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Monday, September 21, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 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. Where Mongolia is 4
2A 5. Scaredy-cat 4
3A 9. Leafs (through) 5
4A 14. Album for which Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize 4
5A 15. Berry at a smoothie shop 4
6A 16. Company behind the game Pong 5
7A 17. Mentally pooped 15
8A 20. 1960s service site, informally 3
9A 21. Common injury site for a basketball player, informally 3
10A 22. Thick, as plant growth 4
11A 23. Deliberately give instruction in a way that targets an exam 14
12A 28. Commercial that may come with a jingle 7
13A 29. Took a chair 3
14A 30. Eager 4
15A 31. Hair parter 4
16A 34. Continue a subscription 5
17A 38. Barely passing grade 3
18A 39. Decade of W.W. II ... or a homophonic hint to 17-, 23-, 50- and 57-Across 7
19A 41. Around 18, typically, for a high school graduate 3
20A 42. Sometimes-floral organic compound 5
21A 44. Draped Indian garment 4
22A 45. ___-X (computer command to cut text) 4
23A 46. Crosses (out) 3
24A 48. Conjures up, say 7
25A 50. "If I'm being honest ..." 14
26A 54. Cook, in a way, as ahi tuna 4
27A 55. Opposite of 'neath 3
28A 56. Fools' mo. 3
29A 57. "A fight requires more than one person" 15
30A 63. "I'm available to help" 5
31A 64. Modern note-taking aid 4
32A 65. Plant in a marsh 4
33A 66. Spanish babies 5
34A 67. What a paper airplane icon may indicate 4
35A 68. Thing in a grove 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Where Mongolia is"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to europe on the west to form eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Scaredy-cat"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who lacks confidence, is irresolute and wishy-washy
  • Similar words include: chicken, weakly interacting massive particle, crybaby
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WIMP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Leafs (through)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one side of one leaf (of a book or magazine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains
  • Similar words include: varlet, foliate, Thomas Nelson Page
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Album for which Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something of little value
  • Similar words include: darn, curse, infernal
  • Opposite of: bless
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAMN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Berry at a smoothie shop"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Company behind the game Pong"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Mentally pooped"

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. 1960s service site, informally"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Common injury site for a basketball player, informally"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Thick, as plant growth"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually
  • Similar words include: alky, boozer, alcoholic
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUSH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Deliberately give instruction in a way that targets an exam"

14 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "28. Commercial that may come with a jingle"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "29. Took a chair"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the sabbath by jews and some christians
  • Similar words include: Sabbatum, posture, pose
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "30. Eager"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `for') ardently or excessively desirous
  • Similar words include: zealous, esurient, greedy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Hair parter"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a flat device with narrow pointed teeth on one edge; disentangles or arranges hair
  • Similar words include: comb out, disentangle, ransack
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COMB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Continue a subscription"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that reestablish on a new, usually improved, basis or make new or like new
  • Similar words include: regenerate, reincarnate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RENEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "38. Barely passing grade"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "39. Decade of W.W. II ... or a homophonic hint to 17-, 23-, 50- and 57-Across"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the time of life between 40 and 50
  • Similar words include: 40, mid-forties, 1940s
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FORTIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Around 18, typically, for a high school graduate"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that how long something has existed
  • Similar words include: long time, maturate, geezerhood
  • Opposite of: rejuvenate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. Sometimes-floral organic compound"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that formed by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "44. Draped Indian garment"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dress worn primarily by hindu women; consists of several yards of light material that is draped around the body
  • Similar words include: saree
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SARI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. ___-X (computer command to cut text)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. Crosses (out)"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a colorless odorless inert gaseous element occurring in the earth's atmosphere in trace amounts
  • Similar words include: xenon, disco biscuit, cristal
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: XES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "48. Conjures up, say"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make or cause to be or to become
  • Similar words include: produce, create, make
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CREATES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "50. "If I'm being honest ...""

14 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "54. Cook, in a way, as ahi tuna"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make very hot and dry
  • Similar words include: blacken, singe, char
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "55. Opposite of 'neath"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "56. Fools' mo."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

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!

