with others' unhealthy habits 8
28D 44. Item worn with a hazmat suit 7
29D 47. Negative connector 3
30D 49. "Curses!" 4
31D 50. Fibrous connecting tissues 6
32D 53. Second-largest city in Northern Ireland 5
33D 54. "Take me ___" 5
34D 55. Bounds 5
35D 56. Substitute 4
36D 57. Ceremonial Maori dance 4
37D 58. Done 4
38D 59. Mark left by a whip 4
39D 61. "Should that be true ..." 4
40D 63. Word before "one's losses" or "both ways" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. ___ Millan, celebrity dog trainer"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Handy"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that being of use or service
  • Similar words include: useful
  • Opposite of: useless
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UTILE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. High-def flat screen, for short"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. "Ay, ___ the rub""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a location other than here; that place
  • Similar words include: there
  • Opposite of: here
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THERES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Broth that might come from a dissolved cube"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear seasoned broth
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOUILLON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Magnetite and bauxite"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mineral that contains metal that is valuable enough to be mined
  • Similar words include: ore
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Whole that's greater than the sum of its parts, from the German"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GESTALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Barfly"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chronic drinker
  • Similar words include: drunk, wino, rummy
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Spotted African sprinters"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long-legged spotted cat of africa and southwestern asia having nonretractile claws; the swiftest mammal; can be trained to run down game
  • Similar words include: chetah, cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHEETAHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Car's honker"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Longtime Yankee slugger, familiarly"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Earned"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that give certain properties to something
  • Similar words include: progress to, create, cause
  • Opposite of: unmake, unmade
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Member of a jury"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who is of equal standing with another in a group
  • Similar words include: match, compeer, equal
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Ke Huy ___, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" actor"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Boss, in Britain"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Major Iraqi port city"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the second largest city in iraq; an oil port in southern iraq
  • Similar words include: Basia
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Adversary"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
  • Similar words include: foeman, opposition, enemy
  • Opposite of: friend
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Quiet period"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a pause during which things are calm or activities are diminished
  • Similar words include: quiet, calm down, still
  • Opposite of: agitate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LULL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Scandinavian capital"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the capital and largest city of norway; the country's main port; located at the head of a fjord on norway's southern coast
  • Similar words include: capital of Norway, Christiania
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OSLO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Toward sunset"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the countries of (originally) europe and (now including) north america and south america
  • Similar words include: Occident, western United States, Rebecca West
  • Opposite of: east
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Mop, as the deck"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that implement consisting of a small piece of cotton that is used to apply medication or cleanse a wound or obtain a specimen of a secretion
  • Similar words include: mop, dab, swob
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Polynesian brew"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an alcoholic drink made from the aromatic roots of the kava shrub
  • Similar words include: kavakava
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Smooth out, as a wrinkled shirt"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood
  • Similar words include: cast-iron, Fe, atomic number 26
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Talent broker"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect
  • Similar words include: broker, federal agent, factor
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Mediocre, in modern slang"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that used in combination to denote the middle
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. "'Tis entirely likely""

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Those going along with others' unhealthy habits"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Item worn with a hazmat suit"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protective mask with a filter; protects the face and lungs against poisonous gases
  • Similar words include: gas helmet, respirator
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GASMASK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "47. Negative connector"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "49. "Curses!""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "50. Fibrous connecting tissues"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment
  • Similar words include: tendon, brawniness, muscularity
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINEWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "53. Second-largest city in Northern Ireland"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "54. "Take me ___""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "55. Bounds"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
  • Similar words include: jump, jump off, bound
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "56. Substitute"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an equal exchange
  • Similar words include: switch, barter, swop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "57. Ceremonial Maori dance"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. Done"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

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: concluded, complete, ended
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Mark left by a whip"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions
  • Similar words include: flog, weal, strap
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WELT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "61. "Should that be true ...""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "63. Word before "one's losses" or "both ways""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a share of the profits
  • Similar words include: mown, excision, cold shoulder
  • Opposite of: uncut, untrimmed
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUT

