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Monday, August 17, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 17, 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. One of two fruit flavors in Sprite 4
2A 5. Has no choice 4
3A 9. "The ___ thickens" 4
4A 13. Islamic prayer leader 4
5A 14. Poker player's buy-in 4
6A 15. Italian "Paul" 5
7A 16. Well-dressed guy 9
8A 18. Arctic Indigenous group 5
9A 19. Venomous arachnid 8
10A 20. Not dormant, as a volcano 6
11A 21. A, in German 3
12A 22. Autobahn speedometer meas. 3
13A 24. Take, as advice 4
14A 25. It captures ballpark smooches 7
15A 29. Stand for a poster 5
16A 31. Egyptian fertility goddess 4
17A 32. Hilarious person 4
18A 34. Doll with neon hair 5
19A 37. Ping-Pong table divider 3
20A 38. Containers for fruit preserves 7
21A 40. Burj Khalifa's country, for short 3
22A 41. Birds in V-formations 5
23A 43. Capital with fjord tours 4
24A 44. Facility that produces coins 4
25A 45. Casts a ballot 5
26A 47. Lengthy rants 7
27A 49. Sulky state 4
28A 51. ___ Geo Wild (cable channel) 3
29A 53. Popular chain for RVers 3
30A 54. Snacked 6
31A 56. Hot pepper named for Cuba's capital 8
32A 61. Off Broadway awards 5
33A 62. "Totally agree!" ... or what the circled letters are, in different languages 9
34A 63. Like throwbacks 5
35A 64. Abbr. before a recipient's name on an envelope 4
36A 65. The Roaring Twenties and the Swinging Sixties 4
37A 66. Otherwise 4
38A 67. Hotel worker 4
39A 68. Overhaul 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. One of two fruit flavors in Sprite"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a caustic substance produced by heating limestone
  • Similar words include: birdlime, calcined lime, lime hydrate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Has no choice"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a necessary or essential thing
  • Similar words include: moldiness, mustiness
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MUST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. "The ___ thickens""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal)
  • Similar words include: patch, plat, secret plan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "13. Islamic prayer leader"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (islam) the man who leads prayers in a mosque; for shiites an imam is a recognized authority on islamic theology and law and a spiritual guide
  • Similar words include: imaum
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "14. Poker player's buy-in"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (poker) the initial contribution that each player makes to the pot
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "15. Italian "Paul""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "16. Well-dressed guy"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Arctic Indigenous group"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a people inhabiting the arctic (northern canada or greenland or alaska or eastern siberia); the algonquians called them eskimo (`eaters of raw flesh') but they call themselves the inuit (`the people')
  • Similar words include: Esquimau, Eskimo
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INUIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Venomous arachnid"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in scorpio
  • Similar words include: Scorpio the Scorpion, Scorpio
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCORPION

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. Not dormant, as a volcano"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that chemical agent capable of activity
  • Similar words include: participating, combat-ready, dynamic
  • Opposite of: passive voice, stative
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACTIVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "21. A, in German"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "22. Autobahn speedometer meas."

