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
- Across Clues Table (31 clues)
- Across Clues - Detailed Hints
- Down Clues Table (39 clues)
- Down Clues - Detailed Hints
- Expert Solving Strategies
- Today's Puzzle Statistics
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. Establishment that serves zombies, perhaps | 7 |
| 2A | 8. Adorn with raised lettering | 6 |
| 3A | 14. "Drink" for vocal critics | 8 |
| 4A | 15. European city that "waits for you," in a Billy Joel tune | 6 |
| 5A | 16. Nontraditional time for voting someone into office | 15 |
| 6A | 18. Redding who sang "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" | 4 |
| 7A | 19. God played by Anthony Hopkins in Marvel movies | 4 |
| 8A | 20. Church cross | 4 |
| 9A | 21. Florence-based fashion house | 5 |
| 10A | 24. Takes back a public statement | 7 |
| 11A | 26. What a waiter might offer to start you off | 12 |
| 12A | 29. Make a boo-boo | 3 |
| 13A | 30. ___ contendere (court plea) | 4 |
| 14A | 31. Spud | 5 |
| 15A | 35. Biting | 5 |
| 16A | 37. ___ Kippur | 3 |
| 17A | 39. Actress Bow of the silent film era | 5 |
| 18A | 40. Light show tool | 5 |
| 19A | 41. TV personality Kotb | 4 |
| 20A | 43. Clan | 3 |
| 21A | 44. Bit of movie magic | 12 |
| 22A | 48. "Essential" product used as an anti-acne treatment | 7 |
| 23A | 51. Take ___ of faith | 5 |
| 24A | 52. Place for a seafood dinner | 4 |
| 25A | 53. Classic Pontiacs | 4 |
| 26A | 55. Arcing tennis shots | 4 |
| 27A | 58. Condescending rhetorical question ... or what you might say about 16-, 26- and 44-Across? | 15 |
| 28A | 62. John in the sketch "The Fish-Slapping Dance" | 6 |
| 29A | 63. "Seems right," folksily | 8 |
| 30A | 64. Words a teenager might say with an eye roll | 6 |
| 31A | 65. Says OK | 7 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Establishment that serves zombies, perhaps"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIKIBAR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2A: "8. Adorn with raised lettering"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that raise in a relief
- Similar words include: boss, stamp
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMBOSS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3A: "14. "Drink" for vocal critics"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HATERADE
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4A: "15. European city that "waits for you," in a Billy Joel tune"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the capital and largest city of austria; located on the danube in northeastern austria; was the home of beethoven and brahms and haydn and mozart and schubert and strauss
- Similar words include: Austrian capital, capital of Austria
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIENNA
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5A: "16. Nontraditional time for voting someone into office"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OFFYEARELECTION
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6A: "18. Redding who sang "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that united states inventor who manufactured the first elevator with a safety device (1811-1861)
- Similar words include: genus Otis, Elisha Graves Otis
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTIS
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7A: "19. God played by Anthony Hopkins in Marvel movies"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (norse mythology) ruler of the aesir; supreme god of war and poetry and knowledge and wisdom (for which he gave an eye) and husband of frigg; identified with the teutonic wotan
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODIN
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8A: "20. Church cross"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that representation of the cross on which jesus died
- Similar words include: rood-tree, crucifix
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROOD
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9A: "21. Florence-based fashion house"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GUCCI
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10A: "24. Takes back a public statement"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
- Similar words include: abjure, resile, retract
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RECANTS
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11A: "26. What a waiter might offer to start you off"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOUPOFTHEDAY
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12A: "29. Make a boo-boo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that to make a mistake or be incorrect
- Similar words include: mistake, drift, slip
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERR
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13A: "30. ___ contendere (court plea)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOLO
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14A: "31. Spud"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an edible tuber native to south america; a staple food of ireland
- Similar words include: white potato, Irish potato, potato
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TATER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "35. Biting"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that sour or bitter in taste
- Similar words include: sulfurous, acerbic, vitriolic
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACERB
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16A: "37. ___ Kippur"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YOM
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17A: "39. Actress Bow of the silent film era"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLARA
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18A: "40. Light show tool"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; an optical device that produces an intense monochromatic beam of coherent light
- Similar words include: optical maser
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASER
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19A: "41. TV personality Kotb"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HODA
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20A: "43. Clan"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a person having kinship with another or others
- Similar words include: kindred, kinship group, kin group
