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Thursday, August 20, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 20, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Sound like heaven 4
2A 5. Game of observation for travel 6
3A 11. Ad free 3
4A 14. Brief in pants 4
5A 15. Correct thoroughly 6
6A 16. Bad feel 3
7A 17. Try to place connoisseurs? 11
8A 19. Cells in compound 3
9A 20. Checks with style 5
10A 21. To cop 3
11A 22. Competition, for starters 5
12A 24. York ___ 5
13A 26. Place recording 6
14A 27. Signals over game 5
15A 29. Maturity approaching 5
16A 31. Crows to relatives 6
17A 32. Free booze 3
18A 33. Confidentiality of letters? 4
19A 37. "Done well" 5
20A 38. Short for "info flight" 3
21A 39. Sponge bath 5
22A 40. Nothing doing 4
23A 41. Say "minus C" 3
24A 42. Set off 6
25A 43. Practice Japanese 5
26A 45. Equal roughly 5
27A 46. Into light 6
28A 49. Nags about noise? 5
29A 51. Land of Spot 5
30A 52. On-off signs 3
31A 53. Lines some over draw 5
32A 57. For repentance some feel 3
33A 58. Details insignificant contests 11
34A 61. Spending limits it 3
35A 62. Forum discussion, popular once 6
36A 63. Cut short 4
37A 64. Rock-___ 3
38A 65. Out with ate, ate, ate 6
39A 66. Website gift custom 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Sound like heaven"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked with the fingers
  • Similar words include: dwell, mouth organ, mouth harp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Ad free"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Brief in pants"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Correct thoroughly"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Bad feel"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Cells in compound"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Checks with style"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. To cop"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Competition, for starters"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. York ___"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Place recording"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Signals over game"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Maturity approaching"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Crows to relatives"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Free booze"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "33. Confidentiality of letters?"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. "Done well""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Sponge bath"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Nothing doing"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "42. Set off"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "43. Practice Japanese"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. Equal roughly"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Into light"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "49. Nags about noise?"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Land of Spot"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "52. On-off signs"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "53. Lines some over draw"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "57. For repentance some feel"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "58. Details insignificant contests"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "61. Spending limits it"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "63. Cut short"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "64. Rock-___"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "66. Website gift custom"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

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

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. URL starter"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Civil rights icon Parks"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

12 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

15 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Loads"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Whittled (down)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Biblical mount"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. "No idea""

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

12 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium with neutrons
  • Similar words include: atomic number 99, E, Es
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Firm"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Like many cricket fields"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a run that is the result of the batter's performance
  • Similar words include: run batted in
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RBI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Some distance away"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Declare"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. Goes nuts for"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Around"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Garden-variety"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Lauder of cosmetics"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. Designer Cassini"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Letter after chi"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

Begin with fill-in-the-blank clues and short 3-4 letter words. These are your foundation.

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

Let intersecting letters guide you. One correct answer unlocks several others.

Build Vocabulary

Common crossword words repeat. Learning them speeds up future solving.

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers April 21, 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. Surrenders 6
2A 7. Wise thinker 4
3A 11. Form of poetry Pablo Neruda used to praise socks, onions and salt 3
4A 14. Realm of the Aztecs or Incas 6
5A 15. Do some farmwork 4
6A 16. ___ de plume 3
7A 17. Mentor from the beyond 11
8A 19. Whitney who invented the cotton gin 3
9A 20. Soak up 6
10A 21. "___ have to do" 4
11A 22. Grifters' schemes 4
12A 25. Major charity whose recipients include the Red Cross and Salvation Army 9
13A 28. Lexington or Madison in N.Y.C.: Abbr. 3
14A 29. Mo. with Aries and Taurus signs 3
15A 31. Soon-to-be graduates 7
16A 32. Offering from an entrepreneurial child's stand 8
17A 35. Song and dance 3
18A 36. Wild West way of settling disputes 15
19A 41. Broadway's ___-Manuel Miranda 3
20A 42. In a gloomy way 8
21A 43. Starbucks alternatives from the Golden Arches 7
22A 47. B&B 3
23A 48. Bambi's mother, for one 3
24A 49. 1972 country hit for Tanya Tucker 9
25A 51. Reptiles on papyrus 4
26A 52. Ballet bend 4
27A 53. Puts pen to paper 6
28A 56. "But Daddy I Love ___" (Taylor Swift song) 3
29A 57. Early advantage ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across 11
30A 62. "Blueprint" for life 3
31A 63. Falsehoods 4
32A 64. Chemical "twin" 6
33A 65. "On the Basis of ___" (Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic) 3
34A 66. Circular tent 4
35A 67. Words often accompanying a present 6

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Surrenders"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "7. Wise thinker"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
  • Similar words include: salvia, sage-green
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Form of poetry Pablo Neruda used to praise socks, onions and salt"

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!

