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Thursday, May 21, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 21, 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. Gossiped-about duo 4
2A 5. River whose southernmost source is found in Burundi 4
3A 9. Animal that expresses anger by spitting 5
4A 14. Curbside call 4
5A 15. Egg's outline 4
6A 16. Traditional Vietnamese garment whose name means "long shirt" 5
7A 17. 2000 Eminem single with lines from his "biggest fan" 4
8A 18. St. Benedict, for one 4
9A 19. Central meeting points 5
10A 20. timiL 12
11A 23. 50¢ or $1: Abbr. 3
12A 24. Fish more formally known as a batomorph 3
13A 25. Capital of Portugal, to natives 6
14A 29. Crown of jewels 6
15A 31. Penultimate Greek letter 3
16A 33. One of four seen on Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" 3
17A 34. Goat's cry 3
18A 35. Golfer's suppor- 9
19A 38. Move like a fox 5
20A 40. Get a lode of this! 3
21A 41. John from Britain 5
22A 42. Evade 9
23A 44. "Bad" beginning 3
24A 45. Like news that everyone already knows 3
25A 46. Legal boundaries? 3
26A 47. Kind of cat with a black-and-white coat 6
27A 50. More melted, as a marshmallow 6
28A 53. Tree alongside a ski run 3
29A 54. Bro, e.g. 3
30A 55. P | u | n | c | h | e | s 12
31A 59. Sound of a perfect basketball shot 5
32A 62. "Beware the ___ of a patient man": John Dryden 4
33A 63. Ordered 4
34A 64. Increase, as interest 5
35A 65. German Ms. 4
36A 66. Pupil's surroundings 4
37A 67. Environmentalist Adams 5
38A 68. Site for many stars? 4
39A 69. Sounds of disapproval 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Gossiped-about duo"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a list
  • Similar words include: point, particular, detail
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ITEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. River whose southernmost source is found in Burundi"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the world's longest river (4150 miles); flows northward through eastern africa into the mediterranean; the nile river valley in egypt was the site of the world's first great civilization
  • Similar words include: Nile River
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NILE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Animal that expresses anger by spitting"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wild or domesticated south american cud-chewing animal related to camels but smaller and lacking a hump
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LLAMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Curbside call"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money
  • Similar words include: cab, hack, taxicab
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAXI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Egg's outline"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it
  • Similar words include: ovoid, elliptical, ovate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Traditional Vietnamese garment whose name means "long shirt""

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. 2000 Eminem single with lines from his "biggest fan""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. St. Benedict, for one"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Central meeting points"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a connecting point at which several lines come together
  • Similar words include: client, node, knob
  • Opposite of: antinode
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NODES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. timiL"

12 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. 50¢ or $1: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Fish more formally known as a batomorph"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a column of light (as from a beacon)
  • Similar words include: shaft of light, irradiation, light beam
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Capital of Portugal, to natives"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that capital and largest city and economic and cultural center of portugal; a major port in western portugal on tagus river where it broadens and empties into the atlantic
  • Similar words include: Lisbon, capital of Portugal
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LISBOA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Crown of jewels"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an ornamental jeweled headdress signifying sovereignty
  • Similar words include: crown
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIADEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Penultimate Greek letter"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of pressure
  • Similar words include: pounds per square inch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PSI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. One of four seen on Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man""

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
  • Similar words include: build up, sleeve, gird
  • Opposite of: disarm
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Goat's cry"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Golfer's suppor-"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "38. Move like a fox"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lie in wait, lie in ambush, behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
  • Similar words include: malinger, lurk
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SKULK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Get a lode of this!"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

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!

21A: "41. John from Britain"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. Evade"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a very short skirt
  • Similar words include: mini
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MINISKIRT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. "Bad" beginning"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "45. Like news that everyone already knows"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "46. Legal boundaries?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object)
  • Similar words include: EL, elevated railway, elevated
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "47. Kind of cat with a black-and-white coat"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that semiformal evening dress for men
  • Similar words include: dinner jacket, black tie, tux
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUXEDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. More melted, as a marshmallow"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that soft and sticky
  • Similar words include: icky, gooey
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOOIER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. Tree alongside a ski run"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that nonresinous wood of a fir tree
  • Similar words include: fir tree, true fir
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "54. Bro, e.g."

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person's brother or sister
  • Similar words include: blood relation, blood relative, cognate
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "55. P | u | n | c | h | e | s"

12 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "59. Sound of a perfect basketball shot"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brushing or rustling sound
  • Similar words include: lap, swoosh, posh
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWISH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "62. "Beware the ___ of a patient man": John Dryden"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a feeling of intense anger
  • Similar words include: fierceness, madness, hysteria
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FURY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "63. Ordered"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chadic language spoken in northern nigeria
  • Similar words include: bid, entreat, press
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "64. Increase, as interest"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tightly woven fabric with raised cords
  • Similar words include: temper, irritation, offend
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIQUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "65. German Ms."

