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Friday, October 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers October 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. Word with strip or skirt 5
2A 6. Conniption 3
3A 9. Cuban poet/philosopher JosΓ© 5
4A 14. 2000 hit song with the lyric "But to lose all my senses / That is just so typically me" 15
5A 17. Mail-centric fiction? 15
6A 18. Virginia is in it, in brief 3
7A 19. "Hah!" 7
8A 20. "___ had it!" 3
9A 21. Former home of Mr. and Mrs. Met 4
10A 23. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" spinoff 5
11A 24. Riot 4
12A 25. Spiller of tea 5
13A 27. Smelling things? 5
14A 28. Date night viewing, often 13
15A 34. High concept? 9
16A 35. They explain what's in the cards 13
17A 39. Comic strip sound of impact 5
18A 40. Infant discomfort 5
19A 42. Battery-powered string instrument player 4
20A 43. Predicated 5
21A 48. It has its highs and lows 4
22A 49. Rocky openings? 3
23A 50. Burrowing animal whose name is made up of two other animals 7
24A 52. It may begin with a +1: Abbr. 3
25A 53. Idolizes 15
26A 56. Indiana Jones or Rocky Balboa, e.g. 15
27A 57. Losing causes? 5
28A 58. Yoga ___ 3
29A 59. The 22nd Amendment limits them 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Word with strip or skirt"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slice of meat cut from the fleshy part of an animal or large fish
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Conniption"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a display of bad temper
  • Similar words include: meet, gibe, jibe
  • Opposite of: unfit, disagree
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Cuban poet/philosopher JosΓ©"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cuban poet and revolutionary who fought for cuban independence from spain (1853-1895)
  • Similar words include: Jose Julian Marti
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MARTI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. 2000 hit song with the lyric "But to lose all my senses / That is just so typically me""

15 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "17. Mail-centric fiction?"

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "18. Virginia is in it, in brief"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a command that is the primary provider of air combat weapon systems to the united states air force; operates fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, battle-management, and rescue aircraft
  • Similar words include: Air Combat Command
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "19. "Hah!""

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. "___ had it!""

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Former home of Mr. and Mrs. Met"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "23. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" spinoff"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "24. Riot"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loud raucous cry (as of an owl)
  • Similar words include: boo, darn, razz
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Spiller of tea"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (yiddish) a vulgar shrew; a shallow coarse termagant
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YENTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Smelling things?"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
  • Similar words include: common salt, salt, table salt
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SALTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Date night viewing, often"

13 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "34. High concept?"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. They explain what's in the cards"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "39. Comic strip sound of impact"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "40. Infant discomfort"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that acute abdominal pain (especially in infants)
  • Similar words include: intestinal colic, gripes, griping
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COLIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "42. Battery-powered string instrument player"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "43. Predicated"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that use as a basis for; found on
  • Similar words include: free-base, found, establish
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "48. It has its highs and lows"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon
  • Similar words include: lunar time period, surge
  • Opposite of: ebb
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "49. Rocky openings?"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "50. Burrowing animal whose name is made up of two other animals"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "52. It may begin with a +1: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "53. Idolizes"

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "56. Indiana Jones or Rocky Balboa, e.g."

