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Wednesday, September 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 16, 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. Important info to have while you're waiting in a cellphone lot, for short 3
2A 4. Fall or fell 6
3A 10. Cause of a sudden change in interest, informally? 4
4A 14. Close 4
5A 15. Pho soup garnishes 7
6A 16. Conduit of neural signals 4
7A 17. Early models 10
8A 19. Relative of a gull 4
9A 20. "Ain't gonna happen" 4
10A 21. Big bang cause 3
11A 22. Chilling 5
12A 24. The remotest of remote jobs? 9
13A 27. Kid 5
14A 28. Supermodel Banks 4
15A 29. Break into loud cheers, as a crowd 5
16A 31. Answer to "Who's ready to go?" 3
17A 33. Broadcast 3
18A 35. Uno + due 3
19A 36. Mononymous Irish singer 4
20A 37. Animated film that was the highest-grossing movie of 1992 7
21A 41. "Impossible!" 7
22A 43. Hibernation spots 4
23A 44. Dip target, maybe 3
24A 46. Things entered in a sudoku grid: Abbr. 3
25A 47. Messy dorm room, figuratively 3
26A 48. Fruits often seen in still lifes 5
27A 50. Take back, for short 4
28A 53. City haze 4
29A 55. Canine guard? 8
30A 57. Dishwasher cycle 5
31A 59. "A form of madness," it's said 3
32A 60. Actress Pinkett Smith of "Girls Trip" 4
33A 62. Singer/songwriter Mitchell 4
34A 63. Fruits named after a mythical drink 10
35A 66. Noted cartoon dog 5
36A 67. Its first video, "Me at the zoo," has over 400 million views 7
37A 68. State whose outline can be made by connecting seven particular squares in this puzzle 4
38A 69. Valley 4
39A 70. Give a once-over 6
40A 71. Crafty 3

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Important info to have while you're waiting in a cellphone lot, for short"

3 letters Category: Common Word

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: Basque Homeland and Freedom, Euskadi ta Askatasuna, Basque Fatherland and Liberty
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "4. Fall or fell"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fall down, as if collapsing
  • Similar words include: tip, tumble
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOPPLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Cause of a sudden change in interest, informally?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Close"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
  • Similar words include: closed, exclude, shut out
  • Opposite of: admit, open
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Pho soup garnishes"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any new growth of a plant such as a new branch or a bud
  • Similar words include: bourgeon, stock, sprout
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPROUTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Conduit of neural signals"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Early models"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a standard or typical example
  • Similar words include: prototype, image, paradigm
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROTOTYPES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Relative of a gull"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small slender gull having narrow wings and a forked tail
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TERN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Ain't gonna happen""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Big bang cause"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that explosive consisting of a yellow crystalline compound that is a flammable toxic derivative of toluene
  • Similar words include: trinitrotoluene
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TNT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Chilling"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. The remotest of remote jobs?"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person trained to travel in a spacecraft
  • Similar words include: cosmonaut, spaceman
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASTRONAUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Kid"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a young person (especially a young man or boy)
  • Similar words include: young, early days, spring chicken
  • Opposite of: aged
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YOUTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Supermodel Banks"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Break into loud cheers, as a crowd"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Answer to "Who's ready to go?""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Broadcast"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Uno + due"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "36. Mononymous Irish singer"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "37. Animated film that was the highest-grossing movie of 1992"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in the arabian nights a boy who acquires a magic lamp from which he can summon a genie
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALADDIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. "Impossible!""