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a german courtesy title or form of address for an adult woman
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRAU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "66. Pupil's surroundings"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals
  • Similar words include: fleur-de-lis, sword lily, iris diaphragm
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "67. Environmentalist Adams"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "68. Site for many stars?"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp high-pitched cry (especially by a dog)
  • Similar words include: yelping, yap, yip
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YELP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "69. Sounds of disapproval"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that utter `tsk,' `tut,' or `tut-tut,' as in disapproval
  • Similar words include: tut, tut-tut, tsk
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TSKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Short negative review 6
2D 2. Floor covering in a Japanese tearoom 6
3D 3. "Bingo!" 11
4D 4. Stole material 4
5D 5. Southern denial 6
6D 6. Something tickled on a piano 5
7D 7. "Buy ___. They're not making it anymore" (old saying) 4
8D 8. Philanthropic group with a clock face in its logo 4
9D 9. The so-called "Pineapple Isle" 5
10D 10. Goes around and around 5
11D 11. Make sense, with "up" 3
12D 12. "Maggie ___," classic folk song covered by the Beatles 3
13D 13. ChatGPT, Claude, etc. 3
14D 21. Inflicts 6
15D 22. Muse of history 4
16D 26. Lasting damage from a tough experience, metaphorically 11
17D 27. Milkshake flavor 4
18D 28. Gospel shout 4
19D 30. "Fountain of Milk Spreading Itself Uselessly on Three Shoes" painter, 1945 4
20D 31. Contented sounds 5
21D 32. "Changed my mind," in editing notation 4
22D 35. Curl 4
23D 36. Hip-knee connectors 6
24D 37. Source of linseed oil 4
25D 38. It's all a haze 4
26D 39. Drug bust unit 4
27D 43. Model Miranda 4
28D 47. Make neat 6
29D 48. Large-eyed African antelope with a duplicative name 6
30D 49. Fixate 6
31D 51. Give out 5
32D 52. Neighbor of Ricky and Lucy, on 1950s TV 5
33D 53. Far from house-trained 5
34D 56. Dodgy 4
35D 57. 100% 4
36D 58. End piece? 4
37D 59. Belinda's business on "The White Lotus" 3
38D 60. Prevail 3
39D 61. Some test figs. 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Short negative review"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Floor covering in a Japanese tearoom"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. "Bingo!""

11 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Stole material"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the expensive fur of a mink
  • Similar words include: mink coat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MINK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Southern denial"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Something tickled on a piano"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hard smooth ivory colored dentine that makes up most of the tusks of elephants and walruses
  • Similar words include: pearl, tusk, bone
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IVORY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. "Buy ___. They're not making it anymore" (old saying)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Philanthropic group with a clock face in its logo"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in europe and `moose' in north america
  • Similar words include: Cervus elaphus, Alces alces, Cervus elaphus canadensis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. The so-called "Pineapple Isle""

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an island of central hawaii; a pineapple-growing area
  • Similar words include: Lanai Island
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LANAI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Goes around and around"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fastener consisting of a metal ring for lining a small hole to permit the attachment of cords or lines
  • Similar words include: iteration, intertwine, loop topology
  • Opposite of: open circuit, uncoil
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Make sense, with "up""

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders
  • Similar words include: minimal brain damage, append, sum
  • Opposite of: subtract, take away
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "Maggie ___," classic folk song covered by the Beatles"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. ChatGPT, Claude, etc."

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agency of the united states army responsible for providing timely and relevant and accurate and synchronized intelligence to tactical and operational and strategic level commanders
  • Similar words include: Army Intelligence, three-toed sloth, artificial insemination
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "21. Inflicts"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
  • Similar words include: wreak, work, play
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WREAKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Muse of history"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) the muse of history
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Lasting damage from a tough experience, metaphorically"

11 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Milkshake flavor"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that chocolate cookie with white cream filling
  • Similar words include: oreo cookie
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OREO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Gospel shout"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a primeval egyptian personification of air and breath; worshipped especially at thebes
  • Similar words include: Amun, Amon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "30. "Fountain of Milk Spreading Itself Uselessly on Three Shoes" painter, 1945"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that surrealist spanish painter (1904-1989)
  • Similar words include: Salvador Dali
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DALI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "31. Contented sounds"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a low vibrating sound typical of a contented cat
  • Similar words include: birr, whir, whiz
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PURRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. "Changed my mind," in editing notation"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that printing: cancel, as of a correction or deletion
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "35. Curl"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops
  • Similar words include: scroll, curlicue, gyre
  • Opposite of: uncoil
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. Hip-knee connectors"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the longest and thickest bone of the human skeleton; extends from the pelvis to the knee
  • Similar words include: thighbone, femoris, femur
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEMURS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. Source of linseed oil"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fiber of the flax plant that is made into thread and woven into linen fabric
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FLAX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. It's all a haze"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

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!

