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Wednesday, August 12, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 12, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Mentions by username, on social media 4
2A 5. High range 6
3A 11. Hits up on Insta, say 3
4A 14. ___ vez (again, in Spanish) 4
5A 15. Torment 6
6A 16. On the sea, it's akin to "Sí" 3
7A 17. Where Docs and Sheets are stored 11
8A 19. Jordan joined it in 1984, for short 3
9A 20. Pal 5
10A 21. Only number that appears twice in the Fibonacci sequence 3
11A 22. Rip-off 4
12A 23. Measurements of Wi-Fi performance 13
13A 27. Didn't have a match in Go Fish, say 4
14A 28. Feeling little to no amorous attraction, in L.G.B.T.Q.+ lingo 3
15A 29. Identity prefix 3
16A 32. Baldwin with a record 17 appearances as "Saturday Night Live" host 4
17A 35. Unwanted divisions 5
18A 38. Web volume measured in hits ... or a hint to 17-, 23-, 49- and 61-Across 15
19A 42. 2024 film that won Best Picture 5
20A 43. Boba tea flavor 4
21A 44. Word with run or resort 3
22A 45. Throw, for instance 3
23A 46. Buddhist leader 4
24A 49. Major consequence of a virus, perhaps 13
25A 55. Extreme craving 4
26A 56. "OK," in Osaka 3
27A 57. "Like ___!" ("Whatever!") 5
28A 60. "Sorry, it's ___ from me" 3
29A 61. Cause of some slow data transfers 11
30A 64. Highly monitored area, for short 3
31A 65. Flowery 6
32A 66. Affinity for something, so to speak 4
33A 67. Home of Emanuel Leutze's "Washington Crossing the Delaware," with "the" 3
34A 68. Snipes of "White Men Can't Jump" 6
35A 69. Baking amts. 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Mentions by username, on social media"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a label written or printed on paper, cardboard, or plastic that is attached to something to indicate its owner, nature, price, etc.
  • Similar words include: tail, go after, ticket
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. High range"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the pitch range of the highest female voice
  • Similar words include: threefold, three-fold, double
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREBLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Hits up on Insta, say"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that diabetes caused by a relative or absolute deficiency of insulin and characterized by polyuria
  • Similar words include: DM, dm, decimeter
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. ___ vez (again, in Spanish)"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Torment"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cultivator that pulverizes or smooths the soil
  • Similar words include: disk
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARROW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. On the sea, it's akin to "Sí""

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Where Docs and Sheets are stored"

11 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Jordan joined it in 1984, for short"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Pal"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a friend or comrade
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMIGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Only number that appears twice in the Fibonacci sequence"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
  • Similar words include: 1, peerless, nonpareil
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Rip-off"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fraudulent business scheme
  • Similar words include: defraud, gyp, con
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Measurements of Wi-Fi performance"

13 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Didn't have a match in Go Fish, say"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states actor (born in ireland); father of georgiana emma barrymore (1827-1862)
  • Similar words include: thread, trace, pass
  • Opposite of: repel, deposit
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DREW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Feeling little to no amorous attraction, in L.G.B.T.Q.+ lingo"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Identity prefix"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an alliance made up of states that had been soviet socialist republics in the soviet union prior to its dissolution in dec 1991
  • Similar words include: Commonwealth of Independent States, Ci, curie
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Baldwin with a record 17 appearances as "Saturday Night Live" host"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Unwanted divisions"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a gap between cloud masses
  • Similar words include: breach, rift, falling out
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIFTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "38. Web volume measured in hits ... or a hint to 17-, 23-, 49- and 61-Across"

15 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "42. 2024 film that won Best Picture"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "43. Boba tea flavor"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that edible starchy tuberous root of taro plants
  • Similar words include: dasheen, taro root, edda
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TARO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "44. Word with run or resort"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that narrow wood or metal or plastic runners used in pairs for gliding over snow
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SKI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. Throw, for instance"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that floor covering consisting of a piece of thick heavy fabric (usually with nap or pile)
  • Similar words include: carpet, carpeting
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. Buddhist leader"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tibetan or mongolian priest of lamaism
  • Similar words include: genus Lama
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "49. Major consequence of a virus, perhaps"

13 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "55. Extreme craving"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strong sexual desire
  • Similar words include: hunger, lecherousness, crave
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "56. "OK," in Osaka"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "57. "Like ___!" ("Whatever!")"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "60. "Sorry, it's ___ from me""