29A: "57. "A fight requires more than one person""

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "63. "I'm available to help""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "64. Modern note-taking aid"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "65. Plant in a marsh"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera arundo and phragmites
  • Similar words include: vibrating reed, John Reed, beating-reed instrument
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "66. Spanish babies"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "67. What a paper airplane icon may indicate"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause to go somewhere
  • Similar words include: air, transmit, send off
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "68. Thing in a grove"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
  • Similar words include: shoetree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, tree diagram
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Big letters in home security 3
2D 2. ___ Paulo, Brazil 3
3D 3. Comment that might follow "None for me, thanks" 9
4D 4. Relief for an upset stomach 7
5D 5. Simple two-player card game 3
6D 6. Drink cooler 3
7D 7. Angry with 5
8D 8. Throw from a mound 5
9D 9. Butter square 3
10D 10. Any Olympian 7
11D 11. First name of Julius Caesar 5
12D 12. Artist Max 5
13D 13. Worshiper in a turban 4
14D 18. Texter's qualifier 4
15D 19. Cries in a fΓΊtbol stadium 4
16D 23. Barter 5
17D 24. Roof overhangs 5
18D 25. It may have a hard or soft shell 4
19D 26. Things indicated by squiggly lines in cartoons 5
20D 27. Paves the way? 4
21D 32. N.Y.C. subway letters 3
22D 33. Hardwood whose bark is sometimes used as paper 5
23D 35. Leader of an 1831 revolt against slavery 9
24D 36. Spearfishing bird 5
25D 37. People of SW Britain 5
26D 39. Without charge 4
27D 40. The Emerald Isle 4
28D 43. Like skydiving or cliff-diving 7
29D 45. Dashboard or bumper 7
30D 47. Place to put a coin 4
31D 49. Coup d'___ 4
32D 50. Joke with 5
33D 51. Like some wine barrels 5
34D 52. ___ and Clark 5
35D 53. Familiar narrative device 5
36D 54. Leave dumbfounded 4
37D 58. French possessive 3
38D 59. Catch some rays 3
39D 60. Bizarre 3
40D 61. "Golly!" 3
41D 62. Poetic tribute 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Big letters in home security"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. ___ Paulo, Brazil"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Comment that might follow "None for me, thanks""

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Relief for an upset stomach"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agent that counteracts or neutralizes acidity (especially in the stomach)
  • Similar words include: alkalizer, gastric antacid, antiacid
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTACID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Simple two-player card game"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
  • Similar words include: warfare, state of war
  • Opposite of: make peace, peace
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Drink cooler"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Angry with"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Throw from a mound"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration
  • Similar words include: cant over, flip, cant
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PITCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Butter square"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a gentle blow
  • Similar words include: glib, rap, dab
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Any Olympian"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person trained to compete in sports
  • Similar words include: jock
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATHLETE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. First name of Julius Caesar"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that roman emperor who succeeded tiberius and whose uncontrolled passions resulted in manifest insanity; noted for his cruelty and tyranny; was assassinated (12-41)
  • Similar words include: Caligula, Gaius Caesar
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAIUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Artist Max"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that painter (born in germany, resident of france and the united states) who was a cofounder of dadaism; developed the technique of collage (1891-1976)
  • Similar words include: Max Ernst
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERNST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Worshiper in a turban"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adherent of sikhism
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIKH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Texter's qualifier"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Cries in a fΓΊtbol stadium"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Barter"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
  • Similar words include: trade in, switch, craft
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Roof overhangs"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the overhang at the lower edge of a roof
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EAVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. It may have a hard or soft shell"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of mexican descent
  • Similar words include: greaser, wetback
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TACO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Things indicated by squiggly lines in cartoons"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any property detected by the olfactory system
  • Similar words include: smell, olfactory property, aroma
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODORS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Paves the way?"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue
  • Similar words include: seaman, pitch, tar
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. N.Y.C. subway letters"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Hardwood whose bark is sometimes used as paper"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hard close-grained wood of any of various birch trees; used especially in furniture and interior finishes and plywood
  • Similar words include: birchen, birken, birch tree
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BIRCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Leader of an 1831 revolt against slavery"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Spearfishing bird"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various usually white herons having long plumes during breeding season
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGRET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. People of SW Britain"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or resident of wales
  • Similar words include: Cambrian, welch, Cymric
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WELSH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Without charge"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that people who are free
  • Similar words include: relinquish, gratis, liberate
  • Opposite of: confine, lodge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. The Emerald Isle"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic consisting of 26 of 32 counties comprising the island of ireland; achieved independence from the united kingdom in 1921
  • Similar words include: Republic of Ireland, Irish Republic, Ireland
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EIRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Like skydiving or cliff-diving"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the furthest or highest degree of something
  • Similar words include: utmost, extremum, extreme point
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXTREME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Dashboard or bumper"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "47. Place to put a coin"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a position in a grammatical linguistic construction in which a variety of alternative units are interchangeable
  • Similar words include: time slot, expansion slot, one-armed bandit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "49. Coup d'___"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. Joke with"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "51. Like some wine barrels"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that consisting of or made of wood of the oak tree
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAKEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. ___ and Clark"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states rock star singer and pianist (born in 1935)
  • Similar words include: Frederick Carleton Lewis, Carl Lewis, C. S. Lewis
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEWIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "53. Familiar narrative device"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
  • Similar words include: figure of speech, image, figure
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "54. Leave dumbfounded"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow
  • Similar words include: daze, stupefy, sandbag
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STUN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. French possessive"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium; occurs in several allotropic forms; a stable grey metallike allotrope conducts electricity better in the light than in the dark and is used in photocells; occurs in sulfide ores (as pyrite)
  • Similar words include: sulfur, reciprocal ohm, southward
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Catch some rays"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "60. Bizarre"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not divisible by two
  • Similar words include: uneven, unmatched, queer
  • Opposite of: even
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "61. "Golly!""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity; used to indicate the force to which a body is subjected when it is accelerated
  • Similar words include: g, g-force
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "62. Poetic tribute"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