26D: "39. Drug bust unit"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one thousand grams; the basic unit of mass adopted under the systeme international d'unites
  • Similar words include: kg, kilogram
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KILO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "43. Model Miranda"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "47. Make neat"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "48. Large-eyed African antelope with a duplicative name"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "49. Fixate"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that haunt like a ghost; pursue
  • Similar words include: haunt, ghost
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBSESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "51. Give out"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an important question that is in dispute and must be settled
  • Similar words include: topic, egress, subject
  • Opposite of: recall
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISSUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "52. Neighbor of Ricky and Lucy, on 1950s TV"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "53. Far from house-trained"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wild and menacing
  • Similar words include: ferine, savage
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FERAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "56. Dodgy"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that subject to accident or chance or change
  • Similar words include: fluky, flukey, chancy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IFFY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "57. 100%"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that free of extraneous elements of any kind
  • Similar words include: everlasting, thoroughgoing, sodding
  • Opposite of: unsaturated, impure
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PURE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "58. End piece?"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a notice of someone's death; usually includes a short biography
  • Similar words include: necrology, obituary
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "59. Belinda's business on "The White Lotus""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a health resort near a spring or at the seaside
  • Similar words include: health spa, watering hole, resort hotel
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "60. Prevail"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a victory (as in a race or other competition)
  • Similar words include: bring home the bacon, acquire, advance
  • Opposite of: fall back, losings
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "61. Some test figs."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a measure of a person's intelligence as indicated by an intelligence test; the ratio of a person's mental age to their chronological age (multiplied by 100)
  • Similar words include: IQ, intelligence quotient, I.Q.
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IQS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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

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

Last updated: May 21, 2026 at 07:05 AM

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers January 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: 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. Wasn't even close, as in comparison 5
2A 6. Fashion name that's become slang for "excellent" 5
3A 11. Binary 10, in decimal value 3
4A 14. Garlicky sauce 5
5A 15. Beef up the arsenal, say 5
6A 16. Tuna variety 3
7A 17. "Sunday in the Park With George," for one 15
8A 20. Big ___ (audacious thing to make) 3
9A 21. Ref. work with over 600,000 words 3
10A 22. Moves (over) 6
11A 23. Signs 4
12A 25. "Nonsense!" 5
13A 27. "Oh, that does make sense" 4
14A 29. Milker's handful 4
15A 31. They may be fixed or variable 5
16A 35. River at Memphis 4
17A 36. "We want more!" 6
18A 38. Ump's call 3
19A 39. Jerry's uncle on "Seinfeld" 3
20A 40. Sent away for 7
21A 41. Historic stretch 3
22A 42. That's a me problem 3
23A 43. Madison Square Garden team 6
24A 44. Sporty Pontiacs of the 1960s 4
25A 45. Actress Thompson of "Westworld" 5
26A 47. Oceanic 4
27A 48. Ill-considered 4
28A 49. Wired 5
29A 51. Unappetizing gruel 4
30A 53. Like a dress that falls short? 6
31A 56. Burlesque accessory 3
32A 57. Vietnamese noodle dish 3
33A 60. Pulitzer-winning composer and lyricist of "Sunday in the Park With George" 15
34A 64. Greenwich Village's Stonewall ___ 3
35A 65. Poet who wrote "Only through time time is conquered" 5
36A 66. Grub, e.g. 5
37A 67. Pathetic 3
38A 68. Linking point 5
39A 69. German industrial city 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Wasn't even close, as in comparison"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that turn pale, as if in fear
  • Similar words include: chum up, pale, pal
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PALED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Fashion name that's become slang for "excellent""

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Binary 10, in decimal value"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
  • Similar words include: ii, deuce, II
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TWO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Garlicky sauce"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that garlic mayonnaise
  • Similar words include: garlic sauce, aioli sauce
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIOLI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Beef up the arsenal, say"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Similar words include: re-arm
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REARM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Tuna variety"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. "Sunday in the Park With George," for one"

