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Tuesday, September 29, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 29, 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. Big ones can be difficult to manage 4
2A 5. Urge 4
3A 9. British John 5
4A 14. Nincompoop 4
5A 15. Surrounding glow 4
6A 16. Who "wants to be defeated" in "Beat It" 5
7A 17. Where some monster home runs land 9
8A 19. Language of the Vikings 5
9A 20. Rich deposits of ore 5
10A 21. Home of the Buckeyes, for short 3
11A 23. Muslim holiday, informally 3
12A 24. Scoped out with intent to rob 5
13A 25. Pretty long time, in an idiom 9
14A 28. Battery fill 4
15A 29. Capital of Yemen 5
16A 30. Copied 4
17A 31. "You ___!" ("Absolutely!") 3
18A 32. Terse 4
19A 33. "I ___ U" (candy heart message) 3
20A 35. Another plateful from the buffet, say 13
21A 40. Deposit/withdrawal site, in brief 3
22A 41. Board appointee, for short 4
23A 42. Work unit 3
24A 44. Chief god of Valhalla 4
25A 47. European viper 5
26A 49. Greek goddess of the earth 4
27A 50. Position of Rickey Henderson in M.L.B. 9
28A 52. Storage units 5
29A 53. Dad on "Black-ish" 3
30A 54. Pablo Neruda's "___ to My Socks" 3
31A 55. Indie rock singer ___ O 5
32A 56. Couch 5
33A 58. Wedding officiant's directive ... or what both halves of 17-, 25-, 35- and 50-Across do? 9
34A 62. Unconcealed 5
35A 63. Toll unit on some roads 4
36A 64. Tour de France entry 4
37A 65. "Cooties" 5
38A 66. Hitch up on a farm 4
39A 67. Ice cream brand that's a cousin of Dreyer's 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Big ones can be difficult to manage"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Urge"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
  • Similar words include: egg on, goading, poke at
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. British John"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Nincompoop"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that street names for marijuana
  • Similar words include: cola, pot, sens
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Surrounding glow"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sensation (as of a cold breeze or bright light) that precedes the onset of certain disorders such as a migraine attack or epileptic seizure
  • Similar words include: glory, halo, gloriole
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AURA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Who "wants to be defeated" in "Beat It""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Where some monster home runs land"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Language of the Vikings"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inhabitant of scandinavia
  • Similar words include: Scandinavian language, Norseman, Northman
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NORSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Rich deposits of ore"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a deposit of valuable ore occurring within definite boundaries separating it from surrounding rocks
  • Similar words include: lode, load
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LODES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Home of the Buckeyes, for short"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Muslim holiday, informally"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Scoped out with intent to rob"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that look over, usually with the intention to rob
  • Similar words include: encase, incase, incased
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CASED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Pretty long time, in an idiom"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Battery fill"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various water-soluble compounds having a sour taste and capable of turning litmus red and reacting with a base to form a salt
  • Similar words include: Zen, acidulent, bitter
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Capital of Yemen"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the capital and largest city of yemen; on the central plateau
  • Similar words include: Sana, Sana'a
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SANAA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "30. Copied"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "31. "You ___!" ("Absolutely!")"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the money risked on a gamble
  • Similar words include: stake, wager, count
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "32. Terse"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by rude or peremptory shortness
  • Similar words include: terse, crisp, brusque
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CURT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "33. "I ___ U" (candy heart message)"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "35. Another plateful from the buffet, say"

13 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "40. Deposit/withdrawal site, in brief"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of pressure: the pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 mm high at sea level and 0 degrees centigrade
  • Similar words include: automatic teller machine, automatic teller, automated teller
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "41. Board appointee, for short"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the chief executive department of the united states government
  • Similar words include: White House
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXEC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. Work unit"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cgs unit of work or energy; the work done by a force of one dyne acting over a distance of one centimeter
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Chief god of Valhalla"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "47. European viper"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who adds numbers
  • Similar words include: common viper, Vipera berus
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADDER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. Greek goddess of the earth"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) goddess of the earth and mother of cronus and the titans in ancient mythology
  • Similar words include: Ge, Gaia
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. Position of Rickey Henderson in M.L.B."