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!

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
41 Down Clues
76 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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Last updated: September 21, 2026 at 09:08 AM

Sunday, May 31, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 31, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: 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. SacsayhuamΓ‘n fortress builders 5
2A 6. Literary forerunner of Captain Hook 4
3A 10. Many an Alpha Beta in "Revenge of the Nerds" 4
4A 14. Help-wanted letters 3
5A 17. Fermented vegan protein 6
6A 19. Wrestler/actor John 4
7A 20. Coin with 12 stars around the border 4
8A 21. Align 4
9A 22. Home of the legendary folk hero at 116-Across 11
10A 24. One involved with checks and balances 9
11A 26. Without 4
12A 27. Green spaces 8
13A 29. Hero of Arabian tales 7
14A 30. In the past 3
15A 31. ___ Mahal 3
16A 32. Expertise demonstrated by 116-Across in a fabled feat of precision 12
17A 34. Home Run ___ (annual M.L.B. event) 5
18A 36. D.O.J. agency 3
19A 39. Fuel-efficient Toyota 5
20A 40. Main ideas 5
21A 41. Athletic skill mastered by 116-Across 7
22A 44. W-9 fig. 3
23A 45. Banned substance, in sports lingo 3
24A 46. Diego Rivera project 5
25A 48. Apt name for a lawyer 3
26A 49. Laughed loudly 6
27A 52. N.C.A.A. hoops powerhouse 3
28A 53. Like the Statue of Liberty at night 5
29A 55. Beatle who sang "Yellow Submarine" 5
30A 57. Sailor's septet 4
31A 60. Go-getter's opposite 8
32A 62. Through 3
33A 63. "Drat!," in Dortmund 3
34A 65. "The Situation Room" airer 3
35A 66. Chirruping bird 7
36A 67. Pat down 5
37A 69. City sobriquet that might describe the target for 116-Across, as depicted in this puzzle 11
38A 71. Stuff in a puff 3
39A 72. She-ep? 3
40A 73. Home to the Burj Khalifa, in brief 3
41A 74. Appointments that may lead to better contacts 8
42A 76. Dampens 4
43A 78. "Whoa, ___!" 5
44A 80. Bel ___ cheese 5
45A 81. Instinctive 3
46A 82. Religious dissent 6
47A 84. $5 bill, slangily 3
48A 85. Actress Spacek 5
49A 87. Negative logic gate in electrical engineering 3
50A 88. Cartesian conclusion 3
51A 91. Composer of an overture dedicated to 116-Across 7
52A 93. Gets lost 5
53A 96. Came to a conclusion 5
54A 98. "Doctor ___" 3
55A 99. Start of an encrypted URL 5
56A 103. Streaker in the night sky ... or a punny description of 116-Across 12
57A 106. Acid 3
58A 108. Unprocessed, as data 3
59A 109. Inspiration for many seasonal festivals 7
60A 110. Oscar-winning 2019 film directed by Bong Joon Ho 8
61A 113. Smoke, perhaps 4
62A 114. What may begin at the end 9
63A 116. Legendary figure who's the subject of this puzzle 11
64A 118. Orchard selection 4
65A 119. Lot calculation 4
66A 120. "All's well with me" 4
67A 121. Human 6
68A 122. Masthead figs. 3
69A 123. Timid 4
70A 124. Quibbles 4
71A 125. Ruses 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. SacsayhuamΓ‘n fortress builders"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a ruler of the incas (or a member of his family)
  • Similar words include: Incan, Inca, Inka
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INCAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Literary forerunner of Captain Hook"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that according to the old testament he was a pagan king of israel and husband of jezebel (9th century bc)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AHAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Many an Alpha Beta in "Revenge of the Nerds""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person trained to compete in sports
  • Similar words include: jockstrap, supporter, athlete
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOCK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Help-wanted letters"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an internationally recognized distress signal in radio code
  • Similar words include: soh, sol, so
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "17. Fermented vegan protein"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "19. Wrestler/actor John"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "20. Coin with 12 stars around the border"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic monetary unit of most members of the european union (introduced in 1999); in 2002 twelve european nations (germany, france, belgium, luxembourg, the netherlands, italy, spain, portugal, ireland, greece, austria, finland) adopted the euro as their basic unit of money and abandoned their traditional currencies
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EURO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "21. Align"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make synchronous and adjust in time or manner
  • Similar words include: synchronize, synchronise
  • Opposite of: desynchronize, desynchronise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SYNC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "22. Home of the legendary folk hero at 116-Across"