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the ratio of the distance traveled (in kilometers) to the time spent traveling (in hours)
  • Similar words include: km/h, kilometres per hour, kilometers per hour
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KPH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "24. Take, as advice"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people)
  • Similar words include: listen, regard, mind
  • Opposite of: inattentiveness
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "25. It captures ballpark smooches"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Stand for a poster"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an upright tripod for displaying something (usually an artist's canvas)
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EASEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Egyptian fertility goddess"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that egyptian goddess of fertility; daughter of geb; sister and wife of osiris
  • Similar words include: Inter-Services Intelligence, Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Hilarious person"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public act of violence by an unruly mob
  • Similar words include: debauch, wow, roister
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "34. Doll with neon hair"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (scandanavian folklore) a supernatural creature (either a dwarf or a giant) that is supposed to live in caves or in the mountains
  • Similar words include: trolling, round
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROLL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Ping-Pong table divider"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the tcp/ip network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange
  • Similar words include: meshing, cyberspace, profit
  • Opposite of: gross
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. Containers for fruit preserves"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a jar for holding jellies or preserves
  • Similar words include: jampot, jamjar
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JAMJARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "40. Burj Khalifa's country, for short"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "41. Birds in V-formations"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that web-footed long-necked typically gregarious migratory aquatic birds usually larger and less aquatic than ducks
  • Similar words include: jackass, twat, zany
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEESE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Capital with fjord tours"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Facility that produces coins"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
  • Similar words include: good deal, flock, strike
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MINT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "45. Casts a ballot"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a choice that is made by counting the number of people in favor of each alternative
  • Similar words include: voting, voter turnout, suffrage
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VOTES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "47. Lengthy rants"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long monotonous harangue
  • Similar words include: screed
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCREEDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "49. Sulky state"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of agitated irritation
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "51. ___ Geo Wild (cable channel)"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "53. Popular chain for RVers"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "54. Snacked"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that eat a snack; eat lightly
  • Similar words include: snack, nosh
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOSHED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "56. Hot pepper named for Cuba's capital"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "61. Off Broadway awards"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "62. "Totally agree!" ... or what the circled letters are, in different languages"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "63. Like throwbacks"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fashion reminiscent of the past
  • Similar words include: retroactive, ex post facto
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RETRO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "64. Abbr. before a recipient's name on an envelope"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "65. The Roaring Twenties and the Swinging Sixties"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "66. Otherwise"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "67. Hotel worker"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a female domestic
  • Similar words include: maidservant, housemaid, maiden
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "68. Overhaul"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that do over, as of (part of) a house
  • Similar words include: refashion, reconstruct, remake
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Covers for pots 4
2D 2. Apple with a big screen 4
3D 3. ___ tofu (Sichuan dish) 4
4D 4. Catherine the Great, e.g. 7
5D 5. Sauce for mozzarella sticks 8
6D 6. Erase 4
7D 7. Reeked 5
8D 8. Half a score 3
9D 9. "Pink" animal of film 7
10D 10. 1963 Kingsmen hit with a repetitive title 10
11D 11. Martini garnish 5
12D 12. Schlepped 5
13D 15. Insta posting 3
14D 17. Sweeping in scope 4
15D 20. "Now I understand!" 3
16D 23. Fragrant bits tossed at newlyweds 6
17D 25. Key chess piece 4
18D 26. "That makes sense" 4
19D 27. On-location inspections 10
20D 28. Boozy brunch drink 6
21D 30. Lines on a GPS 3
22D 33. Breakfast beverages, for short 3
23D 35. Come down to earth 4
24D 36. "Sounds like a plan!" 4
25D 38. Hot tub nozzle 3
26D 39. Green Day or Pink Floyd 8
27D 42. "And that's that!" 7
28D 44. Wander aimlessly 7
29D 46. Wrap up 3
30D 48. Singer Chappell 4
31D 49. Sound asleep? 5
32D 50. 2016 prize for Bob Dylan 5
33D 52. Greek letter that symbolizes an angle 5
34D 55. That, in Spain 3
35D 57. ___ Spumante 4
36D 58. BrontΓ«'s "Jane ___" 4
37D 59. Enjoy a fantasy, say 4
38D 60. ___ buco 4
39D 62. Sweet potato 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Covers for pots"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that either of two folds of skin that can be moved to cover or open the eye
  • Similar words include: palpebra, chapeau, eyelid
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Apple with a big screen"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. ___ tofu (Sichuan dish)"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Catherine the Great, e.g."