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. Hibernation spots"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the habitation of wild animals
  • Similar words include: hideaway, den, hideout
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Dip target, maybe"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Things entered in a sudoku grid: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a radioactive transuranic element synthesized by bombarding curium with carbon ions; 7 isotopes are known
  • Similar words include: No, no, nobelium
  • Opposite of: yes
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "47. Messy dorm room, figuratively"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "48. Fruits often seen in still lifes"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. Take back, for short"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. City haze"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that air pollution by a mixture of smoke and fog
  • Similar words include: smogginess
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMOG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Canine guard?"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fee charged in advance to retain the services of someone
  • Similar words include: consideration, servant
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RETAINER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Dishwasher cycle"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a liquid preparation used on wet hair to give it a tint
  • Similar words include: rinsing, wash, gargle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RINSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "59. "A form of madness," it's said"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Actress Pinkett Smith of "Girls Trip""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "62. Singer/songwriter Mitchell"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "63. Fruits named after a mythical drink"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that variety or mutation of the peach bearing fruit with smooth skin and (usually) yellow flesh
  • Similar words include: Prunus persica nectarina, nectarine tree, nectarine
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NECTARINES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "66. Noted cartoon dog"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cartoon character created by walt disney
  • Similar words include: Aides, Aidoneus, Hades
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLUTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "67. Its first video, "Me at the zoo," has over 400 million views"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "68. State whose outline can be made by connecting seven particular squares in this puzzle"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in the western united states; settled in 1847 by mormons led by brigham young
  • Similar words include: Mormon State, Beehive State, UT
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UTAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "69. Valley"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow secluded valley (in the mountains)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "70. Give a once-over"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of
  • Similar words include: value, appraise, tax
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40A: "71. Crafty"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Channel with "2" and "U" spinoffs 4
2D 2. Pharynx setting 6
3D 3. Post-mortem 7
4D 4. General on a Chinese menu 3
5D 5. Decide one will 5
6D 6. Hester of "The Scarlet Letter" 6
7D 7. Grab-and-go breakfast option 7
8D 8. Guitar relative 4
9D 9. Gas brand seen in Edward Hopper's "Portrait of Orleans" 4
10D 10. Betting odds, e.g. 5
11D 11. Concern for a gymnastics judge 9
12D 12. Certain pickleball shot 8
13D 13. Greenwich Village's Stonewall, e.g. 3
14D 18. Groups of four 7
15D 23. Paper competing with the W.S.J. 3
16D 25. Debugger? 4
17D 26. Remedy for a missed exit 5
18D 30. Lowly worker 4
19D 32. Farm sound 3
20D 34. Ready to eat 4
21D 36. Small hound that doesn't bark 7
22D 37. What a premium subscription may help you avoid 3
23D 38. "Time to go!" 8
24D 39. Very soon 9
25D 40. By 4
26D 42. What "Coco" is a nickname for, for tennis's Coco Gauff 4
27D 45. Military hairstyles 8
28D 48. Family-friendly movie ratings 3
29D 49. The Sphinx, for one 6
30D 51. Classic comic strip that's the source for nine Emmys and two Tonys 7
31D 52. Folding a fitted sheet, it may seem 6
32D 54. Edible bulb 5
33D 56. Many Moroccans 5
34D 58. Mononymous Irish singer 4
35D 61. Grayish 4
36D 62. Profile pic format, in brief 3
37D 64. Dawn deity 3
38D 65. In medias ___ 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Channel with "2" and "U" spinoffs"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Pharynx setting"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the passage to the stomach and lungs; in the front part of the neck below the chin and above the collarbone
  • Similar words include: pharynx
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THROAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Post-mortem"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease
  • Similar words include: post-mortem, PM, post-mortem examination
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AUTOPSY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. General on a Chinese menu"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Decide one will"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Hester of "The Scarlet Letter""

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Grab-and-go breakfast option"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Guitar relative"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a substance for packing a joint or coating a porous surface to make it impervious to gas or liquid
  • Similar words include: luting
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUTE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Gas brand seen in Edward Hopper's "Portrait of Orleans""

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Betting odds, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient)
  • Similar words include: proportion
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RATIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Concern for a gymnastics judge"

9 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that putting a condemned person to death
  • Similar words include: instruction execution, writ of execution, execution of instrument
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXECUTION

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Certain pickleball shot"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (sports) a return made with the palm of the hand facing the direction of the stroke (as in tennis or badminton or squash)
  • Similar words include: forehanded, forehand stroke, forehand shot
  • Opposite of: backhand
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOREHAND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Greenwich Village's Stonewall, e.g."