15 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "57. Losing causes?"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a prescribed selection of foods
  • Similar words include: dieting, diet
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "58. Yoga ___"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a thick flat pad used as a floor covering
  • Similar words include: snarl, lustrelessness, matting
  • Opposite of: unsnarl, disentangle
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "59. The 22nd Amendment limits them"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that status with respect to the relations between people or groups
  • Similar words include: full term, price, damage
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TERMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. "Piece of cake!" 6
2D 2. Reality show whose contestants report to the Judge's Table 7
3D 3. Not gendered 7
4D 4. Dope 3
5D 5. Some emergency resources 4
6D 6. Serious dirt 5
7D 7. State whose official fruit is the huckleberry 5
8D 8. Done to death 5
9D 9. Flow down the neck 4
10D 10. Past word 3
11D 11. Hot pockets? 7
12D 12. 20-20, e.g. 7
13D 13. Small sounds 6
14D 15. One of 412 in the White House 4
15D 16. Supermodel Banks 4
16D 22. Took back one's words 7
17D 24. One struggling to make ends meet 7
18D 26. Grant 5
19D 27. Foe of Dr. Eggman, in video games 5
20D 29. Procured 3
21D 30. "___ Share of Night" (acclaimed 2019 Mariana EnrΓ­quez book) 3
22D 31. Complimentary lines 3
23D 32. Tool for tracing family trees 3
24D 33. Prefix with the name of any month 3
25D 35. Mideast salad, in one spelling 7
26D 36. Simon the Zealot, e.g. 7
27D 37. Sparkly bits in a school art project 7
28D 38. Like some deliveries 7
29D 39. Holder of all the digits, from 1 to 0 6
30D 41. Stage-left orchestra section 6
31D 43. Coccyx or phalange, e.g. 4
32D 44. Unwelcome sound during a dream 5
33D 45. Brown tint 5
34D 46. Construct 5
35D 47. Art movement proclaimed in a 1916 manifesto 4
36D 50. May honorees 4
37D 51. Outdoor item with flaps 4
38D 54. Took a load off 3
39D 55. 2011 platinum single by Tyler, the Creator 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. "Piece of cake!""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Reality show whose contestants report to the Judge's Table"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Not gendered"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made
  • Similar words include: bisexual, sissy, epicene person
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPICENE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Dope"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
  • Similar words include: can, screw, behind
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Some emergency resources"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a case for containing a set of articles
  • Similar words include: outfit, kit up, kit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KITS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Serious dirt"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any substance considered disgustingly foul or unpleasant
  • Similar words include: soil, dirt, dirty word
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FILTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. State whose official fruit is the huckleberry"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in the rocky mountains
  • Similar words include: ID, Gem State
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDAHO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Done to death"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lose interest or become bored with something or somebody
  • Similar words include: well-worn, exhaust, outwear
  • Opposite of: interest, refresh
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIRED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Flow down the neck"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long coarse hair growing from the crest of the animal's neck
  • Similar words include: head of hair
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Past word"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that gone by; or in the past
  • Similar words include: agone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Hot pockets?"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small circular or square cases of dough with savory fillings
  • Similar words include: cappelletti
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAVIOLI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. 20-20, e.g."

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Small sounds"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an arm off of a larger body of water (often between rocky headlands)
  • Similar words include: intake, recess, inlet
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INLETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "15. One of 412 in the White House"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
  • Similar words include: doorway, room access, threshold
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "16. Supermodel Banks"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "22. Took back one's words"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. One struggling to make ends meet"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Grant"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen
  • Similar words include: earmark, let, set aside
  • Opposite of: forbid, prevent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Foe of Dr. Eggman, in video games"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (of speed) having or caused by speed approximately equal to that of sound in air at sea level
  • Similar words include: transonic
  • Opposite of: subsonic
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SONIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "29. Procured"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
  • Similar words include: flummox, drive, aim
  • Opposite of: leave, take away
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. "___ Share of Night" (acclaimed 2019 Mariana EnrΓ­quez book)"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "31. Complimentary lines"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "32. Tool for tracing family trees"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information
  • Similar words include: deoxyribonucleic acid, desoxyribonucleic acid
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "33. Prefix with the name of any month"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that used in combination to denote the middle
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "35. Mideast salad, in one spelling"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. Simon the Zealot, e.g."