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KIN
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21A: "44. Bit of movie magic"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VISUALEFFECT
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22A: "48. "Essential" product used as an anti-acne treatment"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGEOIL
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23A: "51. Take ___ of faith"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALEAP
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24A: "52. Place for a seafood dinner"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
- Similar words include: wharfage, dock, wharf
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "53. Classic Pontiacs"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GTOS
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26A: "55. Arcing tennis shots"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an easy return of a tennis ball in a high arc
- Similar words include: lob
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOBS
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27A: "58. Condescending rhetorical question ... or what you might say about 16-, 26- and 44-Across?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISNTTHATSPECIAL
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28A: "62. John in the sketch "The Fish-Slapping Dance""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLEESE
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29A: "63. "Seems right," folksily"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RECKONSO
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30A: "64. Words a teenager might say with an eye roll"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YESDAD
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31A: "65. Says OK"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that agreement with a statement or proposal to do something
- Similar words include: acquiesce, accede, acquiescence
- Opposite of: dissent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSENTS
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Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Mustachioed president who succeeded another mustachioed president in 1909 | 4 |
| 2D | 2. "Don't know why I thought any different!" | 9 |
| 3D | 3. Gets hyped | 6 |
| 4D | 4. Fury | 3 |
| 5D | 5. Farmyard bleat | 3 |
| 6D | 6. With deftness | 8 |
| 7D | 7. Clarinet, for one | 4 |
| 8D | 8. Made level | 6 |
| 9D | 9. Careful, this might be hot! | 3 |
| 10D | 10. Act of Judas | 8 |
| 11D | 11. Word with ring or roll | 5 |
| 12D | 12. Hoity-toity one | 5 |
| 13D | 13. Smooths, in a way | 5 |
| 14D | 14. "___ boy!" | 3 |
| 15D | 17. Old Italian money | 4 |
| 16D | 22. Musical notation that means "with vigor" | 7 |
| 17D | 23. Boardroom bigwig, in brief | 3 |
| 18D | 25. Spot to drink a matcha with a Manx | 7 |
| 19D | 26. Ocean prey for a 27-Down | 4 |
| 20D | 27. Ocean predator of a 26-Down | 4 |
| 21D | 28. Big to-do | 5 |
| 22D | 32. Be in charge, informally | 9 |
| 23D | 33. Protagonist of "That '70s Show" | 4 |
| 24D | 34. Speech full of invective | 4 |
| 25D | 36. Went back (to), as a prior state | 8 |
| 26D | 38. Epitome of slowness | 8 |
| 27D | 42. Director Guillermo ___ Toro | 3 |
| 28D | 45. Expressed frustration, maybe | 6 |
| 29D | 46. Beauty company whose Nasdaq ticker symbol is its name | 4 |
| 30D | 47. Atlanta athlete | 6 |
| 31D | 48. Risqué | 5 |
| 32D | 49. Walkway for newlyweds | 5 |
| 33D | 50. They're part of what makes you you | 5 |
| 34D | 54. "___ Noche en Miami" (Bad Bunny song) | 4 |
| 35D | 56. Low voice | 4 |
| 36D | 57. ___-mo | 3 |
| 37D | 59. Org. whose staffers wear royal blue uniforms | 3 |
| 38D | 60. Lenovo products, informally | 3 |
| 39D | 61. Just get (by) | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Mustachioed president who succeeded another mustachioed president in 1909"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that united states sculptor (1860-1936)
- Similar words include: Lorado Taft, William Howard Taft, President Taft
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAFT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. "Don't know why I thought any different!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ITFIGURES
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3D: "3. Gets hyped"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEYSUP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. Fury"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance
- Similar words include: wrath, anger, ira
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. Farmyard bleat"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the cry made by sheep
- Similar words include: bleat, blat, blate
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. With deftness"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that with adroitness; in an adroit manner
- Opposite of: maladroitly
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADROITLY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. Clarinet, for one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera arundo and phragmites
- Similar words include: beating-reed instrument, John Reed, Walter Reed
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REED
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Made level"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that make level or straight
- Similar words include: flush, level, even
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVENED
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. Careful, this might be hot!"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIC
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10D: "10. Act of Judas"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an act of deliberate betrayal
- Similar words include: treason, treachery, perfidy
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BETRAYAL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. Word with ring or roll"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the bulb of an onion plant
- Similar words include: Allium cepa, onion plant
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONION
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12D: "12. Hoity-toity one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a person regarded as arrogant and annoying