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the piece of ground in the outfield on the catcher's left
  • Similar words include: left, left field
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEFTFIELD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "52. Storage units"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sequence of 8 bits (enough to represent one character of alphanumeric data) processed as a single unit of information
  • Similar words include: byte
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BYTES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "53. Dad on "Black-ish""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "54. Pablo Neruda's "___ to My Socks""

3 letters Category: Common Word

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!

31A: "55. Indie rock singer ___ O"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the tibeto-burman language spoken in the thailand and burmese borderlands
  • Similar words include: Karenic
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAREN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "56. Couch"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long backless sofa (usually with pillows against a wall)
  • Similar words include: diwan
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIVAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "58. Wedding officiant's directive ... or what both halves of 17-, 25-, 35- and 50-Across do?"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "62. Unconcealed"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that open and observable; not secret or hidden
  • Similar words include: open
  • Opposite of: covert
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVERT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "63. Toll unit on some roads"

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!

36A: "64. Tour de France entry"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
  • Similar words include: team up, squad
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "65. "Cooties""

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that anything that provides inspiration for later work
  • Similar words include: germ, source, seed
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GERMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "66. Hitch up on a farm"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fabric comprising a fitted part at the top of a garment
  • Similar words include: coupling, couplet, link
  • Opposite of: unyoke
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YOKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "67. Ice cream brand that's a cousin of Dreyer's"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Address ending that's not .com, .org or .gov 3
2D 2. Reach great heights in life 8
3D 3. Like black and white 8
4D 4. Numbered in a tournament bracket 6
5D 5. Always at the pharmacy? 4
6D 6. Regret 3
7D 7. Middle-earth foe 3
8D 8. ___ Territory, 1861-89 6
9D 9. Ho-hum feeling 5
10D 10. British john 3
11D 11. Ripped to pieces 6
12D 12. Like not-work-from-home days 6
13D 13. Had to have 6
14D 18. Visibly embarrassed, say 3
15D 22. Like subcompacts vis-à-vis compacts 7
16D 24. What can travel a fare distance? 3
17D 25. Brain-busting 4
18D 26. Just between us 7
19D 27. Blue race in "Avatar" 4
20D 29. Raisin brand whose containers feature a girl in a red bonnet 7
21D 32. Hotel request 3
22D 34. Scanned lines, for short 3
23D 36. "If you ___ stand the heat ..." 4
24D 37. Crossed (out) 4
25D 38. Made nice? 8
26D 39. Band with the 6x platinum album "American Idiot" 8
27D 43. Pit stop refill 3
28D 44. Subject of a saying about new tricks 6
29D 45. Infer (from) 6
30D 46. Perhaps not at all 6
31D 48. Spinner of tunes 6
32D 49. Move like Shakira in her "Hips Don't Lie" video 6
33D 51. Courier and Century Gothic, for two 5
34D 52. "Nuts!" 3
35D 55. Achy joint for a floor installer, perhaps 4
36D 57. Pitcher's asset 3
37D 59. Kitchen brand that could be an unsuccessful tic-tac-toe line 3
38D 60. Sort 3
39D 61. Texting format, for short 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Address ending that's not .com, .org or .gov"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Reach great heights in life"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Like black and white"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word, in which case the two words are antonyms of each other
  • Similar words include: antonym, inverse, paired
  • Opposite of: synonym, alternate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPPOSITE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Numbered in a tournament bracket"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that go to seed; shed seeds
  • Similar words include: seed, sow, sown
  • Opposite of: unseeded
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEEDED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Always at the pharmacy?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a number of sheets of paper fastened together along one edge
  • Similar words include: domiciliation, digs, embroider
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Regret"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Middle-earth foe"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. ___ Territory, 1861-89"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the siouan people of the northern mississippi valley; commonly called the sioux
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAKOTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Ho-hum feeling"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the feeling of being bored by something tedious
  • Similar words include: boredom, tedium
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENNUI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. British john"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a toilet in britain
  • Similar words include: water closet, W.C., closet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Ripped to pieces"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Like not-work-from-home days"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Had to have"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that require as useful, just, or proper
  • Similar words include: want, require, necessitate
  • Opposite of: obviate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEEDED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Visibly embarrassed, say"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
  • Similar words include: bolshy, violent, red-faced
  • Opposite of: gain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Like subcompacts vis-à-vis compacts"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small or little relative to something else
  • Similar words include: humble, littler, pocket-sized
  • Opposite of: large, big
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMALLER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. What can travel a fare distance?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a compartment at the front of a motor vehicle or locomotive where driver sits
  • Similar words include: cabriolet, taxi, taxicab
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Brain-busting"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Just between us"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Blue race in "Avatar""