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an ardent early supporter of a cause or reform
  • Similar words include: Apostelic Father
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APOSTLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "37. Sparkly bits in a school art project"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the quality of shining with a bright reflected light
  • Similar words include: coruscation, scintillation, glisten
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLITTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "38. Like some deliveries"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (of pitches) made with the arm moving parallel to the ground
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIDEARM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "39. Holder of all the digits, from 1 to 0"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a keyboard that is a data input device for computers; arrangement of keys is modelled after the typewriter keyboard
  • Similar words include: computer keyboard
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEYPAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "41. Stage-left orchestra section"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large stringed instrument; seated player holds it upright while playing
  • Similar words include: violoncello, cello
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CELLOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "43. Coccyx or phalange, e.g."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates
  • Similar words include: swot, swot up, ivory
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "44. Unwelcome sound during a dream"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fear resulting from the awareness of danger
  • Similar words include: warning device, appal, appall
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALARM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "45. Brown tint"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shade of brown with a tinge of red
  • Similar words include: mahogany, genus Sepia, Venetian red
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEPIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "46. Construct"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that construct, build, or erect
  • Similar words include: set up, raise, vertical
  • Opposite of: unerect, level
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERECT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "47. Art movement proclaimed in a 1916 manifesto"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
  • Similar words include: pa, pop, daddy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DADA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "50. May honorees"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for a mother
  • Similar words include: mommy, mammy, mummy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "51. Outdoor item with flaps"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs)
  • Similar words include: collapsible shelter, bivouac, encamp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "54. Took a load off"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

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: posture, sit, Saturday
  • Opposite of: arise, stand
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "55. 2011 platinum single by Tyler, the Creator"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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

29 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
68 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

Looking for more puzzle solutions? Check out our comprehensive archive of NYT crossword hints and answers. We update daily with expert analysis and solving strategies.

Disclaimer: Crossword clues and grid © The New York Times. This site provides hints and educational content for puzzle enthusiasts. XWordHint is not affiliated with The New York Times.

Last updated: October 16, 2026 at 08:20 AM

Monday, September 14, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 14, 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. Cherokee or Wrangler 4
2A 5. Omelet ingredients 4
3A 9. Big noisy fight 5
4A 14. Cornfield measure 4
5A 15. Little flying pest 4
6A 16. Dale who sang "Happy Trails" with Roy Rogers 5
7A 17. Crew building 9
8A 19. Assigns stars to, as on Yelp 5
9A 20. "Spare" things at a barbecue 4
10A 21. Stately tree 3
11A 23. Before, in poetry 3
12A 24. Atlantic City attraction 6
13A 27. "Is it bigger than a ___?" 8
14A 29. 911 respondent, in brief 3
15A 30. Latina toon explorer 4
16A 32. Beatles song with the lyric "She promises the earth to me" 4
17A 33. Pinocchio's are easily exposed 4
18A 35. "Absolutely, amigo!" 4
19A 37. The White Stripes and the Black Keys, for two 4
20A 39. Close boxing match outcome 13
21A 42. Picket line crosser 4
22A 43. Silverstein who wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree" 4
23A 44. Contacted on Instagram, informally 4
24A 46. Bills typically found in a tip jar 4
25A 48. Mallorca or Menorca, por ejemplo 4
26A 50. Place for a piercing or a plug 3
27A 51. All-out boxing match 8
28A 54. Sarcastic 6
29A 56. "Hamilton" composer ___-Manuel Miranda 3
30A 57. Singer/actress Rita ___ 3
31A 58. It's "smashed" in a particle accelerator 4
32A 59. Playful aquatic mammal 5
33A 61. Flip out ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 27-, 39- and 51-Across 9
34A 66. Word said while pointing 5
35A 67. "Never Have I ___" (sleepover game) 4
36A 68. Coldest possible temperature on the Kelvin scale 4
37A 69. Informal hoops game 5
38A 70. Winter road application 4
39A 71. Rams' mates 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Cherokee or Wrangler"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a car suitable for traveling over rough terrain
  • Similar words include: landrover
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JEEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Omelet ingredients"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that oval reproductive body of a fowl (especially a hen) used as food
  • Similar words include: ball, orchis, ballock
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Big noisy fight"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a noisy riotous fight
  • Similar words include: scrimmage, battle royal
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MELEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Cornfield measure"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Little flying pest"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various small biting flies: midges; biting midges; black flies; sand flies
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GNAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Dale who sang "Happy Trails" with Roy Rogers"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states anatomist who identified four pituitary hormones and discovered vitamin e (1882-1971)
  • Similar words include: Arthur Evans, Herbert McLean Evans, Sir Arthur John Evans
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVANS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Crew building"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shed at the edge of a river or lake; used to store boats
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOATHOUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Assigns stars to, as on Yelp"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a local tax on property (usually used in the plural)
  • Similar words include: denounce, snitch, grade
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RATES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Spare" things at a barbecue"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that support resembling the rib of an animal
  • Similar words include: roast, jest at, ridicule
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Stately tree"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various trees of the genus ulmus: important timber or shade trees
  • Similar words include: elmwood, elm tree
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Before, in poetry"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Atlantic City attraction"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public building for gambling and entertainment
  • Similar words include: gambling casino, cassino
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CASINO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. "Is it bigger than a ___?""