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a woman emperor or the wife of an emperor
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMPRESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Sauce for mozzarella sticks"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sauce for pasta; contains tomatoes and garlic and herbs
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MARINARA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Erase"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect
  • Similar words include: unwrap, loosen, unmake
  • Opposite of: wrap, make
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Reeked"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be extremely bad in quality or in one's performance
  • Similar words include: stink, reek
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STANK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Half a score"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
  • Similar words include: tenner, X, decade
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. "Pink" animal of film"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large spotted feline of tropical america similar to the leopard; in some classifications considered a member of the genus felis
  • Similar words include: Panthera onca, cougar, painter
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PANTHER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. 1963 Kingsmen hit with a repetitive title"

10 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Martini garnish"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small ovoid fruit of the european olive tree; important food and source of oil
  • Similar words include: European olive tree, Olea europaea
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLIVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Schlepped"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that carry with difficulty
  • Similar words include: summate, tote up, add up
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "15. Insta posting"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement
  • Similar words include: picture, photograph, film
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "17. Sweeping in scope"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
  • Similar words include: heroic poem, heroic, epic poem
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "20. "Now I understand!""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Fragrant bits tossed at newlyweds"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that part of the perianth that is usually brightly colored
  • Similar words include: petal, flower petal
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PETALS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Key chess piece"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
  • Similar words include: top executive, mogul, baron
  • Opposite of: female monarch, queen
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. "That makes sense""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. On-location inspections"

10 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Boozy brunch drink"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that evergreen australasian tree having white or silvery bark and young leaves and yellow flowers
  • Similar words include: silver wattle, buck's fizz, Acacia dealbata
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIMOSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Lines on a GPS"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Breakfast beverages, for short"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Come down to earth"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the land on which real estate is located
  • Similar words include: farming, dry land, set down
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. "Sounds like a plan!""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brutal terrorist group active in kashmir; fights against india with the goal of restoring islamic rule of india
  • Similar words include: Army of the Pure, have, get
  • Opposite of: forbid, disallow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Hot tub nozzle"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an airplane powered by one or more jet engines
  • Similar words include: jet plane, jet-propelled plane, jet-black
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Green Day or Pink Floyd"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. "And that's that!""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Wander aimlessly"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a bend or curve, as in a stream or river
  • Similar words include: weave, ramble, wind
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEANDER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "46. Wrap up"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that either extremity of something that has length
  • Similar words include: last, final stage, ending
  • Opposite of: begin, beginning
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: END

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "48. Singer Chappell"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft sheepskin leather that is colored and finished to resemble morocco; used in bookbinding
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "49. Sound asleep?"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. 2016 prize for Bob Dylan"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that swedish chemist remembered for his invention of dynamite and for the bequest that created the nobel prizes (1833-1896)
  • Similar words include: Alfred Nobel, Alfred Bernhard Nobel
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOBEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Greek letter that symbolizes an angle"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the 8th letter of the greek alphabet
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THETA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "55. That, in Spain"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "57. ___ Spumante"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "58. BrontΓ«'s "Jane ___""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shallow salt lake in south central australia about 35 feet below sea level; the largest lake in the country and the lowest point on the continent
  • Similar words include: Lake Eyre
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EYRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "59. Enjoy a fantasy, say"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something that is read
  • Similar words include: show, scan, take
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: READ

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "60. ___ buco"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "62. Sweet potato"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that edible tuber of any of several yams
  • Similar words include: yam plant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YAM

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: August 17, 2026 at 04:08 AM

Monday, June 1, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers June 01, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Moderate

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Fruit preserves 3
2A 4. Bottled water brand 6
3A 10. Status ___ 3
4A 13. "Long, long ___ ..." 3
5A 14. High school assessment scored from 1 to 5 6
6A 15. Address starting "http" 3
7A 16. Pearl or peridot 3
8A 17. Despise 6
9A 18. Conclusion 3
10A 19. Quick punches 4
11A 21. "You," archaically 4
12A 23. One taking office dictation 5
13A 25. Blunder 5
14A 28. Concert pianos 6
15A 30. Like haunted houses and lifelike dolls 6
16A 31. Sardine container 3
17A 32. Accede to an agreement without getting everything one wants 6
18A 35. "___-haw!" 3
19A 36. Dominican slugger Sammy 4
20A 38. Coolness, in Gen Alpha slang 4
21A 39. Roosters' mates 4
22A 40. Nightmare scenario 8
23A 43. Emerged victorious ... or what this puzzle's constructor did, as indicated by the shaded squares 12
24A 47. Smokey Robinson's record label 6
25A 48. Capital of Oman 6
26A 50. North Carolina university 4
27A 51. Leo XIV, for one 4
28A 54. Jingle or ditty 4
29A 55. Filing job, for short? 4
30A 56. Touch 4
31A 57. ___ Menken, composer of "Little Shop of Horrors" 4
32A 58. Poems of praise 4
33A 59. More than a few, but less than a lot 4
34A 60. A village in Wales has one with 58 letters — the world's longest 4
35A 61. It might read "Miss Universe" 4
36A 62. Burn the surface of 4
37A 63. "Curses!" 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Fruit preserves"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that preserve of crushed fruit
  • Similar words include: kettle of fish, mob, chock up
  • Opposite of: free
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "4. Bottled water brand"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Status ___"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "13. "Long, long ___ ...""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