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a palestinian international terrorist organization that split from the plo in 1974; has conducted terrorist attacks in 20 countries
  • Similar words include: Revolutionary Organization of Socialist Muslims, Abu Nidal Organization, Black September
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "61. Cause of some slow data transfers"

11 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "64. Highly monitored area, for short"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hospital unit staffed and equipped to provide intensive care
  • Similar words include: intensive care unit
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "65. Flowery"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by elaborate rhetoric and elaborated with decorative details; ; -john milton
  • Similar words include: flowery
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORNATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "66. Affinity for something, so to speak"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
  • Similar words include: wind, poke, olfactory organ
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "67. Home of Emanuel Leutze's "Washington Crossing the Delaware," with "the""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come together
  • Similar words include: fill, receive, run across
  • Opposite of: diverge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "68. Snipes of "White Men Can't Jump""

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english clergyman and brother of john wesley who wrote many hymns (1707-1788)
  • Similar words include: John Wesley, Charles Wesley
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WESLEY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "69. Baking amts."

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Party wrap 4
2D 2. Bit of chemistry 4
3D 3. Bad thing to pull while running 5
4D 4. Failed under pressure, in a way 6
5D 5. Hot French beverage 3
6D 6. "Sick, dude!" 3
7D 7. What a bug may cause 5
8D 8. Cusp 5
9D 9. Is gaga for 5
10D 10. Farm female 3
11D 11. "Battles" of those busting moves 9
12D 12. "I messed up" 5
13D 13. Lines in mines 5
14D 18. Tolkien fantasy series inits. 4
15D 22. Little flourish on a letter 5
16D 24. Break off gradually 4
17D 25. Barn nestling 5
18D 26. Lawyer's aide, informally 4
19D 29. Org. in the Jack Ryan movies 3
20D 30. Tabard ___, locale in "The Canterbury Tales" 3
21D 31. Leaves in a huff 9
22D 33. Greek letter representing elasticity in economics 3
23D 34. PC "copy" shortcut 5
24D 36. ___Tok 3
25D 37. STEM part: Abbr. 3
26D 39. Go ballistic 5
27D 40. Big name in pasta sauce 4
28D 41. Pride sound 4
29D 47. ___ Marian (English folklore heroine) 4
30D 48. It's on the up and up 6
31D 49. Fraud victim's filing 5
32D 50. Perfumery unit 5
33D 51. "And ... voilà!" 5
34D 52. Comes to deserve 5
35D 53. Measure up to, as in competition 5
36D 54. Nickname for M.L.B.'s Angels 5
37D 58. Feature of one's voice following a loud concert, say 4
38D 59. Potato discards 4
39D 61. Farm female 3
40D 62. It ends in septembre 3
41D 63. Singer Lana Del ___ 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Party wrap"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a one-piece cloak worn by men in ancient rome
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOGA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Bit of chemistry"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element
  • Similar words include: speck, molecule, corpuscle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATOM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Bad thing to pull while running"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the crease at the junction of the inner part of the thigh with the trunk together with the adjacent region and often including the external genitals
  • Similar words include: breakwater, seawall, bulwark
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GROIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Failed under pressure, in a way"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
  • Similar words include: droop, flag, sag down
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGGED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Hot French beverage"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. "Sick, dude!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material
  • Similar words include: radian
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. What a bug may cause"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Cusp"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a region marking a boundary
  • Similar words include: verge, threshold
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRINK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Is gaga for"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
  • Similar words include: roll in the hay, hump, fuck
  • Opposite of: hate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Farm female"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. "Battles" of those busting moves"

9 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "I messed up""

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Lines in mines"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that joint consisting of a line formed by joining two pieces
  • Similar words include: wrinkle, bed, seam
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Tolkien fantasy series inits."

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Little flourish on a letter"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a short line at the end of the main strokes of a character
  • Similar words include: seriph
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SERIF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Break off gradually"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that gradually deprive (infants and young mammals) of mother's milk
  • Similar words include: ablactate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Barn nestling"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Lawyer's aide, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered
  • Similar words include: Feliz Lusitania, paratrooper, Belem
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Org. in the Jack Ryan movies"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an independent agency of the united states government responsible for collecting and coordinating intelligence and counterintelligence activities abroad in the national interest; headed by the director of central intelligence under the supervision of the president and national security council
  • Similar words include: Central Intelligence Agency
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Tabard ___, locale in "The Canterbury Tales""

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Leaves in a huff"