4A: "14. Realm of the Aztecs or Incas"

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: imperium, conglomerate
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMPIRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Do some farmwork"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a farm tool having one or more heavy blades to break the soil and cut a furrow prior to sowing
  • Similar words include: plough, treat, deal
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. ___ de plume"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Mentor from the beyond"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Whitney who invented the cotton gin"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Soak up"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that become imbued
  • Similar words include: take over, ingest, draw
  • Opposite of: emit
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABSORB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. "___ have to do""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Grifters' schemes"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an argument opposed to a proposal
  • Similar words include: flimflam, swindle, nobble
  • Opposite of: pro
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Major charity whose recipients include the Red Cross and Salvation Army"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "28. Lexington or Madison in N.Y.C.: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Mo. with Aries and Taurus signs"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the month following march and preceding may
  • Similar words include: April
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Soon-to-be graduates"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an undergraduate student during the year preceding graduation
  • Similar words include: senior, elder
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENIORS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Offering from an entrepreneurial child's stand"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sweetened beverage of diluted lemon juice
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEMONADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Song and dance"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. Wild West way of settling disputes"

15 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Broadway's ___-Manuel Miranda"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states sculptor and architect whose public works include the memorial to veterans of the vietnam war in washington (born in 1959)
  • Similar words include: Maya Lin
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. In a gloomy way"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in a morose manner
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOROSELY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Starbucks alternatives from the Golden Arches"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "47. B&B"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "48. Bambi's mother, for one"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the federal department responsible for maintaining a national energy policy of the united states; created in 1977
  • Similar words include: Energy, Energy Department, Department of Energy
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "49. 1972 country hit for Tanya Tucker"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "51. Reptiles on papyrus"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of southern europe; similar to but smaller than the adder
  • Similar words include: Egyptian cobra, Vipera aspis, asp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "52. Ballet bend"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "53. Puts pen to paper"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that produce a literary work
  • Similar words include: compose, pen, save
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WRITES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "56. "But Daddy I Love ___" (Taylor Swift song)"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "57. Early advantage ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across"

11 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "62. "Blueprint" for life"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information
  • Similar words include: desoxyribonucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "63. Falsehoods"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
  • Similar words include: rest, lie, prevarication
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "64. Chemical "twin""

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a compound that exists in forms having different arrangements of atoms but the same molecular weight
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISOMER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "65. "On the Basis of ___" (Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic)"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that activities associated with sexual intercourse
  • Similar words include: sexual practice, sexual urge, turn on
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "66. Circular tent"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a circular domed dwelling that is portable and self-supporting; originally used by nomadic mongol and turkic people of central asia but now used as inexpensive alternative or temporary housing
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YURT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "67. Words often accompanying a present"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Answer equivalent to "I do" 3
2D 2. Mischievous devil 3
3D 3. Prefix with center 3
4D 4. Coins spent in Turkey 5
5D 5. Tiny drop 4
6D 6. Tennis match units 4
7D 7. Snub 5
8D 8. They may crumble under cross-examination 6
9D 9. Zeus or Odin 3
10D 10. Female form of the animal that outnumbers humans in Iceland 3
11D 11. Boxing combo 6
12D 12. Big name in rental cars 6
13D 13. ___ List (PAC for Democratic female candidates) 6
14D 18. Haitian currency unit 6
15D 21. Not the brightest bulbs, so to speak 6
16D 22. Bovine baby 4
17D 23. ___ the moon 4
18D 24. Captain in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" 4
19D 26. Steeping container 6
20D 27. Finishes with 6
21D 29. Left-wing protest group 6
22D 30. Tormented 6
23D 33. Like "The Tonight Show" and "Saturday Night Live" 6
24D 34. Hesitation sound across the pond 3
25D 37. Enter the chat, so to speak 6
26D 38. Some military hazards, for short 4
27D 39. Hoofbeat 4
28D 40. Visually sizes up 4
29D 43. Dual degrees for physicians 6
30D 44. ___ Dion, the "Queen of Power Ballads" 6
31D 45. Apex 6
32D 46. Literary friend of Finn 6
33D 50. Body part that's flicked 5
34D 51. Businessman John Jacob ___ 5
35D 54. "Almost time for the weekend!" 4
36D 55. Canadian gas brand 4
37D 57. Cool, in '90s slang 3
38D 58. Common Chinese surname 3
39D 59. Funny Schumer or Poehler 3
40D 60. ___ Speedwagon 3
41D 61. "___ dat" (slangy agreement) 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Answer equivalent to "I do""

