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

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 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. Uber alternative 4
2A 5. The class of '26, at the beginning of '26 3
3A 8. Hosp. triage specialists 6
4A 14. One acting on impulse? 4
5A 15. Wasabi-coated tidbit, maybe 3
6A 16. Pittsburgh Pirates mascot 6
7A 17. *Peers 8
8A 19. Order to relax 6
9A 20. Group of reps 3
10A 21. Back-comb, in a way 5
11A 23. ___ mater 4
12A 24. *Number of years between Summer Olympics 12
13A 27. Brews 6
14A 30. Heated competition? 4
15A 31. Kilauea output 4
16A 32. Some porcelain pieces 5
17A 34. Shiba ___ (dog breed) 3
18A 37. *Number of Supreme Court justices 15
19A 41. Ethane or methane 3
20A 42. Belittle 5
21A 43. Conscious of systemic societal problems 4
22A 44. Big inits. in frozen desserts 4
23A 45. They're adjusted when truing a bicycle wheel 6
24A 47. *Guns N' Roses guitarist 12
25A 52. Beauty supply chain 4
26A 53. "Swell!" 5
27A 54. Under the weather 3
28A 57. Jackal-headed Egyptian deity 6
29A 60. What you'd need to press to make the starred clues and their answers match 8
30A 62. It was discovered by the Curies 6
31A 63. Kind of line at the beach 3
32A 64. Try a new course, say 4
33A 65. TikTok phenomena 6
34A 66. Guileful 3
35A 67. Drink with junmai and nigori variants 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Uber alternative"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money
  • Similar words include: cab, taxicab, hack
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAXI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. The class of '26, at the beginning of '26"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element of the alkali metal group; turns yellow in air; occurs in celestite and strontianite
  • Similar words include: atomic number 38, strontium, Sr
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "8. Hosp. triage specialists"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. One acting on impulse?"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long nerve fiber that conducts away from the cell body of the neuron
  • Similar words include: axone
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AXON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Wasabi-coated tidbit, maybe"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Pittsburgh Pirates mascot"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that usually brightly colored zygodactyl tropical birds with short hooked beaks and the ability to mimic sounds
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARROT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. *Peers"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Order to relax"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Group of reps"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Back-comb, in a way"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity)
  • Similar words include: razz, coquette, vamper
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. ___ mater"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. *Number of years between Summer Olympics"

12 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Brews"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a steep place (as on a hill)
  • Similar words include: steep, engross, infuse
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEEPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "30. Heated competition?"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a meeting at which a number of athletic contests are held
  • Similar words include: play, contact, get together
  • Opposite of: diverge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Kilauea output"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rock that in its molten form (as magma) issues from volcanos; lava is what magma is called when it reaches the surface
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Some porcelain pieces"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern asia; the most populous country in the world
  • Similar words include: Red China, Nationalist China, mainland China
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHINA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Shiba ___ (dog breed)"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. *Number of Supreme Court justices"

15 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Ethane or methane"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by: relatively low density and viscosity; relatively great expansion and contraction with changes in pressure and temperature; the ability to diffuse readily; and the spontaneous tendency to become distributed uniformly throughout any container
  • Similar words include: boast, gun, accelerator pedal
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. Belittle"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
  • Similar words include: humiliate, mortify, humble
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Conscious of systemic societal problems"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be awake, be alert, be there
  • Similar words include: stir up, awake, wake
  • Opposite of: fall asleep, cause to sleep
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WOKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "44. Big inits. in frozen desserts"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "45. They're adjusted when truing a bicycle wheel"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
  • Similar words include: wheel spoke, spoke, radius
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPOKES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "47. *Guns N' Roses guitarist"

12 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "52. Beauty supply chain"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "53. "Swell!""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "54. Under the weather"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
  • Similar words include: badly, complaint, sick
  • Opposite of: well
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "57. Jackal-headed Egyptian deity"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that egyptian god of tombs and ruler of the underworld; usually depicted as a man with the head of a jackal
  • Similar words include: Anpu
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANUBIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "60. What you'd need to press to make the starred clues and their answers match"