- Similar words include: prig, honker, schnoz
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNOOT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. Smooths, in a way"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the region of the shore of a lake or sea or ocean
- Similar words include: George Sand, moxie, Baroness Dudevant
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SANDS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14D: "14. "___ boy!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOO
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15D: "17. Old Italian money"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the basic unit of money on malta; equal to 100 cents
- Similar words include: Turkish lira, Maltese lira, lira
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIRE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "22. Musical notation that means "with vigor""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CONBRIO
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17D: "23. Boardroom bigwig, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the corporate executive having financial authority to make appropriations and authorize expenditures for a firm
- Similar words include: chief financial officer
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CFO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18D: "25. Spot to drink a matcha with a Manx"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CATCAFE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "26. Ocean prey for a 27-Down"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that fastener consisting of a resinous composition that is plastic when warm; used for sealing documents and parcels and letters
- Similar words include: sealing wax, Navy SEAL, seal off
- Opposite of: unseal
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "27. Ocean predator of a 26-Down"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas
- Similar words include: killer whale, grampus, killer
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORCA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "28. Big to-do"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOOHA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "32. Be in charge, informally"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAKEPOINT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23D: "33. Protagonist of "That '70s Show""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERIC
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "34. Speech full of invective"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
- Similar words include: rave, blah, jabber
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RANT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "36. Went back (to), as a prior state"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that go back to a previous state
- Similar words include: return, revert, turn back
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REVERTED
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "38. Epitome of slowness"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that thick dark syrup produced by boiling down juice from sugar cane; especially during sugar refining
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOLASSES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "42. Director Guillermo ___ Toro"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "45. Expressed frustration, maybe"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily
- Similar words include: suspire, sigh
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIGHED
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "46. Beauty company whose Nasdaq ticker symbol is its name"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ULTA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "47. Atlanta athlete"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that diurnal birds of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FALCON
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "48. Risqué"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that having an agreeably pungent taste
- Similar words include: gamey, piquant, racy
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPICY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "49. Walkway for newlyweds"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a long narrow passage (as in a cave or woods)
- Similar words include: gangway
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AISLE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "50. They're part of what makes you you"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (genetics) a segment of dna that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain; it can include regions preceding and following the coding dna as well as introns between the exons; it is considered a unit of heredity
- Similar words include: cistron, gene, factor
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GENES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "54. "___ Noche en Miami" (Bad Bunny song)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTRA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "56. Low voice"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the lowest part of the musical range
- Similar words include: basso, deep, bass voice
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "57. ___-mo"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "59. Org. whose staffers wear royal blue uniforms"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an agency established in 2001 to safeguard united states transportation systems and insure safe air travel
- Similar words include: Transportation Security Administration
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TSA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
38D: "60. Lenovo products, informally"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small digital computer based on a microprocessor and designed to be used by one person at a time
- Similar words include: microcomputer, PC, personal computer
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PCS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
39D: "61. Just get (by)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EKE
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
31 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
70 Total Clues
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