9 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Greek letter representing elasticity in economics"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "34. PC "copy" shortcut"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. ___Tok"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. STEM part: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Go ballistic"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that start abruptly
  • Similar words include: flare up, break, break through
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERUPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. Big name in pasta sauce"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "41. Pride sound"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a deep prolonged loud noise
  • Similar words include: holler, bellow, hollo
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "47. ___ Marian (English folklore heroine)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "48. It's on the up and up"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an upward slope or grade (as in a road)
  • Similar words include: upgrade, climb, rising
  • Opposite of: fall, descent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASCENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "49. Fraud victim's filing"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an assertion of a right (as to money or property)
  • Similar words include: take, call, arrogate
  • Opposite of: forfeit, disclaim
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLAIM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. Perfumery unit"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of apothecary weight equal to 480 grains or one twelfth of a pound
  • Similar words include: oz., snow leopard, troy ounce
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUNCE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "51. "And ... voilà!""

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a location other than here; that place
  • Similar words include: at that place, in that respect, in that location
  • Opposite of: here
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THERE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. Comes to deserve"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages
  • Similar words include: realise, bring in, garner
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EARNS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "53. Measure up to, as in competition"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the contestant you hope to defeat
  • Similar words include: equal, competition, challenger
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "54. Nickname for M.L.B.'s Angels"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an indication of radiant light drawn around the head of a saint
  • Similar words include: aura, glory, aureole
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HALOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. Feature of one's voice following a loud concert, say"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that uttering in an irritated tone
  • Similar words include: rasping, wood file
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RASP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Potato discards"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "61. Farm female"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adult female hog
  • Similar words include: seed, inseminate, sow in
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "62. It ends in septembre"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "63. Singer Lana Del ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

35 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
76 Total Clues

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Last updated: August 12, 2026 at 05:10 AM

Thursday, July 2, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers July 02, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Flying high 5
2A 6. Romulus and Remus, e.g., for short 4
3A 10. "Hey ...!" 4
4A 14. Skateboarding trick 5
5A 15. "There is nothing on earth so powerful as an ___ whose time has come" (proverb) 4
6A 16. Bird related to the 46-Down 4
7A 17. City center, often 5
8A 18. Groups at the First Continental Congress in 1774 11
9A 20. "Les ___" 3
10A 21. Open mic performer, often 4
11A 22. Setting of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" 4
12A 23. 10 Hamiltons 8
13A 25. American Revolution heroes 8
14A 27. Fig. at a bus depot 3
15A 28. Defeats convincingly 7
16A 31. Fancy Dan 3
17A 32. Daiquiri flavor 6
18A 34. Bit of lore 4
19A 35. Overdo it at the beach, say 3
20A 36. George Washington's presidential status on February 4, 1789 5
21A 37. Chrome alternative 6
22A 39. Simple wooden shoes 6
23A 42. Last full year of John Adams's presidency 5
24A 46. Heart chart, for short 3
25A 49. Fail to engage 4
26A 50. Jewish mysticism 6
27A 52. "Nixon in China" tenor 3
28A 53. Periodic survey started under Secy. of State Thomas Jefferson 8
29A 55. Trunk part 3
30A 56. Disunites 6
31A 58. "Father of the Constitution" and his family 8
32A 60. Like the Revolutionary War battles led by John Paul Jones 5
33A 61. Apple Store offerings 4
34A 63. Show of friendliness 3
35A 64. First signer of the Declaration of Independence 11
36A 66. "The Divine ___" (showbiz nickname) 5
37A 68. Conglomeration 4
38A 69. Regarding, on a memo 4
39A 70. Soul singer Adams 5
40A 71. Angler's hope 4
41A 72. TV programmer's slate, in brief 4
42A 73. American settlement until 1776 ... or a hint to 13 squares in this puzzle 6

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Flying high"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure
  • Similar words include: glad, well-chosen, felicitous
  • Opposite of: unhappy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAPPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Romulus and Remus, e.g., for short"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person's brother or sister
  • Similar words include: sibling, cognate, sib
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. "Hey ...!""