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. Raisin brand whose containers feature a girl in a red bonnet"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Hotel request"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sheath worn to protect a finger
  • Similar words include: camp bed, fingerstall, crib
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Scanned lines, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. "If you ___ stand the heat ...""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that stock phrases that have become nonsense through endless repetition
  • Similar words include: bevel, slang, vernacular
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. Crossed (out)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Made nice?"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that put (things or places) in order
  • Similar words include: straighten, square away, neaten
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEATENED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Band with the 6x platinum album "American Idiot""

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "43. Pit stop refill"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

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: gun, bluster, flatulence
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Subject of a saying about new tricks"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Infer (from)"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that reason by deduction; establish by deduction
  • Similar words include: gain, come, descend
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DERIVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Perhaps not at all"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "48. Spinner of tunes"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "49. Move like Shakira in her "Hips Don't Lie" video"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that to wind or move in a spiral course
  • Similar words include: reel, spiral, coil
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GYRATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "51. Courier and Century Gothic, for two"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a specific size and style of type within a type family
  • Similar words include: baptistry, baptismal font, case
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FONTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. "Nuts!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "55. Achy joint for a floor installer, perhaps"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
  • Similar words include: human knee, knee joint, articulatio genus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KNEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "57. Pitcher's asset"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
  • Similar words include: limb, sleeve, fortify
  • Opposite of: disarm
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "59. Kitchen brand that could be an unsuccessful tic-tac-toe line"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "60. Sort"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "61. Texting format, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

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, atomic number 62, Master of Science
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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: September 29, 2026 at 09:59 AM

Monday, September 28, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 28, 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. Widespread disorder 5
2A 6. Like the exteriors of armadillos 5
3A 11. Fall behind in payments 3
4A 14. Boxing locale 5
5A 15. Classic radio song 5
6A 16. Dessert with a crust 3
7A 17. Solid baseball hit 5
8A 18. Complete shocker 9
9A 20. Bicycle built for two 6
10A 22. Round Table title 3
11A 23. "___ time will tell" 4
12A 24. Prefix with physics or thermal 3
13A 25. Make into law 5
14A 27. Alternative to French fries 9
15A 31. Skill needed to solve sudoku 5
16A 35. Suffix with fail or forfeit 3
17A 36. Apple platform 3
18A 37. "Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___" 6
19A 38. With 41-Across, ball hit out of the park by the very first batter for either side ... or a hint to the starts of 18-, 27-, 46- and 60-Across 7
20A 41. See 38-Across 7
21A 42. Coconut Girl Scout cookies 6
22A 43. "La Cage ___ Folles" 3
23A 44. Frat member 3
24A 45. Liability's opposite 5
25A 46. Detonation region 9
26A 49. "___ I compare thee to a summer's day?": Shak. 5
27A 51. Before, poetically 3
28A 52. What's more 4
29A 55. Spoil 3
30A 56. Performs a stylish ballroom dance 6
31A 60. Tropical tree whose product is sometimes used as a meat substitute 9
32A 63. San Francisco ballplayer 5
33A 64. Actress de Armas 3
34A 65. "Take a look!" 5
35A 66. Helper for computer problems, informally 5
36A 67. Kylo ___ of "Star Wars" 3
37A 68. Stockholm native 5
38A 69. Pursue 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Widespread disorder"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that violent and needless disturbance
  • Similar words include: mayhem
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAVOC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Like the exteriors of armadillos"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rough to the touch; covered with scales or scurf
  • Similar words include: scaled, leprose, scabrous
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCALY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Fall behind in payments"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be obliged to pay or repay
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Boxing locale"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a particular environment or walk of life
  • Similar words include: bowl, scene of action, stadium
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARENA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Classic radio song"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a song that was formerly popular
  • Similar words include: golden oldie
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLDIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Dessert with a crust"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that dish baked in pastry-lined pan often with a pastry top
  • Similar words include: Proto-Indo European
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Solid baseball hit"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (baseball) a hit that flies straight out from the batter
  • Similar words include: lining, ocean liner, line drive
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LINER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Complete shocker"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an entertainer who has a sensational effect
  • Similar words include: thunderclap, thunderbolt
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOMBSHELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Bicycle built for two"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an arrangement of two or more objects or persons one behind another
  • Similar words include: in tandem, tandem bicycle, bicycle-built-for-two
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANDEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Round Table title"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that term of address for a man
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. "___ time will tell""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that being the only one; single and isolated from others
  • Similar words include: alone, exclusively, solitary
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Prefix with physics or thermal"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Make into law"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that order by virtue of superior authority; decree
  • Similar words include: reenact, ordain, act out
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENACT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Alternative to French fries"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Skill needed to solve sudoku"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the branch of philosophy that analyzes inference
  • Similar words include: system of logic, logical system
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOGIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Suffix with fail or forfeit"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. Apple platform"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) a maiden seduced by zeus; when hera was about to discover them together zeus turned her into a white heifer
  • Similar words include: Io
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. "Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___""