8 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "62. It was discovered by the Curies"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores
  • Similar words include: Ra, atomic number 88
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RADIUM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "63. Kind of line at the beach"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "64. Try a new course, say"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that turn sharply; change direction abruptly
  • Similar words include: swerve, trend, slue
  • Opposite of: back
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VEER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "65. TikTok phenomena"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a general direction in which something tends to move
  • Similar words include: drift, veer, trend
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRENDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "66. Guileful"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by skill in deception
  • Similar words include: foxy, dodgy, knavish
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "67. Drink with junmai and nigori variants"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reason for wanting something done
  • Similar words include: rice beer, interest, saki
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Array behind the counter at a tavern 4
2D 2. Wheel assembly component 4
3D 3. Strike from a list 4
4D 4. Important contacts 3
5D 5. Many fast pitches 6
6D 6. Majestic 5
7D 7. Stark daughter played by Sophie Turner on "Game of Thrones" 5
8D 8. Fuel economy org. 3
9D 9. Tattletale 3
10D 10. Imagined while sleeping 6
11D 11. Toothbrush handle? 5
12D 12. Cranberry-tinged cocktail 5
13D 13. Criminally good deal 5
14D 18. "Quit it!" 4
15D 22. Its fur might trim a royal robe 6
16D 24. College faculty head 4
17D 25. Email status 4
18D 26. Opposite of "nah" 4
19D 27. Real grind 4
20D 28. Seville snack 4
21D 29. Holiday preceders 4
22D 32. Handout with a kids' menu 6
23D 33. Bulls and bucks 3
24D 34. Avoids injury, say 4
25D 35. Personification of victory 4
26D 36. Wields 4
27D 38. Formal accord 4
28D 39. Actress Jacobson of "Broad City" 4
29D 40. Furry "Star Wars" creature 4
30D 44. Container at an airport checkpoint, for short 6
31D 45. Smooth and glossy 6
32D 46. Seminar head, informally 4
33D 47. Ice cream purchase 5
34D 48. Forearm-related, in a way 5
35D 49. Practice piece 5
36D 50. Tree "houses" 5
37D 51. Palace, in Hindi 5
38D 54. Retail outlet with a store map at its entrance 4
39D 55. Garlic relative 4
40D 56. Strings of yore 4
41D 58. T-shaped birth control insert 3
42D 59. Texting inits. 3
43D 61. Fixtures at sports bars 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Array behind the counter at a tavern"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (military) signal to turn the lights out
  • Similar words include: beg, hydrant, tap
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Wheel assembly component"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shaft on which a wheel rotates
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AXLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Strike from a list"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Important contacts"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agency in the department of justice that enforces laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons to the united states
  • Similar words include: In, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Hoosier State
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Many fast pitches"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that plausible glib talk (especially useful to a salesperson)
  • Similar words include: patter, spiel, play
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPIELS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Majestic"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
  • Similar words include: royal, imperial, majestic
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REGAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Stark daughter played by Sophie Turner on "Game of Thrones""

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Fuel economy org."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment
  • Similar words include: Environmental Protection Agency
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Tattletale"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various long-tailed rodents similar to but larger than a mouse
  • Similar words include: dirty dog, lowlife, git
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Imagined while sleeping"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have a daydream; indulge in a fantasy
  • Similar words include: woolgather, dream, stargaze
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DREAMT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Toothbrush handle?"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Cranberry-tinged cocktail"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Criminally good deal"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an advantageous purchase
  • Similar words include: slip, bargain, buy
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. "Quit it!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the event of something ending
  • Similar words include: cease, stop consonant, period
  • Opposite of: begin, continuant consonant
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Its fur might trim a royal robe"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the expensive white fur of the ermine
  • Similar words include: shorttail weasel, Mustela erminea
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERMINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. College faculty head"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an administrator in charge of a division of a university or college
  • Similar words include: James Byron Dean, James Dean, doyen
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Email status"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that 100 senti equal 1 kroon in estonia
  • Similar words include: get off, charge, send off
  • Opposite of: unsent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Opposite of "nah""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not only so, but
  • Similar words include: yea
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Real grind"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that work doggedly or persistently
  • Similar words include: slug, pad, keep one's shoulder to the wheel
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Seville snack"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the thin fibrous bark of the paper mulberry and pipturus albidus
  • Similar words include: tapa bark, tappa bark, tappa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAPA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. Holiday preceders"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) adam's wife in judeo-christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; god created eve from adam's rib and placed adam and eve in the garden of eden
  • Similar words include: evening, eventide, even
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Handout with a kids' menu"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that writing implement consisting of a colored stick of composition wax used for writing and drawing
  • Similar words include: wax crayon
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRAYON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Bulls and bucks"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a very light colorless element that is one of the six inert gasses; the most difficult gas to liquefy; occurs in economically extractable amounts in certain natural gases (as those found in texas and kansas)
  • Similar words include: atomic number 2, helium, he
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Avoids injury, say"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "35. Personification of victory"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) winged goddess of victory; identified with roman victoria
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. Wields"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of using
  • Similar words include: habit, purpose, usage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. Formal accord"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
  • Similar words include: accord, treaty
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PACT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "39. Actress Jacobson of "Broad City""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "40. Furry "Star Wars" creature"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "44. Container at an airport checkpoint, for short"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "45. Smooth and glossy"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that having a smooth, gleaming surface reflecting light
  • Similar words include: silky, sleek, slick
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SATINY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "46. Seminar head, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who is a member of the faculty at a college or university
  • Similar words include: professor
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "47. Ice cream purchase"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a united states liquid unit equal to 32 fluid ounces; four quarts equal one gallon
  • Similar words include: dry quart
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: QUART