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Skateboarding trick"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. "There is nothing on earth so powerful as an ___ whose time has come" (proverb)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
  • Similar words include: theme, estimation, musical theme
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Bird related to the 46-Down"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fertility goddess in ancient greek mythology; wife of cronus and mother of zeus; identified with roman ops and cybele of ancient asia minor
  • Similar words include: Rhea americana, Pterocnemia pennata, nandu
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RHEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. City center, often"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public square with room for pedestrians
  • Similar words include: place, mall, shopping mall
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLAZA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Groups at the First Continental Congress in 1774"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a group of representatives or delegates
  • Similar words include: commission, delegacy, relegation
  • Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DELEGATIONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Les ___""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Open mic performer, often"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Setting of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the siouan people formerly living in iowa and minnesota and missouri
  • Similar words include: Ioway, IA, Hawkeye State
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOWA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. 10 Hamiltons"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that gum resin used especially in treating skin irritation
  • Similar words include: benzoin, gum benjamin, asa dulcis
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BENJAMIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. American Revolution heroes"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one who loves and defends his or her country
  • Similar words include: nationalist, patriot
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PATRIOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Fig. at a bus depot"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "28. Defeats convincingly"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Fancy Dan"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
  • Similar words include: fashion plate, clotheshorse, swell
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Daiquiri flavor"

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!

18A: "34. Bit of lore"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
  • Similar words include: narrative, fib, story
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TALE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "35. Overdo it at the beach, say"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english painter and art critic (1866-1934)
  • Similar words include: nipper, electrocute, Roger Fry
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "36. George Washington's presidential status on February 4, 1789"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an exclusive group of people
  • Similar words include: chosen, elite
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELECT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "37. Chrome alternative"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "39. Simple wooden shoes"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shoe carved from a single block of wood
  • Similar words include: patten, wooden shoe, geta
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SABOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. Last full year of John Adams's presidency"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Heart chart, for short"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a graphical recording of the cardiac cycle produced by an electrocardiograph
  • Similar words include: EKG, cardiogram, electrocardiogram
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ECG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "49. Fail to engage"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who evokes boredom
  • Similar words include: tire, digest, have a bun in the oven
  • Opposite of: interest
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "50. Jewish mysticism"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an esoteric or occult matter resembling the kabbalah that is traditionally secret
  • Similar words include: kabbalah, kabala, qabala
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CABALA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "52. "Nixon in China" tenor"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of many body compounds (e.g., epinephrine and norepinephrine and serotonin)
  • Similar words include: Mao Zedong, Mao Tsetung, monoamine oxidase
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. Periodic survey started under Secy. of State Thomas Jefferson"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Trunk part"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that support resembling the rib of an animal
  • Similar words include: make fun, blackguard, roast
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "56. Disunites"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that undo the ties of
  • Similar words include: unbrace, untie, loosen
  • Opposite of: tie
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNTIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. "Father of the Constitution" and his family"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that 4th president of the united states; member of the continental congress and rapporteur at the constitutional convention in 1776; helped frame the bill of rights (1751-1836)
  • Similar words include: President Madison, capital of Wisconsin, Madison
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MADISONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Like the Revolutionary War battles led by John Paul Jones"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that connected with or belonging to or used in a navy
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Apple Store offerings"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
  • Similar words include: mack, macintosh, mackintosh
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MACS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "63. Show of friendliness"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tight or amorous embrace
  • Similar words include: squeeze, bosom, clinch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "64. First signer of the Declaration of Independence"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "66. "The Divine ___" (showbiz nickname)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "68. Conglomeration"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "69. Regarding, on a memo"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "70. Soul singer Adams"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40A: "71. Angler's hope"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a wound resulting from biting by an animal or a person
  • Similar words include: chomp, seize with teeth, morsel
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BITE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41A: "72. TV programmer's slate, in brief"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42A: "73. American settlement until 1776 ... or a hint to 13 squares in this puzzle"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government
  • Similar words include: settlement, dependency
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COLONY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Word with bar or bunny 3
2D 2. Unadulterated by plastic, say 8
3D 3. Ordinary 9
4D 4. You knead dough to make it 5
5D 5. A word of support 3
6D 6. Location of "Sloop John B" on the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album 7
7D 7. Just chillaxing 4
8D 8. Salad ingredient often paired with goat cheese 4
9D 9. Long account 4
10D 10. A ___ 6
11D 11. Hot dog on a roll? 7
12D 12. One whose qualifications are enumerated in Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution 7
13D 13. Some coll. instructors 3
14D 19. Uneasy giggle 6
15D 21. Printing size 4
16D 23. Two-time Tony winner Neuwirth 4
17D 24. "Yowza!" 3
18D 25. Comedian Poundstone 5
19D 26. Bug exterminator? 3
20D 29. ___ Island 6
21D 30. Graceless ones 4
22D 33. Gets going 4
23D 37. Ticked off 4
24D 38. Website that added podcast info in 2021 4
25D 40. Granada grandma 6
26D 41. Pears used for cooking 5
27D 43. Musical with the song "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" 8
28D 44. Doesn't let go of 8
29D 45. Street fleet 4
30D 46. World's second-tallest bird 3
31D 47. Trattoria treat in a shell 7
32D 48. Doubled, say 7
33D 50. Things to chew on 4
34D 51. Start to live and breathe? 3
35D 54. Kissed or whacked 7
36D 57. Rowena's love, in fiction 7
37D 59. 1970 Neil Diamond song about an imaginary childhood friend 5
38D 61. One living an orderly life? 4
39D 62. 4,840 square yards 4
40D 64. ZipRecruiter listing 3
41D 65. CBS drama starting in 2003 4
42D 66. Soft slip-on, for short 3
43D 67. Lots of 4