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a container used to keep bread or cake in
  • Similar words include: bread-bin
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BREADBOX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. 911 respondent, in brief"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Latina toon explorer"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Beatles song with the lyric "She promises the earth to me""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a young woman
  • Similar words include: fille, female child, miss
  • Opposite of: boy, male child
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIRL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Pinocchio's are easily exposed"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
  • Similar words include: Trygve Lie, lie down, lie
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. "Absolutely, amigo!""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. The White Stripes and the Black Keys, for two"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that two items of the same kind
  • Similar words include: duad, brace, couplet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DUOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "39. Close boxing match outcome"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "42. Picket line crosser"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike
  • Similar words include: blackleg, rat, fink
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. Silverstein who wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Contacted on Instagram, informally"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Bills typically found in a tip jar"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
  • Similar words include: one, I, unity
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Mallorca or Menorca, por ejemplo"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "50. Place for a piercing or a plug"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
  • Similar words include: pinna, spike, auricle
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. All-out boxing match"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fight with bare fists
  • Similar words include: fisticuffs, fistfight
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLUGFEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "54. Sarcastic"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "56. "Hamilton" composer ___-Manuel Miranda"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states sculptor and architect whose public works include the memorial to veterans of the vietnam war in washington (born in 1959)
  • Similar words include: Maya Lin
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Singer/actress Rita ___"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mouth or mouthlike opening
  • Similar words include: os, osmium, bone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. It's "smashed" in a particle accelerator"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

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: corpuscle, speck, mote
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATOM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. Playful aquatic mammal"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fur of an otter
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Flip out ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 27-, 39- and 51-Across"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "66. Word said while pointing"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "67. "Never Have I ___" (sleepover game)"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at any time
  • Similar words include: always, ever so, of all time
  • Opposite of: never
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "68. Coldest possible temperature on the Kelvin scale"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantity of no importance
  • Similar words include: cipher, zilch, zip
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZERO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "69. Informal hoops game"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that solid-hoofed herbivorous quadruped domesticated since prehistoric times
  • Similar words include: sawhorse, knight, sawbuck
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HORSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "70. Winter road application"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
  • Similar words include: salinity, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, table salt
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "71. Rams' mates"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a people living in southern benin and togo and southeastern ghana
  • Similar words include: Ewe, ewe
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EWES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Quick boxing punch 3
2D 2. Prefix with friendly or warrior 3
3D 3. Slice of history 3
4D 4. ___ dish (lab item) 5
5D 5. Self-esteem builder 8
6D 6. African antelopes 4
7D 7. Something an electric car doesn't use 3
8D 8. Have the reins 5
9D 9. Disney's Ariel and her sisters 8
10D 10. Youngest of the Gabor sisters 3
11D 11. One slow to develop 11
12D 12. Beginning of el aΓ±o 5
13D 13. English county NE of London 5
14D 18. Female red deer 4
15D 22. "Break a ___!" 3
16D 24. "The Simpsons" collectible 3
17D 25. Out of place 5
18D 26. Pedometer 11
19D 27. Single, double or triple 7
20D 28. Ancient Celtic priest 5
21D 31. Clears (of) 4
22D 34. Word hidden, aptly, in "teen's language" 5
23D 36. Completes, as a cake 4
24D 38. Move stealthily 5
25D 40. Lead-in to "except after C" 8
26D 41. "Let me go first" 8
27D 45. Like some humor and wine 3
28D 47. To be, in Barcelona 3
29D 49. Soon, in poems 4
30D 51. Animal that sleeps upside down 5
31D 52. Certain art print, informally 5
32D 53. Wise sorts 5
33D 55. Astound 5
34D 58. Brother of Cain 4
35D 60. TV medical drama settings, in brief 3
36D 62. Things traveling through fallopian tubes 3
37D 63. Previously unseen 3
38D 64. "Rules ___ rules" 3
39D 65. Abba title sung after the line "The love you gave me, nothing else can save me" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Quick boxing punch"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)
  • Similar words include: poking, dig, poke
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Prefix with friendly or warrior"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Slice of history"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. ___ dish (lab item)"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Self-esteem builder"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. African antelopes"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large african antelope having a head with horns like an ox and a long tufted tail
  • Similar words include: gnu, wildebeest
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GNUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Something an electric car doesn't use"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of matter distinguished from the solid and liquid states by: relatively low density and viscosity; relatively great expansion and contraction with changes in pressure and temperature; the ability to diffuse readily; and the spontaneous tendency to become distributed uniformly throughout any container
  • Similar words include: natural gas, shoot a line, bluster
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Have the reins"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an indication of potential opportunity
  • Similar words include: bullock, direct, guide
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Disney's Ariel and her sisters"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that half woman and half fish; lives in the sea
  • Similar words include: mermaid
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MERMAIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Youngest of the Gabor sisters"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. One slow to develop"