11 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a landlocked federal republic in central europe
  • Similar words include: Svizzera, Swiss Confederation, Schweiz
  • Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWITZERLAND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "24. One involved with checks and balances"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an officer charged with receiving and disbursing funds
  • Similar words include: financial officer
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREASURER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "26. Without"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "27. Green spaces"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock
  • Similar words include: browse, grazing land, range
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PASTURES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "29. Hero of Arabian tales"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "30. In the past"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that gone by; or in the past
  • Similar words include: agone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. ___ Mahal"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Expertise demonstrated by 116-Across in a fabled feat of precision"

12 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that skill in shooting
  • Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MARKSMANSHIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Home Run ___ (annual M.L.B. event)"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a felt hat that is round and hard with a narrow brim
  • Similar words include: plug hat, bowler hat, bowler
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DERBY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. D.O.J. agency"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the law enforcement and tax collection agency of the treasury department that enforces federal laws concerning alcohol and tobacco products and firearms and explosives and arson
  • Similar words include: Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "39. Fuel-efficient Toyota"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Main ideas"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the central meaning or theme of a speech or literary work
  • Similar words include: heart, meat, sum
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GISTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. Athletic skill mastered by 116-Across"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sport of shooting arrows with a bow
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARCHERY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "44. W-9 fig."

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "45. Banned substance, in sports lingo"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Diego Rivera project"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a painting that is applied to a wall surface
  • Similar words include: wall painting
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MURAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Apt name for a lawyer"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that french writer whose novels described the sordid side of city life (1804-1857)
  • Similar words include: action, Eugene Sue, process
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. Laughed loudly"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make a loud noise, as of wind, water, or vehicles
  • Similar words include: howl, yawl, bellow
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROARED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "52. N.C.A.A. hoops powerhouse"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. Like the Statue of Liberty at night"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Beatle who sang "Yellow Submarine""

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rock star and drummer for the beatles (born in 1940)
  • Similar words include: Richard Starkey, Starkey, Ringo Starr
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STARR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Sailor's septet"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
  • Similar words include: sea, ocean
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "60. Go-getter's opposite"

8 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who fails to meet a financial obligation
  • Similar words include: defaulter
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEADBEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "62. Through"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "63. "Drat!," in Dortmund"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "65. "The Situation Room" airer"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "66. Chirruping bird"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several small dull-colored singing birds feeding on seeds or insects
  • Similar words include: Prunella modularis, dunnock, hedge sparrow
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPARROW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "67. Pat down"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of searching someone for concealed weapons or illegal drugs
  • Similar words include: rollick, run around, frisking
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRISK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "69. City sobriquet that might describe the target for 116-Across, as depicted in this puzzle"

11 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "71. Stuff in a puff"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
  • Similar words include: send, air travel, melody
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "72. She-ep?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

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!