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several tropical and subtropical treelike herbs of the genus musa having a terminal crown of large entire leaves and usually bearing hanging clusters of elongated fruits
  • Similar words include: banana tree
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BANANA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "38. With 41-Across, ball hit out of the park by the very first batter for either side ... or a hint to the starts of 18-, 27-, 46- and 60-Across"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "41. See 38-Across"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "42. Coconut Girl Scout cookies"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a constitutional monarchy on the western part of the islands of samoa in the south pacific
  • Similar words include: Samoa i Sisifo, Western Samoa, Samoa
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAMOAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. "La Cage ___ Folles""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Frat member"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "45. Liability's opposite"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a useful or valuable quality
  • Similar words include: plus
  • Opposite of: liability
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "46. Detonation region"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. "___ I compare thee to a summer's day?": Shak."

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. Before, poetically"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "52. What's more"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in addition
  • Similar words include: likewise, besides, too
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALSO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Spoil"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: decompose, guff, molder
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "56. Performs a stylish ballroom dance"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a ballroom dance of latin-american origin
  • Similar words include: tango
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANGOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "60. Tropical tree whose product is sometimes used as a meat substitute"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that east indian tree cultivated for its immense edible fruit and seeds
  • Similar words include: jak, jack, Artocarpus heterophyllus
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JACKFRUIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "63. San Francisco ballplayer"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any creature of exceptional size
  • Similar words include: titan, gargantuan, goliath
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "64. Actress de Armas"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "65. "Take a look!""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "66. Helper for computer problems, informally"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "67. Kylo ___ of "Star Wars""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "68. Stockholm native"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of sweden
  • Similar words include: rutabaga, rutabaga plant, turnip cabbage
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWEDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "69. Pursue"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture
  • Similar words include: pursuit, chamfer, chase after
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. "Stop!" 4
2D 2. Puccini's "O mio babbino caro," e.g. 4
3D 3. Kind of diagram with overlapping circles 4
4D 4. Antsy 6
5D 5. One's employment pursuit 6
6D 6. Bawl 3
7D 7. Places to hang clothes 7
8D 8. Forum overseers 6
9D 9. The Scales, zodiacally 5
10D 10. "Definitely!" 3
11D 11. Certain golf or tennis tournament 4
12D 12. Funny Ferrell or Rogers 4
13D 13. Slippery 4
14D 19. Scorcher 6
15D 21. Recurring thematic elements 6
16D 26. Happy as a ___ 4
17D 27. City NE of Oklahoma City 5
18D 28. Fields 5
19D 29. The N.H.L. has 32 5
20D 30. Cartoon brawl sound effect 3
21D 32. Actress Greta of "Queen Christina" 5
22D 33. Store, as ashes 5
23D 34. Dugout, e.g. 5
24D 37. Complete series, maybe 6
25D 39. Gets by 6
26D 40. Solemn vow 4
27D 41. ___ Guofeng, successor of Mao Zedong 3
28D 43. Like the score going into extra innings 7
29D 46. Top to accompany a skirt 6
30D 47. Like the fate of Ophelia 6
31D 48. Peak 6
32D 50. See 37-Across 5
33D 52. Cracked slightly, as a door 4
34D 53. Word following bike or memory 4
35D 54. Look at carefully 4
36D 57. "Shallow" singer Lady ___ 4
37D 58. Burden 4
38D 59. Ailment that aptly rhymes with "eye" 4
39D 61. N.F.L. three-pointers: Abbr. 3
40D 62. Top to accompany shorts 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. "Stop!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of inactivity following an interruption
  • Similar words include: lame, stoppage, stem
  • Opposite of: start
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Puccini's "O mio babbino caro," e.g."