11 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Beginning of el aΓ±o"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. English county NE of London"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a county in southeastern england on the north sea and the thames estuary
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESSEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Female red deer"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several mostly spotted fishes that resemble groupers
  • Similar words include: hinder, back
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HIND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. "Break a ___!""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle
  • Similar words include: stage, pegleg, peg
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. "The Simpsons" collectible"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Out of place"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not functioning properly
  • Similar words include: awry, imperfectly, wrong
  • Opposite of: perfectly
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMISS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Pedometer"

11 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Single, double or triple"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Ancient Celtic priest"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a pre-christian priest among the celts of ancient gaul and britain and ireland
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRUID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Clears (of)"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that relieve from
  • Similar words include: free, disembarrass, rid
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Word hidden, aptly, in "teen's language""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions; often vituperative or vulgar
  • Similar words include: argot, slang expression, patois
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLANG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. Completes, as a cake"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
  • Similar words include: deoxyephedrine, meth, crank
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Move stealthily"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who is regarded as underhanded and furtive and contemptible
  • Similar words include: surreptitious, stalker, sneaky
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNEAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. Lead-in to "except after C""

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "41. "Let me go first""

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "45. Like some humor and wine"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages
  • Similar words include: prohibitionist, teetotal, ironic
  • Opposite of: phlegmy, wet
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "47. To be, in Barcelona"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. Soon, in poems"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at another time
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "51. Animal that sleeps upside down"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a disinclination to work or exert yourself
  • Similar words include: tree sloth, acedia, slothfulness
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "52. Certain art print, informally"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "53. Wise sorts"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
  • Similar words include: sag, sag down, swag
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "55. Astound"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that affect with wonder
  • Similar words include: pose, bewilder, perplex
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMAZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. Brother of Cain"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that norwegian mathematician (1802-1829)
  • Similar words include: Niels Henrik Abel, Niels Abel
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "60. TV medical drama settings, in brief"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs with yttrium
  • Similar words include: Er, erbium, emergency room
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "62. Things traveling through fallopian tubes"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the female reproductive cell; the female gamete
  • Similar words include: egg cell, ovum
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "63. Previously unseen"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
  • Similar words include: fresh, young, unexampled
  • Opposite of: worn, old
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "64. "Rules ___ rules""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of surface area equal to 100 square meters
  • Similar words include: ar, constitute, be
  • Opposite of: differ
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "65. Abba title sung after the line "The love you gave me, nothing else can save me""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an internationally recognized distress signal in radio code
  • Similar words include: soh, sol, so
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: September 14, 2026 at 09:06 AM