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "48. Forearm-related, in a way"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that relating to or near the ulna
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ULNAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "49. Practice piece"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETUDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "50. Tree "houses""

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
  • Similar words include: nestle, draw close, nest
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NESTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "51. Palace, in Hindi"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "54. Retail outlet with a store map at its entrance"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "55. Garlic relative"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that plant having a large slender white bulb and flat overlapping dark green leaves; used in cooking; believed derived from the wild allium ampeloprasum
  • Similar words include: Allium porrum, scallion
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEEK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "56. Strings of yore"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a harp used by ancient greeks for accompaniment
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LYRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "58. T-shaped birth control insert"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that contraceptive device consisting of a piece of bent plastic or metal that is inserted through the vagina into the uterus
  • Similar words include: intrauterine device
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IUD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "59. Texting inits."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a grey lustrous metallic element of the rare earth group; is used in special alloys; occurs in monazite and bastnasite
  • Similar words include: Sm, samarium, Master of Science
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "61. Fixtures at sports bars"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that broadcasting visual images of stationary or moving objects; ; - ernie kovacs
  • Similar words include: telly, television set, TV
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TVS

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

35 Across Clues
43 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

Looking for more puzzle solutions? Check out our comprehensive archive of NYT crossword hints and answers. We update daily with expert analysis and solving strategies.

Disclaimer: Crossword clues and grid © The New York Times. This site provides hints and educational content for puzzle enthusiasts. XWordHint is not affiliated with The New York Times.

Last updated: May 13, 2026 at 06:37 AM

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers February 10, 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. Pep in one's step 3
2A 4. Model airplane material 5
3A 9. ___ de los Muertos 3
4A 12. Picture it! 5
5A 15. Become less intense 5
6A 16. "Holiday ___" (1942 film with Irving Berlin songs) 3
7A 17. Certain casino regular 11
8A 19. Vessel that might hold dye 3
9A 20. Online commerce 5
10A 21. First Oscar winner to be born in the 21st century (for Best Original Song) 6
11A 23. $$$ execs 4
12A 25. Psychic who examines lifelines and heart lines 10
13A 28. Leader of the Chipmunks, in an old novelty group 5
14A 30. "Lost" actor Daniel ___ Kim 3
15A 31. Art ___ (geometric architectural style) 4
16A 32. Viral dance of the 2010s 6
17A 34. 20-ounce Starbucks size 5
18A 37. "Toy Story 2" character who says "I'm packing you an extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes, just in case" 13
19A 41. Invites for a nightcap, say 5
20A 42. Prohibit from practicing law 6
21A 44. "Don't Tell ___" ("Cabaret" song) 4
22A 47. Partner of the C.D.C. and F.D.A. 3
23A 49. Sound sometimes written as Z's 5
24A 50. Device measuring audience approval 10
25A 54. Denisovich or Ilyich of Russian literature 4
26A 55. "You Pick Two" bakery chain 6
27A 56. Word after mountain or vocal 5
28A 58. QVC alternative 3
29A 59. "I could use some help here" ... or hint to 17-, 25-, 37- and 50-Across 11
30A 64. Squeak (out) 3
31A 65. One terminal on a battery 5
32A 66. Catholic university whose mascot is a lion, aptly 5
33A 67. Body part that may have a ring or a stud 3
34A 68. Program for expedited travel between the U.S. and Canada 5
35A 69. Section of a journey 3