40A: "73. Home to the Burj Khalifa, in brief"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41A: "74. Appointments that may lead to better contacts"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42A: "76. Dampens"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wetness caused by water
  • Similar words include: moisture, wet
  • Opposite of: dry
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43A: "78. "Whoa, ___!""

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

44A: "80. Bel ___ cheese"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

45A: "81. Instinctive"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus
  • Similar words include: intestine, bowel, catgut
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

46A: "82. Religious dissent"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any opinions or doctrines at variance with the official or orthodox position
  • Similar words include: heterodoxy, unorthodoxy
  • Opposite of: orthodoxy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HERESY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

47A: "84. $5 bill, slangily"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

48A: "85. Actress Spacek"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive
  • Similar words include: sissyish, cissy, emasculate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SISSY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

49A: "87. Negative logic gate in electrical engineering"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

50A: "88. Cartesian conclusion"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

51A: "91. Composer of an overture dedicated to 116-Across"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that italian composer remembered for his operas (1792-1868)
  • Similar words include: Giloacchino Antonio Rossini
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSSINI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

52A: "93. Gets lost"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that singing jazz; the singer substitutes nonsense syllables for the words of the song and tries to sound like a musical instrument
  • Similar words include: scat, bunk, scarper
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCATS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

53A: "96. Came to a conclusion"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical
  • Similar words include: terminate, over, terminated
  • Opposite of: begin
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENDED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

54A: "98. "Doctor ___""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a united nations agency to coordinate international health activities and to help governments improve health services
  • Similar words include: World Health Organization
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

55A: "99. Start of an encrypted URL"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

56A: "103. Streaker in the night sky ... or a punny description of 116-Across"

12 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

57A: "106. Acid"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a powerful hallucinogenic drug manufactured from lysergic acid
  • Similar words include: lysergic acid diethylamide
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LSD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

58A: "108. Unprocessed, as data"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for nakedness
  • Similar words include: in the raw, bleak, crude
  • Opposite of: cooked
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

59A: "109. Inspiration for many seasonal festivals"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the yield from plants in a single growing season
  • Similar words include: harvest time, harvesting, crop
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARVEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

60A: "110. Oscar-winning 2019 film directed by Bong Joon Ho"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an animal or plant that lives in or on a host (another animal or plant); it obtains nourishment from the host without benefiting or killing the host
  • Similar words include: sponge, leech, sponger
  • Opposite of: host
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARASITE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

61A: "113. Smoke, perhaps"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain
  • Similar words include: heal, curative, therapeutic
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CURE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

62A: "114. What may begin at the end"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that life after death
  • Similar words include: hereafter
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFTERLIFE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

63A: "116. Legendary figure who's the subject of this puzzle"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

64A: "118. Orchard selection"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sweet juicy gritty-textured fruit available in many varieties
  • Similar words include: Pyrus communis, pear tree
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

65A: "119. Lot calculation"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a particular geographical region of indefinite boundary (usually serving some special purpose or distinguished by its people or culture or geography)
  • Similar words include: country, expanse, orbit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AREA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

66A: "120. "All's well with me""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

67A: "121. Human"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a human being
  • Similar words include: somebody, person, deadly
  • Opposite of: immortal
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MORTAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

68A: "122. Masthead figs."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a rapid automatic system to detect plastic explosives in passengers' luggage using x-ray technology and computers; designed for use in airports
  • Similar words include: male erecticle dysfunction, ED, explosive detection system
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

69A: "123. Timid"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that humble in spirit or manner; suggesting retiring mildness or even cowed submissiveness
  • Similar words include: spiritless, mild, modest
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEEK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

70A: "124. Quibbles"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a luminance unit equal to 1 candle per square meter measured perpendicular to the rays from the source
  • Similar words include: nit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NITS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