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Groups of four"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
  • Similar words include: IV, tetrad, quaternity
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TETRADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "23. Paper competing with the W.S.J."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Debugger?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden short attack
  • Similar words include: foray, bust, maraud
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Remedy for a missed exit"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "30. Lowly worker"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a laborer who is obliged to do menial work
  • Similar words include: navvy, drudge, galley slave
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "32. Farm sound"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a cow or bull
  • Similar words include: low
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "34. Ready to eat"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fully developed or matured and ready to be eaten or used
  • Similar words include: mature, good, advanced
  • Opposite of: green
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "36. Small hound that doesn't bark"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small smooth-haired breed of african origin having a tightly curled tail and the inability to bark
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASENJI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "37. What a premium subscription may help you avoid"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public promotion of some product or service
  • Similar words include: ad, advert, advertizing
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "38. "Time to go!""

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "39. Very soon"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. By"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move towards
  • Similar words include: dear, draw near, approach
  • Opposite of: far
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "42. What "Coco" is a nickname for, for tennis's Coco Gauff"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "45. Military hairstyles"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "48. Family-friendly movie ratings"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. The Sphinx, for one"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sculpture representing a human or animal
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STATUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "51. Classic comic strip that's the source for nine Emmys and two Tonys"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an insignificant sum of money; a trifling amount
  • Similar words include: peanut, goober, peanut vine
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEANUTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "52. Folding a fitted sheet, it may seem"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a severe or trying experience
  • Similar words include: trial by ordeal
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORDEAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "54. Edible bulb"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the bulb of an onion plant
  • Similar words include: onion plant, Allium cepa
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONION

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "56. Many Moroccans"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a semitic people originally from the arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks arabic and who inhabits much of the middle east and northern africa
  • Similar words include: Arab, Arabian
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. Mononymous Irish singer"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "61. Grayish"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of a light grey
  • Similar words include: ash-grey, ash-gray
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASHY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "62. Profile pic format, in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "64. Dawn deity"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "65. In medias ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a widely distributed system consisting of all the cells able to ingest bacteria or colloidal particles etc, except for certain white blood cells
  • Similar words include: Re, rhenium, re
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RES

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

40 Across Clues
38 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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Last updated: September 16, 2026 at 08:43 AM

Monday, March 30, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers March 30, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Tricky

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Print, Copy, ___, Fax (printer selections) 4
2A 5. Former Giants QB Manning 3
3A 8. Element discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie 6
4A 14. Sparkling wine of Italy, familiarly 4
5A 15. Odd ___ out (misfit) 3
6A 16. "In spite of all that ..." 6
7A 17. Endless TikTok scrolling or Tetris playing, e.g. 8
8A 19. Rented 6
9A 20. Wastebasket, jokingly 12
10A 22. Only U.S. president from Delaware 5
11A 25. Grand production 4
12A 26. ___ Plaines, Ill. 3
13A 27. Smelter's material 3
14A 28. Popular sushi fish 3
15A 30. Like the Mariana Trench among all the world's underwater places 7
16A 33. Guy who goes a-courting 4
17A 35. "You've ___ this!" 3
18A 37. Rodeo rope 5
19A 38. Illegal distribution of narcotics 11
20A 42. Whimpers 5
21A 44. Right-angled shape 3
22A 45. Corner piece on a chessboard 4
23A 48. Top placement in a bracket, for a March Madness team 7
24A 51. Caustic paint stripper 3
25A 53. Be in arrears 3
26A 54. Onetime AT&T competitor 3
27A 55. Tiny amount 4
28A 57. Answer 5
29A 59. Where to pick up luggage at an airport 12
30A 63. Regrettably unfortunate 6
31A 64. Went into reverse ... or what the ends of 17-, 20-, 38- and 59-Across might be 8
32A 68. Word after Irish or jet 6
33A 69. Longtime record label or Beastie Boy 3
34A 70. Valentine's Day flower 4
35A 71. Size up 6
36A 72. Glide down a slope 3
37A 73. ___ of the Horse (2026 in the Chinese zodiac) 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Print, Copy, ___, Fax (printer selections)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Former Giants QB Manning"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "8. Element discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Sparkling wine of Italy, familiarly"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Odd ___ out (misfit)"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. "In spite of all that ...""

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Endless TikTok scrolling or Tetris playing, e.g."