15 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. Big ___ (audacious thing to make)"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inquire about
  • Similar words include: necessitate, inquire, postulate
  • Opposite of: obviate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Ref. work with over 600,000 words"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an unabridged dictionary constructed on historical principles
  • Similar words include: O.E.D., Oxford English Dictionary
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Moves (over)"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that run or move very quickly or hastily
  • Similar words include: dash, shoot, flash
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCOOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Signs"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a liquid used for printing or writing or drawing
  • Similar words include: ink
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. "Nonsense!""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. "Oh, that does make sense""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Milker's handful"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the small projection of a mammary gland
  • Similar words include: nipple, tit, mammilla
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. They may be fixed or variable"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. River at Memphis"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the world's longest river (4150 miles); flows northward through eastern africa into the mediterranean; the nile river valley in egypt was the site of the world's first great civilization
  • Similar words include: Nile River
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NILE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. "We want more!""

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an extra or repeated performance; usually given in response to audience demand
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENCORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "38. Ump's call"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (baseball) a failure by a batter or runner to reach a base safely in baseball
  • Similar words include: taboo, verboten, knocked out
  • Opposite of: safe
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "39. Jerry's uncle on "Seinfeld""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in leo
  • Similar words include: Lion, Leo the Lion
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Sent away for"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority
  • Similar words include: range, set up, consistent
  • Opposite of: disarranged, disordered
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORDERED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. Historic stretch"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. That's a me problem"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others
  • Similar words include: self, egotism, self-importance
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Madison Square Garden team"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Sporty Pontiacs of the 1960s"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "45. Actress Thompson of "Westworld""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "47. Oceanic"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; - w.r.inge
  • Similar words include: huge, Brobdingnagian, immense
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VAST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "48. Ill-considered"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any red eruption of the skin
  • Similar words include: roseola, skin rash, blizzard
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "49. Wired"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Unappetizing gruel"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wet feed (especially for pigs) consisting of mostly kitchen waste mixed with water or skimmed or sour milk
  • Similar words include: mush, splosh, pigwash
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "53. Like a dress that falls short?"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a garment size for short or slender women
  • Similar words include: tiny, lilliputian, diminutive
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PETITE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "56. Burlesque accessory"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur
  • Similar words include: feather boa
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "57. Vietnamese noodle dish"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "60. Pulitzer-winning composer and lyricist of "Sunday in the Park With George""

15 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "64. Greenwich Village's Stonewall ___"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "65. Poet who wrote "Only through time time is conquered""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that british poet (born in the united states) who won the nobel prize for literature; his plays are outstanding examples of modern verse drama (1888-1965)
  • Similar words include: T. S. Eliot, Thomas Stearns Eliot, Mary Ann Evans
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELIOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "66. Grub, e.g."

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the immature free-living form of most invertebrates and amphibians and fish which at hatching from the egg is fundamentally unlike its parent and must metamorphose
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LARVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "67. Pathetic"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; ; - christina rossetti
  • Similar words include: sorry, deplorable, distressing
  • Opposite of: glad
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "68. Linking point"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the means of connection between things linked in series
  • Similar words include: link
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEXUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "69. German industrial city"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a city in western germany; industrial center of the ruhr
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESSEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Old sunscreen initialism 4
2D 2. Gets off one's chest 4
3D 3. Ones who probably aren't buying it? 10
4D 4. She, in São Paulo 3
5D 5. Performed well enough 5
6D 6. Alum 4
7D 7. 180 3
8D 8. Bit of spy gear, informally 3
9D 9. Defeat decisively 5
10D 10. Mock "Ooh, you frighten me!" 8
11D 11. Kind of shell 4
12D 12. "Wait, ___?" 4
13D 13. Makes less noisy, in a way 4
14D 18. "The Magnificent Seven" or "The Hateful Eight" 7
15D 19. Where Caitlin Clark played Division I basketball 4
16D 24. Once called 3
17D 25. Warm-up lap leader 7
18D 26. They communicate through bill-clattering 6
19D 27. Cove 5
20D 28. Battle of Vicksburg in the Civil War, e.g. 5
21D 30. Salad green 6
22D 32. Tunes with an irresistible rhythm 10
23D 33. Change across the Atlantic 5
24D 34. Squirrel away 5
25D 37. Lies atop 7
26D 40. "Very well ..." 8
27D 44. Miracle-___ 3
28D 46. Modern suffix with situation 4
29D 50. Key's longtime partner in sketch comedy 5
30D 52. 51-Across server 5
31D 53. Trident-shaped letters 4
32D 54. Sicilian landmark 4
33D 55. Look after 4
34D 56. Most online customer service agents nowadays 4
35D 58. Queen's domain 4
36D 59. Sultanate near Yemen 4
37D 61. Cancel 3
38D 62. Trifling amount 3
39D 63. Is blessed with 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Old sunscreen initialism"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a metabolic acid found in yeast and liver cells; used to make dyes and drugs and sun blockers
  • Similar words include: para aminobenzoic acid
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PABA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Gets off one's chest"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that affected manners intended to impress others
  • Similar words include: pose, air, gentle wind
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Ones who probably aren't buying it?"