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Pep in one's step"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a healthy capacity for vigorous activity
  • Similar words include: vitality, vigour, energy
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "4. Model airplane material"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that strong lightweight wood of the balsa tree used especially for floats
  • Similar words include: balsa wood, Ochroma lagopus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BALSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. ___ de los Muertos"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an intelligence agency of the united states in the department of defense; is responsible for providing intelligence in support of military planning and operations and weapons acquisition
  • Similar words include: Defense Intelligence Agency
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "12. Picture it!"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an iconic mental representation
  • Similar words include: see, epitome, effigy
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Become less intense"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make less active or intense
  • Similar words include: slake, let up, slack
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. "Holiday ___" (1942 film with Irving Berlin songs)"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Certain casino regular"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Vessel that might hold dye"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tax levied on the difference between a commodity's price before taxes and its cost of production
  • Similar words include: value-added tax, tub, ad valorem tax
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Online commerce"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. First Oscar winner to be born in the 21st century (for Best Original Song)"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. $$$ execs"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the corporate executive having financial authority to make appropriations and authorize expenditures for a firm
  • Similar words include: chief financial officer, CFO
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CFOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Psychic who examines lifelines and heart lines"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "28. Leader of the Chipmunks, in an old novelty group"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "30. "Lost" actor Daniel ___ Kim"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Art ___ (geometric architectural style)"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a style of design that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s; marked by stylized forms and geometric designs adapted to mass production
  • Similar words include: art deco
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DECO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Viral dance of the 2010s"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. 20-ounce Starbucks size"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. "Toy Story 2" character who says "I'm packing you an extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes, just in case""

13 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Invites for a nightcap, say"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. Prohibit from practicing law"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove from the bar; expel from the practice of law by official action
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DISBAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "44. "Don't Tell ___" ("Cabaret" song)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for a mother
  • Similar words include: ma, mummy, mammy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "47. Partner of the C.D.C. and F.D.A."

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agency in the department of health and human services whose mission is to employ science in the pursuit of knowledge to improve human health; is the principal biomedical research agency of the federal government
  • Similar words include: National Institutes of Health
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "49. Sound sometimes written as Z's"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the rattling noise produced when snoring
  • Similar words include: saw logs, snoring, saw wood
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "50. Device measuring audience approval"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "54. Denisovich or Ilyich of Russian literature"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "55. "You Pick Two" bakery chain"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "56. Word after mountain or vocal"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:
  • Similar words include: browse, chain of mountains, roll
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RANGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "58. QVC alternative"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "59. "I could use some help here" ... or hint to 17-, 25-, 37- and 50-Across"

11 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "64. Squeak (out)"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "65. One terminal on a battery"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a positively charged electrode by which electrons leave an electrical device
  • Opposite of: cathode
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "66. Catholic university whose mascot is a lion, aptly"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "67. Body part that may have a ring or a stud"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
  • Similar words include: auricle, capitulum, spike
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "68. Program for expedited travel between the U.S. and Canada"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the means of connection between things linked in series
  • Similar words include: link
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEXUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "69. Section of a journey"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
  • Similar words include: peg, wooden leg, stage
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. One who gets special treatment, for short 3
2D 2. "if u ask me ..." 3
3D 3. One might involve a drastic haircut and new clothes 8
4D 4. Song suitable for a slow dance 6
5D 5. Legal org. 3
6D 6. Set (down) 3
7D 7. Part of a cattle herd 5
8D 8. American Eagle subbrand 5
9D 9. Do the splits? 6
10D 10. "One moment!" 6
11D 11. Margaret Mead's subject, informally 6
12D 13. Regularly hits the gym, say 11
13D 14. Reputation or Lover, to a Swiftie 3
14D 18. One of three in the Domino's logo 3
15D 22. Occasion for some girl talk 11
16D 23. Common food shelf donation 3
17D 24. Flim-___ 4
18D 26. Pool from a volcanic eruption 7
19D 27. Cross paths 4
20D 29. California wine valley 4
21D 33. Goddess of daybreak 3
22D 35. Land of ___ (Genesis locale) 3
23D 36. Public radio's "___ American Life" 4
24D 38. Something to whistle 4
25D 39. First and foremost 8
26D 40. Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals 4
27D 43. Kylo ___, "Star Wars" antagonist 3
28D 44. John ___, longtime writer for The New Yorker 6
29D 45. State that's the subject of 44-Down's book "Coming Into the Country" 6
30D 46. Way of doing things 6
31D 48. Birkin bag maker 6
32D 51. "The Phantom of the Opera" instrument 5
33D 52. Only U.S. state with a monosyllabic name 5
34D 53. Emmy-nominated Issa 3
35D 57. Rapper Lil ___ X 3
36D 60. News website with a Latin name 3
37D 61. Email suffix once required to use Facebook 3
38D 62. Formerly named 3
39D 63. Snoopy or Scooby-Doo 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. One who gets special treatment, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an important or influential (and often overbearing) person
  • Similar words include: high-up, high muckamuck, panjandrum
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. "if u ask me ...""