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Word with bar or bunny"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of hopping; jumping upward or forward (especially on one foot)
  • Similar words include: hop-skip, skip, hops
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Unadulterated by plastic, say"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Ordinary"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. You knead dough to make it"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that italian open pie made of thin bread dough spread with a spiced mixture of e.g. tomato sauce and cheese
  • Similar words include: pizza pie
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIZZA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. A word of support"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an affirmative
  • Similar words include: yeah
  • Opposite of: nay
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Location of "Sloop John B" on the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Just chillaxing"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Salad ingredient often paired with goat cheese"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that biennial eurasian plant usually having a swollen edible root; widely cultivated as a food crop
  • Similar words include: common beet, beetroot, Beta vulgaris
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Long account"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrative telling the adventures of a hero or a family; originally (12th to 14th centuries) a story of the families that settled iceland and their descendants but now any prose narrative that resembles such an account
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. A ___"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Hot dog on a roll?"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. One whose qualifications are enumerated in Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a senate
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENATOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Some coll. instructors"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hard grey lustrous metallic element that is highly resistant to corrosion; occurs in niobite and fergusonite and tantalite
  • Similar words include: tantalum, Ta, atomic number 73
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. Uneasy giggle"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a nervous restrained laugh
  • Similar words include: giggle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TITTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Printing size"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an eating disorder, frequent in children, in which non-nutritional objects are eaten persistently
  • Similar words include: pica em, em, genus Pica
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PICA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Two-time Tony winner Neuwirth"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. "Yowza!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
  • Similar words include: humankind, human race, valet
  • Opposite of: civilian, woman
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Comedian Poundstone"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Bug exterminator?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. ___ Island"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Graceless ones"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an awkward stupid person
  • Similar words include: gawk, lout, lummox
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAFS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Gets going"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a new testament book describing the development of the early church from christ's ascension to paul's sojourn at rome
  • Similar words include: human activity, dissemble, do
  • Opposite of: refrain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "37. Ticked off"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an open skin infection
  • Similar words include: mad, tender, painful
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Website that added podcast info in 2021"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. Granada grandma"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "41. Pears used for cooking"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that greenish-yellow pear
  • Similar words include: bosc
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOSCS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "43. Musical with the song "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?""

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a conveyer belt that carries luggage to be claimed by air travelers
  • Similar words include: whirligig, roundabout, carrousel
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAROUSEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Doesn't let go of"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Street fleet"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. World's second-tallest bird"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various systems of units for measuring electricity and magnetism
  • Similar words include: Emu novaehollandiae, electromagnetic unit, Dromaius novaehollandiae
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Trattoria treat in a shell"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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32D: "48. Doubled, say"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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33D: "50. Things to chew on"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that food of a ruminant regurgitated to be chewed again
  • Similar words include: wad, chew, chaw
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUDS

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34D: "51. Start to live and breathe?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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35D: "54. Kissed or whacked"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that deliver a hard blow to
  • Similar words include: peck, thwack, smack
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMACKED

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36D: "57. Rowena's love, in fiction"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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37D: "59. 1970 Neil Diamond song about an imaginary childhood friend"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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38D: "61. One living an orderly life?"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work
  • Similar words include: Thelonious Sphere Monk, Thelonious Monk, monastic
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MONK

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39D: "62. 4,840 square yards"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of area (4840 square yards) used in english-speaking countries
  • Similar words include: Akko, Akka, Accho
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACRE

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40D: "64. ZipRecruiter listing"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money
  • Similar words include: caper, line of work, line
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOB

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41D: "65. CBS drama starting in 2003"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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42D: "66. Soft slip-on, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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43D: "67. Lots of"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `as' or `too' or `so' or `that'; amounting to a large but indefinite number
  • Opposite of: few
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MANY

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Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

42 Across Clues
43 Down Clues
85 Total Clues

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Last updated: July 02, 2026 at 06:53 AM