10 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. She, in São Paulo"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an extreme leftist terrorist group formed in greece in 1971 to oppose the military junta that ruled greece from 1967 to 1974; a revolutionary group opposed to capitalism and imperialism and the united states
  • Similar words include: Revolutionary People's Struggle
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Performed well enough"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Alum"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one-hundredth of a right angle
  • Similar words include: alumnus, alumna, grade
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. 180"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Bit of spy gear, informally"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a river in east central england that flows past cambridge to join the ouse river
  • Similar words include: Cam River, River Cam
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Defeat decisively"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that leather that has had its grain pattern accentuated
  • Similar words include: vanquish, squeeze, infatuation
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRUSH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Mock "Ooh, you frighten me!""

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Kind of shell"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of mexican descent
  • Similar words include: greaser, wetback
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TACO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "Wait, ___?""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Makes less noisy, in a way"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water
  • Similar words include: oil color, anoint, inunct
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OILS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. "The Magnificent Seven" or "The Hateful Eight""

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a film about life in the western united states during the period of exploration and development
  • Similar words include: westerly, horse opera, western sandwich
  • Opposite of: eastern
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WESTERN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Where Caitlin Clark played Division I basketball"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Once called"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (meaning literally `born') used to indicate the maiden or family name of a married woman
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Warm-up lap leader"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. They communicate through bill-clattering"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large mostly old world wading birds typically having white-and-black plumage
  • Similar words include: stork
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STORKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Cove"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Battle of Vicksburg in the Civil War, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it while continuing to attack
  • Similar words include: military blockade, besieging, beleaguering
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIEGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "30. Salad green"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that widely cultivated herb with leaves valued as salad green; either curly serrated leaves or broad flat ones that are usually blanched
  • Similar words include: escarole, chicory escarole, Cichorium endivia
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENDIVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Tunes with an irresistible rhythm"

10 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Change across the Atlantic"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic monetary unit of most members of the european union (introduced in 1999); in 2002 twelve european nations (germany, france, belgium, luxembourg, the netherlands, italy, spain, portugal, ireland, greece, austria, finland) adopted the euro as their basic unit of money and abandoned their traditional currencies
  • Similar words include: euro
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EUROS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Squirrel away"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a secret store of valuables or money
  • Similar words include: cache, lay away, hive up
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. Lies atop"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. "Very well ...""

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "44. Miracle-___"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "46. Modern suffix with situation"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a vessel that carries passengers or freight
  • Similar words include: send, embark, transport
  • Opposite of: disembark
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "50. Key's longtime partner in sketch comedy"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "52. 51-Across server"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a spoon-shaped vessel with a long handle; frequently used to transfer liquids from one container to another
  • Similar words include: lade, laden
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LADLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "53. Trident-shaped letters"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of pressure
  • Similar words include: psi, pounds per square inch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PSIS

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32D: "54. Sicilian landmark"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inactive volcano in sicily; last erupted in 1961; the highest volcano in europe (10,500 feet)
  • Similar words include: Mount Etna, bunsen burner, Mt Etna
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETNA

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33D: "55. Look after"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined
  • Similar words include: incline, lean, run
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEND

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34D: "56. Most online customer service agents nowadays"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that botfly larva; typically develops inside the body of a horse or sheep or human
  • Similar words include: bot
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOTS

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35D: "58. Queen's domain"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a teeming multitude
  • Similar words include: beehive
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HIVE

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36D: "59. Sultanate near Yemen"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strategically located monarchy on the southern and eastern coasts of the arabian peninsula; the economy is dominated by oil
  • Similar words include: Sultanate of Oman, Muscat and Oman
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMAN

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37D: "61. Cancel"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantity of no importance
  • Similar words include: cipher, zilch, prohibit
  • Opposite of: permit, allow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIX

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38D: "62. Trifling amount"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a former french coin of low denomination; often used of any small amount of money
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOU

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39D: "63. Is blessed with"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astronomy) the angular distance of a celestial point measured westward along the celestial equator from the zenith crossing; the right ascension for an observer at a particular location and time of day
  • Similar words include: have got, get, stimulate
  • Opposite of: refuse, abstain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAS

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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

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: January 14, 2026 at 04:32 AM