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

36 Across Clues
40 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: October 13, 2026 at 10:49 AM

Friday, October 9, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers October 09, 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. Mensches 9
2A 10. "Super Dry" brewer 5
3A 15. Visual aid with a three-dimensional aspect 9
4A 16. Persona non grata 5
5A 17. By an even stronger argument, at law 9
6A 18. Stars to gaze up at 5
7A 19. Not mad 4
8A 20. Squishy projectile 8
9A 22. Cackling carnivores 6
10A 25. World's third-largest river by discharge, after the Amazon and the Congo 7
11A 27. Miserly sorts, informally 8
12A 30. Rift 3
13A 31. Like a certain artery 8
14A 32. Mango leftovers 4
15A 33. The astronomer Tycho Brahe, for one 4
16A 34. Org. concerned with screenings 3
17A 35. Wine leftovers 4
18A 36. ___ Kar-wai, acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker behind 1994's "Chungking Express" 4
19A 37. Hounds that can run up to 35 m.p.h. 8
20A 39. It's mine, all mine! 3
21A 40. NPR program since 1987 8
22A 41. Two aces, say 7
23A 43. Kind of roll 6
24A 47. Comfortable 8
25A 50. "Do I ___ to eat a peach?": T.S. Eliot 4
26A 51. Record of the year? 5
27A 52. Drawing on another's life 9
28A 55. Handle 5
29A 56. Much-anticipated rivalry game in soccer's La Liga 9
30A 57. Hidden element of FedEx's logo 5
31A 58. Extremely difficult and ultimately futile 9

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Mensches"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "10. "Super Dry" brewer"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "15. Visual aid with a three-dimensional aspect"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "16. Persona non grata"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person afflicted with leprosy
  • Similar words include: lazar
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEPER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "17. By an even stronger argument, at law"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "18. Stars to gaze up at"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a material effigy that is worshipped
  • Similar words include: matinee idol, perfection, idol
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDOLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "19. Not mad"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mentally healthy; free from mental disorder
  • Similar words include: reasonable
  • Opposite of: insane
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. Squishy projectile"

8 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "22. Cackling carnivores"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that doglike nocturnal mammal of africa and southern asia that feeds chiefly on carrion
  • Similar words include: hyena, hyaena
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HYENAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "25. World's third-largest river by discharge, after the Amazon and the Congo"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a south american river 1,500 miles long; flows into the south atlantic
  • Similar words include: Orinoco River
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORINOCO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "27. Miserly sorts, informally"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a selfish person who is unwilling to give or spend
  • Similar words include: niggard, scrooge, churl
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCROOGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "30. Rift"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a conspicuous disparity or difference as between two figures
  • Similar words include: spread, break, col
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "31. Like a certain artery"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery by a blood clot (thrombus)
  • Similar words include: coronary thrombosis
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CORONARY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "32. Mango leftovers"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sizeable hole (usually in the ground)
  • Similar words include: quarry, cavity, pit
  • Opposite of: Heaven
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PITS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "33. The astronomer Tycho Brahe, for one"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of denmark
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Org. concerned with screenings"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Wine leftovers"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sediment from fermentation of an alcoholic beverage
  • Similar words include: Spike Lee, Gypsy Rose Lee, Henry Lee
  • Opposite of: windward
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. ___ Kar-wai, acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker behind 1994's "Chungking Express""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Hounds that can run up to 35 m.p.h."

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small slender dog of greyhound type developed in england
  • Similar words include: whippet
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHIPPETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "39. It's mine, all mine!"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "40. NPR program since 1987"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "41. Two aces, say"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Kind of roll"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the title of the holy roman emperors or the emperors of austria or of germany until 1918
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAISER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "47. Comfortable"