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the united nations agency concerned with international maritime activities
  • Similar words include: International Maritime Organization
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. One might involve a drastic haircut and new clothes"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an overall beauty treatment (involving a person's hair style and cosmetics and clothing) intended to change or improve a person's appearance
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAKEOVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Song suitable for a slow dance"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
  • Similar words include: lay
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BALLAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Legal org."

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth; worn by arabs
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Set (down)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
  • Similar words include: put, repose, set
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Part of a cattle herd"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an indication of potential opportunity
  • Similar words include: channelize, channelise, hint
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. American Eagle subbrand"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the lofty nest of a bird of prey (such as a hawk or eagle)
  • Similar words include: eyry, eyrie, aery
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AERIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Do the splits?"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a serious disagreement between two groups of people (typically producing tension or hostility)
  • Similar words include: disunite, fraction, separate
  • Opposite of: unite, multiply
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIVIDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. "One moment!""

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Margaret Mead's subject, informally"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "13. Regularly hits the gym, say"

11 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "14. Reputation or Lover, to a Swiftie"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event
  • Similar words include: geological era, epoch, earned run average
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. One of three in the Domino's logo"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a disease of poultry
  • Similar words include: rack up, worst, hit
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Occasion for some girl talk"

11 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Common food shelf donation"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
  • Similar words include: john, send away, butt
  • Opposite of: hire
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Flim-___"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Pool from a volcanic eruption"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Cross paths"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a meeting at which a number of athletic contests are held
  • Similar words include: run across, see, fulfil
  • Opposite of: diverge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. California wine valley"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that plant with an elongated head of broad stalked leaves resembling celery; used as a vegetable in east asia
  • Similar words include: celery cabbage, pe-tsai, Brassica rapa pekinensis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAPA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "33. Goddess of daybreak"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) the winged goddess of the dawn in ancient mythology; daughter of hyperion; identified with roman aurora
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "35. Land of ___ (Genesis locale)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sign of assent or salutation or command
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. Public radio's "___ American Life""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Something to whistle"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
  • Similar words include: melodic line, melody, strain
  • Opposite of: untune
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUNE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "39. First and foremost"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "43. Kylo ___, "Star Wars" antagonist"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. John ___, longtime writer for The New Yorker"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. State that's the subject of 44-Down's book "Coming Into the Country""

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in northwestern north america; the 49th state admitted to the union
  • Similar words include: Last Frontier, AK
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALASKA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Way of doing things"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that how something is done or how it happens
  • Similar words include: mode, style, way
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MANNER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "48. Birkin bag maker"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) messenger and herald of the gods; god of commerce and cunning and invention and theft; identified with roman mercury
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HERMES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "51. "The Phantom of the Opera" instrument"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function
  • Similar words include: electronic organ, Hammond organ, pipe organ
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORGAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Only U.S. state with a monosyllabic name"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in new england
  • Similar words include: Pine Tree State, ME
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Emmy-nominated Issa"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "57. Rapper Lil ___ X"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group; occurs abundantly in natural compounds (especially in salt water); burns with a yellow flame and reacts violently in water; occurs in sea water and in the mineral halite (rock salt)
  • Similar words include: sodium, atomic number 11, Na
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "60. News website with a Latin name"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by the vibration of vocal folds modified by the resonance of the vocal tract
  • Similar words include: vocalization, vocalisation, vocalism
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VOX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "61. Email suffix once required to use Facebook"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "62. Formerly named"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (meaning literally `born') used to indicate the maiden or family name of a married woman
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "63. Snoopy or Scooby-Doo"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the genus canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds
  • Similar words include: cad, firedog, wiener
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOG

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Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

35 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
74 Total Clues

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Last updated: February 10, 2026 at 05:15 AM