71A: "125. Ruses"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker
  • Similar words include: ploy, stratagem, gambit
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLOYS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. "What a bummer" 6
2D 2. Γ€ la Enya 6
3D 3. Key with three flats 6
4D 4. Studios and penthouses: Abbr. 4
5D 5. "___ me!" 3
6D 6. Knee parts, for short 4
7D 7. Part of a track meet 4
8D 8. Per ___ (accounting term) 5
9D 9. Undeserved condemnation 6
10D 10. Watercraft that leave "rooster tails" in their wakes 7
11D 11. "___ home and native land!" 3
12D 12. Absolutely whomps, in sports lingo 6
13D 13. "Bear" that's not a bear 5
14D 14. Some red wines 6
15D 15. Smallest quantity of digital data 6
16D 16. Abandons, as a project 6
17D 18. Purifying filter acronym 4
18D 21. Eases 8
19D 23. Jasmine's tiger companion in "Aladdin" 5
20D 25. Big name in sewing machines 6
21D 28. Messes up 4
22D 31. TV host Banks 4
23D 33. Longtime jazz bandleader with an Egyptian-inspired name 5
24D 35. Where Cary Grant orders a Gibson in a classic scene from "North by Northwest" 6
25D 37. Magnetic unit named for an inventor 5
26D 38. Productive ... or a punny description of the feat performed by 116-Across? 8
27D 42. Many a liquor license applicant 9
28D 43. As of now 3
29D 45. Board game with ancient origins 9
30D 46. Gooey chocolate dessert 6
31D 47. Discover 7
32D 50. Holds forth 6
33D 51. Tenth, in Latin 7
34D 54. Small flycatchers named for their call, not their size 6
35D 55. Bro kin 3
36D 56. What 116-Across did before and after this puzzle's feat? 8
37D 58. Dread-full? 6
38D 59. Popular beverage brand 7
39D 61. Dr. ___ 3
40D 62. Compete 3
41D 64. Bad spelling? 3
42D 66. Lead-in to bones or bucks 3
43D 68. Sunbeam 3
44D 70. Abandons a project, slangily 6
45D 75. "Oy!" 5
46D 77. Forwarded 8
47D 79. Full of tall tales 5
48D 80. It's better than a bogey 3
49D 83. Team lineup 6
50D 86. Like most modern TV broadcasts 4
51D 89. "Money-back guarantee" and "Limited-time offer" 7
52D 90. Self-referential 4
53D 92. Conductor Georg 5
54D 93. Snaky double curve 6
55D 94. Really irritated 6
56D 95. Main lines 6
57D 96. Full 6
58D 97. Australian city named for a scientist 6
59D 100. Closely following 6
60D 101. Gambler's combo bet 6
61D 102. Waves sought by surfers 6
62D 104. Five Pillars religion 5
63D 105. "Spider-Man" director Sam 5
64D 107. Stitcher's line 4
65D 111. Tee time or airtime, e.g. 4
66D 112. Sorts 4
67D 113. Corner key 4
68D 115. Toll 3
69D 117. Bucket list item? 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. "What a bummer""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Γ€ la Enya"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Key with three flats"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Studios and penthouses: Abbr."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. "___ me!""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Knee parts, for short"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Part of a track meet"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a form of energy that is transferred by a difference in temperature
  • Similar words include: oestrus, heating, rut
  • Opposite of: coldness, cool
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Per ___ (accounting term)"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (latin) year
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANNUM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Undeserved condemnation"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Watercraft that leave "rooster tails" in their wakes"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. "___ home and native land!""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Absolutely whomps, in sports lingo"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the best people or things in a group
  • Similar words include: clobber, drub, lick
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CREAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. "Bear" that's not a bear"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sluggish tailless australian arboreal marsupial with grey furry ears and coat; feeds on eucalyptus leaves and bark
  • Similar words include: kangaroo bear, koala bear, native bear
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KOALA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. Some red wines"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "15. Smallest quantity of digital data"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "16. Abandons, as a project"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that food that is discarded (as from a kitchen)
  • Similar words include: fighting, combat, altercate
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCRAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "18. Purifying filter acronym"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "21. Eases"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wear off or die down
  • Similar words include: subside, lessen, sink
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUBSIDES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "23. Jasmine's tiger companion in "Aladdin""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a prince or king in india
  • Similar words include: raja
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAJAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "25. Big name in sewing machines"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who sings
  • Similar words include: Isaac Merrit Singer, Isaac M. Singer, vocalizer
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINGER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Messes up"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that to make a mistake or be incorrect
  • Similar words include: mistake, stray, err
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "31. TV host Banks"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Longtime jazz bandleader with an Egyptian-inspired name"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Where Cary Grant orders a Gibson in a classic scene from "North by Northwest""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. Magnetic unit named for an inventor"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of magnetic flux density equal to one weber per square meter
  • Similar words include: Nikola Tesla
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TESLA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "38. Productive ... or a punny description of the feat performed by 116-Across?"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that productive or conducive to producing in abundance
  • Opposite of: unfruitful
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRUITFUL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. Many a liquor license applicant"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. As of now"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Board game with ancient origins"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a modern board game based on pachisi
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARCHEESI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Gooey chocolate dessert"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Discover"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that bring to light
  • Similar words include: excavate
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNEARTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. Holds forth"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "51. Tenth, in Latin"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "54. Small flycatchers named for their call, not their size"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small olive-colored woodland flycatchers of eastern north america
  • Similar words include: pewit, wood pewee, peewit
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEWEES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "55. Bro kin"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a female person who has the same parents as another person
  • Similar words include: International System, SI, sister
  • Opposite of: brother
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "56. What 116-Across did before and after this puzzle's feat?"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. Dread-full?"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Popular beverage brand"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "61. Dr. ___"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "62. Compete"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
  • Similar words include: contend, compete
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "64. Bad spelling?"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an evil spell
  • Similar words include: enchant, glamour, curse
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "66. Lead-in to bones or bucks"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
  • Similar words include: get wind, view, fancy
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "68. Sunbeam"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a column of light (as from a beacon)
  • Similar words include: beam of light, shaft, irradiate
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