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Kind of diagram with overlapping circles"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english logician who introduced venn diagrams (1834-1923)
  • Similar words include: John Venn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VENN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Antsy"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. One's employment pursuit"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the particular occupation for which you are trained
  • Similar words include: life history, calling, vocation
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAREER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Bawl"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dyspneic condition
  • Similar words include: bastard, asshole, sobbing
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Places to hang clothes"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
  • Similar words include: W.C., closet, loo
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLOSETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Forum overseers"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. The Scales, zodiacally"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in libra
  • Similar words include: Balance, Libra the Scales, Libra the Balance
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIBRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. "Definitely!""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an affirmative
  • Opposite of: no
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Certain golf or tennis tournament"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
  • Similar words include: out-of-doors, give, heart-to-heart
  • Opposite of: closed, fold
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Funny Ferrell or Rogers"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention; - george meredith
  • Similar words include: testament, bequeath, volition
  • Opposite of: disinherit
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Slippery"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. Scorcher"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Recurring thematic elements"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration
  • Similar words include: theme, motive, motif
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOTIFS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Happy as a ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud; the shell closes with viselike firmness
  • Similar words include: one dollar bill, dollar, buck
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. City NE of Oklahoma City"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a major city of northeastern oklahoma on the arkansas river; once known as the oil capital of the world and still heavily involved in the oil and gas industries
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TULSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Fields"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

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: arena, orbit, surface area
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AREAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. The N.H.L. has 32"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
  • Similar words include: team up, team, squad
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Cartoon brawl sound effect"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Actress Greta of "Queen Christina""

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states film actress (born in sweden) known for her reclusiveness (1905-1990)
  • Similar words include: Greta Louisa Gustafsson, Greta Garbo
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GARBO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Store, as ashes"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "34. Dugout, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small and light boat; pointed at both ends; propelled with a paddle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. Complete series, maybe"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "39. Gets by"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. Solemn vow"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
  • Similar words include: swearing, curse word, curse
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OATH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. ___ Guofeng, successor of Mao Zedong"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an islamic fundamentalist group in pakistan that fought the soviet union in afghanistan in the 1980s; now operates as a terrorist organization primarily in kashmir and seeks kashmir's accession by pakistan
  • Similar words include: HUM, Harkat ul-Ansar, Harkat ul-Mujahedeen
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Like the score going into extra innings"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "46. Top to accompany a skirt"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a top worn by women
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLOUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "47. Like the fate of Ophelia"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
  • Similar words include: tragical
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRAGIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "48. Peak"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected
  • Opposite of: nadir
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZENITH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. See 37-Across"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Cracked slightly, as a door"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that slightly open
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AJAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Word following bike or memory"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow way or road
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Look at carefully"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region
  • Similar words include: skim, run down, read
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "57. "Shallow" singer Lady ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mentally or physically infirm with age
  • Similar words include: doddering, senile, dotty
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAGA

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37D: "58. Burden"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an onerous or difficult concern
  • Similar words include: incumbrance, load, burden
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONUS

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38D: "59. Ailment that aptly rhymes with "eye""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid
  • Similar words include: eye infection, hordeolum, sty
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STYE

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39D: "61. N.F.L. three-pointers: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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40D: "62. Top to accompany shorts"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the starting place for each hole on a golf course
  • Similar words include: teeing ground, golf tee, football tee
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

38 Across Clues
40 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: September 28, 2026 at 10:00 AM