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

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!

2D: "2. Mischievous devil"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous
  • Similar words include: brownie, scamp, scallywag
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Prefix with center"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a self-report personality inventory based on hans eysenck's factor analysis of personality which assumes three basic factors (the two most important being extraversion to introversion and neuroticism)
  • Similar words include: Eysenck Personality Inventory
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Coins spent in Turkey"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic unit of money on malta; equal to 100 cents
  • Similar words include: Turkish lira, lira, Italian lira
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIRAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Tiny drop"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small indefinite quantity (especially of a liquid); ; ; ; --kipling
  • Similar words include: driblet, drop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRIB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Tennis match units"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Snub"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that reject with contempt
  • Similar words include: reject, pooh-pooh, freeze off
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPURN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. They may crumble under cross-examination"

6 letters 💭 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!

9D: "9. Zeus or Odin"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

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, deity, immortal
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Female form of the animal that outnumbers humans in Iceland"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a people living in southern benin and togo and southeastern ghana
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EWE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Boxing combo"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Big name in rental cars"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic monetary unit in many countries; equal to 100 cents
  • Similar words include: dollar bill, dollar sign, buck
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOLLAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. ___ List (PAC for Democratic female candidates)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Haitian currency unit"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic unit of money in haiti
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOURDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Not the brightest bulbs, so to speak"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person of subnormal intelligence
  • Similar words include: cretin, idiot, retard
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDIOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "22. Bovine baby"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "23. ___ the moon"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "24. Captain in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea""

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Steeping container"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Finishes with"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. Left-wing protest group"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "30. Tormented"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause bodily suffering to and make sick or indisposed
  • Similar words include: ail, pain, trouble
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAINED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Like "The Tonight Show" and "Saturday Night Live""

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Hesitation sound across the pond"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. Enter the chat, so to speak"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "38. Some military hazards, for short"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an explosive device that is improvised
  • Similar words include: I.E.D., IED, improvised explosive device
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IEDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "39. Hoofbeat"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound of a horse's hoofs hitting on a hard surface
  • Similar words include: clump, clunk, clopping
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "40. Visually sizes up"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that opinion or judgment
  • Similar words include: middle, eye, center
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EYES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "43. Dual degrees for physicians"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "44. ___ Dion, the "Queen of Power Ballads""

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "45. Apex"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the highest point of anything conceived of as growing or developing or unfolding
  • Similar words include: orgasm, flood tide, culmination
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLIMAX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "46. Literary friend of Finn"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one who is employed to saw wood
  • Similar words include: sawyer beetle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAWYER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Body part that's flicked"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a joint between the distal end of the radius and the proximal row of carpal bones
  • Similar words include: radiocarpal joint, wrist joint, articulatio radiocarpea
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WRIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "51. Businessman John Jacob ___"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that british politician (born in the united states) who was the first woman to sit in the british house of commons (1879-1964)
  • Similar words include: John Jacob Astor, Viscountess Astor, Nancy Witcher Astor
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASTOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. "Almost time for the weekend!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Canadian gas brand"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "57. Cool, in '90s slang"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "58. Common Chinese surname"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "59. Funny Schumer or Poehler"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "60. ___ Speedwagon"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "61. "___ dat" (slangy agreement)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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Today's Puzzle Stats

35 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
76 Total Clues

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Last updated: April 21, 2026 at 05:39 AM