44D: "70. Abandons a project, slangily"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

45D: "75. "Oy!""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

46D: "77. Forwarded"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

47D: "79. Full of tall tales"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the deliberate act of deviating from the truth
  • Similar words include: fabrication, lie, lie down
  • Opposite of: arise, stand
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LYING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

48D: "80. It's better than a bogey"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (golf) the standard number of strokes set for each hole on a golf course, or for the entire course
  • Similar words include: equivalence, equality, equation
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

49D: "83. Team lineup"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a list of names
  • Similar words include: roll
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

50D: "86. Like most modern TV broadcasts"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

51D: "89. "Money-back guarantee" and "Limited-time offer""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

52D: "90. Self-referential"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

53D: "92. Conductor Georg"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

54D: "93. Snaky double curve"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

55D: "94. Really irritated"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that become or make sore by or as if by rubbing
  • Similar words include: annoy, galled, get at
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHAFED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

56D: "95. Main lines"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the large trunk artery that carries blood from the left ventricle of the heart to branch arteries
  • Similar words include: aorta
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AORTAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

57D: "96. Full"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that uncastrated adult male horse
  • Similar words include: total, full, intact
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENTIRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

58D: "97. Australian city named for a scientist"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882)
  • Similar words include: Charles Robert Darwin, Charles Darwin
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DARWIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

59D: "100. Closely following"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

60D: "101. Gambler's combo bet"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a series of wagers in which the winnings from one wager are used as a stake for the subsequent wagers
  • Similar words include: double up
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARLAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

61D: "102. Waves sought by surfers"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea
  • Similar words include: dude, fop, crestless wave
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWELLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

62D: "104. Five Pillars religion"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the civilization of muslims collectively which is governed by the muslim religion
  • Similar words include: Muhammadanism, Muslimism, Mohammedanism
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISLAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

63D: "105. "Spider-Man" director Sam"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

64D: "107. Stitcher's line"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that joint consisting of a line formed by joining two pieces
  • Similar words include: wrinkle, furrow, crinkle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

65D: "111. Tee time or airtime, e.g."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a position in a grammatical linguistic construction in which a variety of alternative units are interchangeable
  • Similar words include: expansion slot, time slot, one-armed bandit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

66D: "112. Sorts"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a kind of person
  • Similar words include: ilk, like
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ILKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

67D: "113. Corner key"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

68D: "115. Toll"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services
  • Similar words include: tip, bung
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

69D: "117. Bucket list item?"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cleaning implement consisting of absorbent material fastened to a handle; for cleaning floors
  • Similar words include: swob, pout, mop up
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOP

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

71 Across Clues
69 Down Clues
140 Total Clues

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Last updated: May 31, 2026 at 07:09 AM