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!

5A: "14. High school assessment scored from 1 to 5"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "15. Address starting "http""

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the address of a web page on the world wide web
  • Similar words include: universal resource locator, uniform resource locator
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "16. Pearl or peridot"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that art highly prized for its beauty or perfection
  • Similar words include: stone, jewel, treasure
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "17. Despise"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards
  • Similar words include: hate
  • Opposite of: love
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DETEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "18. Conclusion"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that either extremity of something that has length
  • Similar words include: destruction, final stage, conclusion
  • Opposite of: begin, beginning
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: END

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "19. Quick punches"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)
  • Similar words include: stab, dig, thrusting
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "21. "You," archaically"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. One taking office dictation"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Blunder"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
  • Similar words include: mistake, computer error, fault
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERROR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Concert pianos"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
  • Similar words include: M, one thousand, thousand
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRANDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Like haunted houses and lifelike dolls"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that annoying and unpleasant
  • Similar words include: creepy-crawly
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CREEPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Sardine container"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide
  • Similar words include: can, put up, Sn
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Accede to an agreement without getting everything one wants"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long wooden bench with a back
  • Similar words include: reconcile, go down, square off
  • Opposite of: float
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SETTLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. "___-haw!""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "36. Dominican slugger Sammy"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. Coolness, in Gen Alpha slang"

4 letters Category: Common Word

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: atmosphere, gloriole, glory
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AURA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Roosters' mates"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that adult female chicken
  • Similar words include: hen, biddy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Nightmare scenario"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror
  • Opposite of: utopia
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DYSTOPIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Emerged victorious ... or what this puzzle's constructor did, as indicated by the shaded squares"

12 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "47. Smokey Robinson's record label"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the largest city in michigan and a major great lakes port; center of the united states automobile industry; located in southeastern michigan on the detroit river across from windsor
  • Similar words include: Detroit, Motor City
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOTOWN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Capital of Oman"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several cultivated grapevines that produce sweet white grapes
  • Similar words include: Masqat, capital of Oman, muscadel
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MUSCAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "50. North Carolina university"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. Leo XIV, for one"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the head of the roman catholic church
  • Similar words include: pontiff, Catholic Pope, Vicar of Christ
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "54. Jingle or ditty"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Filing job, for short?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "56. Touch"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "57. ___ Menken, composer of "Little Shop of Horrors""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "58. Poems of praise"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  • Similar words include: ode
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "59. More than a few, but less than a lot"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
  • Similar words include: approximately, around, roughly
  • Opposite of: no
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "60. A village in Wales has one with 58 letters — the world's longest"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a language unit by which a person or thing is known
  • Similar words include: gens, key, distinguish
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "61. It might read "Miss Universe""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a framework that holds the panes of a window in the window frame
  • Similar words include: waistcloth, girdle, window sash
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "62. Burn the surface of"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "63. "Curses!""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Spree 3
2D 2. What the number of candles on a birthday cake signifies 3
3D 3. High-waisted fashion trend of the 1990s 8
4D 4. Physiques that aren't quite perfect 7
5D 5. Copies 4
6D 6. Actor's workplace 3
7D 7. Cut out 3
8D 8. Thomas ___, early political cartoonist and critic of Boss Tweed 4
9D 9. "Sign me up!" 7
10D 10. Reality show starring the "Fab Five" 8
11D 11. Big coffee holder 3
12D 12. Dated 3
13D 20. Newswoman Curry 3
14D 22. Before, to Shakespeare 3
15D 23. Certain members of a police dept. 4
16D 24. Musical threesome 4
17D 26. Go on before the main show, say 4
18D 27. Liquors that go in Manhattans 4
19D 29. Superfan's ticket purchase 10
20D 30. It measures audience feedback 10
21D 33. Ballerina's skirt 4
22D 34. Gait faster than a walk 4
23D 37. Give a tut-tut, e.g. 8
24D 39. Place to hang a fedora 8
25D 41. Classic archery wood 3
26D 42. Shiba ___ (Japanese hunting dog) 3
27D 43. PiΓ±a ___ 6
28D 44. Makes up (for) 6
29D 45. Sight-related 6
30D 46. Southernmost country in Central America 6
31D 47. Short office messages 5
32D 49. Core belief 5
33D 52. Thin woodwind 4
34D 53. Pouncing predator 4