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Rented"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that let for money
  • Similar words include: charter, hired, let
  • Opposite of: unchartered
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEASED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Wastebasket, jokingly"

12 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Only U.S. president from Delaware"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "25. Grand production"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "26. ___ Plaines, Ill."

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a potent estrogen used in medicine and in feed for livestock and poultry
  • Similar words include: stilboestrol, diethylstilboestrol, stilbestrol
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Smelter's material"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mineral that contains metal that is valuable enough to be mined
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Popular sushi fish"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in europe and america; large eels are usually smoked or pickled
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Like the Mariana Trench among all the world's underwater places"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that relatively deep or strong; affecting one deeply
  • Similar words include: cryptical, abstruse, cryptic
  • Opposite of: shallow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEEPEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Guy who goes a-courting"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a man who is the lover of a girl or young woman
  • Similar words include: fellow, gallant, dude
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEAU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. "You've ___ this!""

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
  • Similar words include: catch, gravel, contract
  • Opposite of: leave, end
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. Rodeo rope"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that belgian composer (1532-1594)
  • Similar words include: Orlando di Lasso, lariat, riata
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASSO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "38. Illegal distribution of narcotics"

11 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. Whimpers"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cry weakly or softly
  • Similar words include: wail, whimper, pule
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEWLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "44. Right-angled shape"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an extension at the end and at right angles to the main building
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. Corner piece on a chessboard"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard
  • Similar words include: mulct, victimize, hornswoggle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROOK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "48. Top placement in a bracket, for a March Madness team"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "51. Caustic paint stripper"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strong solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LYE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "53. Be in arrears"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "54. Onetime AT&T competitor"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "55. Tiny amount"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small indefinite quantity (especially of a liquid); ; ; ; --kipling
  • Similar words include: driblet, drop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRIB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "57. Answer"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation
  • Similar words include: response, answer, respond
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REPLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "59. Where to pick up luggage at an airport"

12 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "63. Regrettably unfortunate"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "64. Went into reverse ... or what the ends of 17-, 20-, 38- and 59-Across might be"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "68. Word after Irish or jet"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one who sets written material into type
  • Similar words include: typesetter, typographer, compositor
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SETTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "69. Longtime record label or Beastie Boy"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "70. Valentine's Day flower"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of many shrubs of the genus rosa that bear roses
  • Similar words include: rear, spring up, grow
  • Opposite of: go to bed, turn in
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "71. Size up"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of
  • Similar words include: tax, value, valuate
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "72. Glide down a slope"

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!

37A: "73. ___ of the Horse (2026 in the Chinese zodiac)"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
  • Similar words include: twelvemonth, yr, class
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Stayed on the bench 3
2D 2. Long-running CBS procedural with spinoffs 3
3D 3. Fixture at a "cash only" establishment 3
4D 4. Nephew's sister 5
5D 5. Dubai dignitary 4
6D 6. Round Table knight who betrayed King Arthur 8
7D 7. Cover with tattoos, colloquially 5
8D 8. Equip with new shoestrings 6
9D 9. State with certainty 4
10D 10. Like many users of sign language 4
11D 11. News exclusive from someone in the know 11
12D 12. Of no help 7
13D 13. California city with a humble-sounding name 7
14D 18. Basic trig ratio 4
15D 21. Box top 3
16D 22. Go up and down in the water 3
17D 23. Livid feeling 3
18D 24. Major drags on a team's progress, metaphorically 11
19D 29. Item in an Easter hunt 3
20D 31. Sprite 3
21D 32. Team of two 4
22D 34. Internet addresses, for short 4
23D 36. Uno + due 3
24D 39. Take advantage of 3
25D 40. Like the original Broadway cast of "The Wiz" 8
26D 41. Travel by air 3
27D 42. Kenya's second-largest city 7
28D 43. Boxes up securely 7
29D 46. "Wise" bird 3
30D 47. F sharp major, for one 3
31D 49. Lawn-neatening tools 6
32D 50. Rap's Dr. ___ 3
33D 52. Actor Estrada of "CHiPs" 4
34D 56. Warhead weapons, for short 5
35D 58. Manicurist's board 5
36D 60. Bit of boarding pass info 4
37D 61. Iowa college town 4
38D 62. "Superfood" berry 4
39D 65. Stag's mate 3
40D 66. Team for Olympians Simone Biles and Mikaela Shiffrin 3
41D 67. ___ capita 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Stayed on the bench"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Long-running CBS procedural with spinoffs"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Fixture at a "cash only" establishment"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Nephew's sister"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a daughter of your brother or sister
  • Opposite of: nephew
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIECE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Dubai dignitary"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an independent ruler or chieftain (especially in africa or arabia)
  • Similar words include: emeer, amir, ameer
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Round Table knight who betrayed King Arthur"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (arthurian legend) one of the knights of the round table; friend of king arthur until (according to some versions of the legend) he became the lover of arthur's wife guinevere
  • Similar words include: Sir Lancelot
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LANCELOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Cover with tattoos, colloquially"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Equip with new shoestrings"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. State with certainty"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that report or maintain
  • Similar words include: allege, avow, affirm
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Like many users of sign language"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that people who have severe hearing impairments
  • Similar words include: deafen, indifferent
  • Opposite of: hearing
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEAF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. News exclusive from someone in the know"