8 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "50. "Do I ___ to eat a peach?": T.S. Eliot"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy
  • Similar words include: defy, presume, daring
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "51. Record of the year?"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "52. Drawing on another's life"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that relating to or caused by parasites
  • Similar words include: parasitical, bloodsucking, epenthetic
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARASITIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "55. Handle"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "56. Much-anticipated rivalry game in soccer's La Liga"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Hidden element of FedEx's logo"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mark to indicate a direction or relation
  • Similar words include: pointer
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARROW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. Extremely difficult and ultimately futile"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of or relating to sisyphus
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SISYPHEAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Hit the hay hard 5
2D 2. Morgan ___, sorceress in King Arthur stories 5
3D 3. Not having company 5
4D 4. What Odysseus' crew waxed on about? 9
5D 5. Mahjong grouping 3
6D 6. Org. concerned with screenings 3
7D 7. "Really?!" 4
8D 8. Zero out, in a way 4
9D 9. Device geared to draw rotationally symmetrical shapes 10
10D 10. Accounts for checking? 6
11D 11. Compact, maybe 5
12D 12. "My mistake" 9
13D 13. Some Navy aircraft during W.W. II 8
14D 14. Org. requiring crypto disclosures beginning in 2025 3
15D 21. Glenn who co-founded the Eagles 4
16D 23. A lot of lot 4
17D 24. Broadway show inits. 3
18D 26. Psy-___ 3
19D 28. Near failure, colloquially 10
20D 29. Fertile place 5
21D 31. Swiss Army knife component 9
22D 32. Aid for someone studying a culture 9
23D 33. One who regularly takes a best friend out? 8
24D 35. Princess who says "Governor Tarkin! I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board" 4
25D 36. Like some noodles and martinis 3
26D 37. Habeas corpus, e.g. 4
27D 38. Cricket's Men in Green, on scoreboards 3
28D 40. Dormant 6
29D 42. Student of Socrates 5
30D 44. "GymnopΓ©dies" composer 5
31D 45. Jong who wrote "Fear of Flying" 5
32D 46. Scouting trip 5
33D 48. Artist with an absurdist humor book all about his mustache 4
34D 49. Sauron's soldiers in "The Lord of the Rings" 4
35D 51. ___ team 3
36D 53. Gymnast Raisman 3
37D 54. Enervate 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Hit the hay hard"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loud resonant repeating noise
  • Similar words include: collapse, doss down, ram
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Morgan ___, sorceress in King Arthur stories"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Not having company"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that isolated from others
  • Similar words include: exclusively, lonely, solitary
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. What Odysseus' crew waxed on about?"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Mahjong grouping"

3 letters πŸ’­ 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: limit, go under, determine
  • Opposite of: rise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Org. concerned with screenings"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. "Really?!""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Zero out, in a way"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adjustment made for the weight of the packaging in order to determine the net weight of the goods
  • Similar words include: darnel, bearded darnel, Lolium temulentum
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Device geared to draw rotationally symmetrical shapes"

10 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a measuring instrument for recording the depth and rapidity of breathing movements
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPIROGRAPH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Accounts for checking?"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (law) a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question
  • Similar words include: self-justification, alibi, excuse
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALIBIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Compact, maybe"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a car that is closed and that has front and rear seats and two or four doors
  • Similar words include: sedan chair, saloon
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEDAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "My mistake""

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an expression of regret at having caused trouble for someone
  • Similar words include: apology, excuse, apologia
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APOLOGIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Some Navy aircraft during W.W. II"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. Org. requiring crypto disclosures beginning in 2025"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the bureau of the treasury department responsible for tax collections
  • Similar words include: Internal Revenue Service
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Glenn who co-founded the Eagles"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (norse mythology) god of earth's fertility and peace and prosperity; son of njorth and brother of freya; originally of the vanir; later with the aesir
  • Similar words include: Freyr
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FREY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. A lot of lot"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Broadway show inits."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Psy-___"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (roman mythology) goddess of abundance and fertility; wife of saturn; counterpart of greek rhea and cybele of ancient asia minor
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Near failure, colloquially"

10 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. Fertile place"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Swiss Army knife component"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Aid for someone studying a culture"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. One who regularly takes a best friend out?"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Princess who says "Governor Tarkin! I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "36. Like some noodles and martinis"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wetness caused by water
  • Similar words include: besotted, pie-eyed, soaked
  • Opposite of: dry
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "37. Habeas corpus, e.g."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer
  • Similar words include: judicial writ
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WRIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. Cricket's Men in Green, on scoreboards"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "40. Dormant"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cultivated land that is not seeded for one or more growing seasons
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FALLOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "42. Student of Socrates"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that ancient athenian philosopher; pupil of socrates; teacher of aristotle (428-347 bc)
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLATO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "44. "GymnopΓ©dies" composer"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that french composer noted for his experimentalism and rejection of romanticism (1866-1925)
  • Similar words include: Erik Satie, Erik Alfred Leslie Satie
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SATIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "45. Jong who wrote "Fear of Flying""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any plant of the genus erica
  • Similar words include: true heath
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERICA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "46. Scouting trip"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "48. Artist with an absurdist humor book all about his mustache"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that surrealist spanish painter (1904-1989)
  • Similar words include: Salvador Dali
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DALI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "49. Sauron's soldiers in "The Lord of the Rings""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "51. ___ team"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "53. Gymnast Raisman"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "54. Enervate"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant
  • Similar words include: muggins, run down, tire
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAP

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

31 Across Clues
37 Down Clues
68 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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Last updated: October 09, 2026 at 10:45 AM