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Spree"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp projection on an edge or surface
  • Similar words include: dag
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JAG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. What the number of candles on a birthday cake signifies"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. High-waisted fashion trend of the 1990s"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Physiques that aren't quite perfect"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Copies"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various primates with short tails or no tail at all
  • Similar words include: aper, imitator, ape
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Actor's workplace"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Cut out"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle
  • Similar words include: ax
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AXE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Thomas ___, early political cartoonist and critic of Boss Tweed"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states political cartoonist (1840-1902)
  • Similar words include: Thomas Nast
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. "Sign me up!""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Reality show starring the "Fab Five""

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Big coffee holder"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Dated"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that past times (especially in the phrase `in days of old')
  • Similar words include: sometime, onetime, erstwhile
  • Opposite of: new, young
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "20. Newswoman Curry"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "22. Before, to Shakespeare"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "23. Certain members of a police dept."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Musical threesome"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
  • Similar words include: ternary, tercet, troika
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Go on before the main show, say"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
  • Similar words include: undecided, outdoors, unfastened
  • Opposite of: fold, covert
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Liquors that go in Manhattans"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the seed of the cereal grass
  • Similar words include: rye, Secale cereale, rye whiskey
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RYES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Superfan's ticket purchase"

10 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. It measures audience feedback"

10 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "33. Ballerina's skirt"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that south african prelate and leader of the antiapartheid struggle (born in 1931)
  • Similar words include: ballet skirt, Desmond Tutu
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUTU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Gait faster than a walk"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slow pace of running
  • Similar words include: jog, lope, clip
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "37. Give a tut-tut, e.g."

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that admonish or counsel in terms of someone's behavior
  • Similar words include: monish, caution, warn
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADMONISH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "39. Place to hang a fedora"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "41. Classic archery wood"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wood of a yew; especially the durable fine-grained light brown or red wood of the english yew valued for cabinetwork and archery bows
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "42. Shiba ___ (Japanese hunting dog)"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "43. PiΓ±a ___"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Makes up (for)"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make amends for
  • Similar words include: repent, aby, abye
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATONES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Sight-related"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that combination of lenses at the viewing end of optical instruments
  • Similar words include: optical, visual, opthalmic
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OCULAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Southernmost country in Central America"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic on the isthmus of panama; achieved independence from colombia in 1903
  • Similar words include: leghorn, Republic of Panama, Panama hat
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PANAMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Short office messages"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a written proposal or reminder
  • Similar words include: memoranda, memo, memorandum
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEMOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "49. Core belief"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof
  • Similar words include: dogma
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TENET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Thin woodwind"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slender double-reed instrument; a woodwind with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece
  • Similar words include: hautbois, hautboy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Pouncing predator"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large american feline resembling a lion
  • Similar words include: panther, cougar, painter
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PUMA

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

37 Across Clues
34 Down Clues
71 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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Last updated: June 01, 2026 at 09:00 AM