11 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Of no help"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully
  • Opposite of: useful
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USELESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. California city with a humble-sounding name"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Basic trig ratio"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that ratio of the length of the side opposite the given angle to the length of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle
  • Similar words include: sin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Box top"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

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: hat, chapeau, palpebra
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "22. Go up and down in the water"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a former monetary unit in great britain
  • Similar words include: bobsleigh, bobber, dock
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "23. Livid feeling"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance
  • Similar words include: anger, wrath, ira
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "24. Major drags on a team's progress, metaphorically"

11 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Item in an Easter hunt"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that animal reproductive body consisting of an ovum or embryo together with nutritive and protective envelopes; especially the thin-shelled reproductive body laid by e.g. female birds
  • Similar words include: nut, bollock, testis
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "31. Sprite"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous
  • Similar words include: pixie, imp, gremlin
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Team of two"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a set of two similar things considered as a unit
  • Similar words include: yoke, dyad, couplet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Internet addresses, for short"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. Uno + due"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "39. Take advantage of"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of using
  • Similar words include: expend, apply, habituate
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. Like the original Broadway cast of "The Wiz""

8 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "41. Travel by air"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that two-winged insects characterized by active flight
  • Similar words include: take flight, vaporize, vanish
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. Kenya's second-largest city"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a port city in southern kenya on a coral island in a bay of the indian ocean
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOMBASA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Boxes up securely"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that enclose in, or as if in, a case
  • Similar words include: incase, encase, case
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENCASES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "46. "Wise" bird"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes
  • Similar words include: hooter, bird of Minerva, bird of night
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "47. F sharp major, for one"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
  • Similar words include: fundamental, identify, cay
  • Opposite of: atonality
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "49. Lawn-neatening tools"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who puts finishing edges on a garment
  • Similar words include: edger
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDGERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. Rap's Dr. ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Actor Estrada of "CHiPs""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "56. Warhead weapons, for short"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a ballistic missile that is capable of traveling from one continent to another
  • Similar words include: ICBM, intercontinental ballistic missile
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICBMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "58. Manicurist's board"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hard grey-black mineral consisting of corundum and either hematite or magnetite; used as an abrasive (especially as a coating on paper)
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMERY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "60. Bit of boarding pass info"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a movable barrier in a fence or wall
  • Similar words include: logic gate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "61. Iowa college town"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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38D: "62. "Superfood" berry"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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39D: "65. Stag's mate"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the federal department responsible for maintaining a national energy policy of the united states; created in 1977
  • Similar words include: Energy, Energy Department, Department of Energy
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOE

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40D: "66. Team for Olympians Simone Biles and Mikaela Shiffrin"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that north american republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in north america plus alaska in northwest north america and the hawaiian islands in the pacific ocean; achieved independence in 1776
  • Similar words include: America, Army, United States
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USA

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41D: "67. ___ capita"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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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

37 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: March 30, 2026 at 05:38 AM