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Tuesday, May 12, 2026

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

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Tricky

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Appropriate answer for 1-Across 5
2A 6. Have the sense of 4
3A 10. Females shepherded by shepherds 4
4A 14. Fuel-bearing ship 5
5A 15. Leer at 4
6A 16. One piece of a three-piece suit 4
7A 17. Listing at an ice cream shop in Ipswich 15
8A 20. Lou Gehrig's disease, in brief 3
9A 21. "___ Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel song) 3
10A 22. Happen afterward 5
11A 23. Some limb-moving muscles 9
12A 27. Kids' items at a day care in Derby 14
13A 32. Pack tightly 5
14A 33. Spanish for "this" 4
15A 34. Pod tidbit 3
16A 35. Spoke to a convention, say 6
17A 37. Members of the aristocracy 6
18A 40. Establishment that might offer free breakfast 3
19A 41. Quaint lead-in to while 4
20A 45. Leads off 5
21A 46. Areas on a map of Manchester 14
22A 50. Sudden, widespread appearances of illness 9
23A 51. Live (in) 5
24A 54. "Thanks a ___!" (informal appreciation) 3
25A 55. Butcher's discard 3
26A 58. "Hmm, why use the spellings of 17-, 27- and 46-Across?" 15
27A 63. Laura of "Jurassic Park" 4
28A 64. A pelican can hold more water in this than in its belly 4
29A 65. Franz ___, Prague-born writer of dark fiction 5
30A 66. Force holding us onto Earth, informally 4
31A 67. Pepsi alternative 4
32A 68. Be present 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Appropriate answer for 1-Across"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the beginning of anything
  • Similar words include: originate, bug out, pop
  • Opposite of: finish, end
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: START

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Have the sense of"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an intuitive awareness; or
  • Similar words include: look, finger, flavour
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Females shepherded by shepherds"

4 letters Category: Common Word

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!

4A: "14. Fuel-bearing ship"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a worker who oils engines or machinery
  • Similar words include: tanker, oil well, tank ship
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OILER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Leer at"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that look at with amorous intentions
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. One piece of a three-piece suit"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a man's sleeveless garment worn underneath a coat
  • Similar words include: robe, undershirt, invest
  • Opposite of: divest
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Listing at an ice cream shop in Ipswich"

15 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. Lou Gehrig's disease, in brief"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that thickening of tissue in the motor tracts of the lateral columns and anterior horns of the spinal cord; results in progressive muscle atrophy that starts in the limbs
  • Similar words include: Heart of Dixie, Camellia State, Al
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. "___ Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel song)"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a form of address for a married woman
  • Similar words include: Mrs., Mr., Mister
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Happen afterward"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that issue or terminate (in a specified way, state, etc.); end
  • Similar words include: result
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENSUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Some limb-moving muscles"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom)
  • Similar words include: kidnapper, abductor muscle, snatcher
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABDUCTORS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "27. Kids' items at a day care in Derby"

14 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COLOURINGBOOKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "32. Pack tightly"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "33. Spanish for "this""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "34. Pod tidbit"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that seed of a pea plant used for food
  • Similar words include: pea plant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Spoke to a convention, say"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that talk pompously
  • Similar words include: orate
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORATED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "37. Members of the aristocracy"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status
  • Similar words include: elite, elite group
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELITES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "40. Establishment that might offer free breakfast"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

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!

19A: "41. Quaint lead-in to while"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at a previous time
  • Similar words include: erstwhile, once, formerly
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "45. Leads off"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
  • Similar words include: unfold, give, clear
  • Opposite of: fold, close
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "46. Areas on a map of Manchester"

14 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a surrounding or nearby region
  • Similar words include: neck of the woods, vicinity, locality
  • Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEIGHBOURHOODS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "50. Sudden, widespread appearances of illness"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (usually of some undesirable condition)
  • Similar words include: irruption, outbreak, eruption
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUTBREAKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "51. Live (in)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that think moodily or anxiously about something
  • Similar words include: brood, inhabit, harp
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DWELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "54. "Thanks a ___!" (informal appreciation)"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cypriot monetary unit equal to one thousandth of a pound
  • Similar words include: ml, Swedish mile, cc
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "55. Butcher's discard"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft greasy substance occurring in organic tissue and consisting of a mixture of lipids (mostly triglycerides)
  • Similar words include: rich, adipose tissue, blubber
  • Opposite of: thin, leanness
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "58. "Hmm, why use the spellings of 17-, 27- and 46-Across?""

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "63. Laura of "Jurassic Park""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "64. A pelican can hold more water in this than in its belly"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statute in draft before it becomes law
  • Similar words include: card, account, circular
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "65. Franz ___, Prague-born writer of dark fiction"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that czech novelist who wrote in german about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals (1883-1924)
  • Similar words include: Franz Kafka
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAFKA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "66. Force holding us onto Earth, informally"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "67. Pepsi alternative"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that carbon fuel produced by distillation of coal
  • Similar words include: snow, C, Coca Cola
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "68. Be present"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have an existence, be extant
  • Similar words include: live, be, survive
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Divan 4
2D 2. Tens or ones place? 4
3D 3. Lead-in to "poor Yorick!" 4
4D 4. Al Sharpton's title, for short 3
5D 5. Instrument with a Renaissance-era ancestor called a sackbut 8
6D 6. "Absolutely!" 7
7D 7. Sense of self 3
8D 8. Hermey is one, in TV's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" 3
9D 9. Do-over at serving 3
10D 10. "Nevertheless ..." 6
11D 11. Marries 4
12D 12. One son of Isaac and Rebekah 4
13D 13. Bacterial eye malady 4
14D 18. Pakistani language 4
15D 19. Chervil or chive 4
16D 23. Touched down 4
17D 24. Stool pigeons, in police shorthand 3
18D 25. Explosive inits. 3
19D 26. Kind of arch in architecture 4
20D 27. ___ asada 5
21D 28. Resident of a Mideast sultanate 5
22D 29. Chose, with "for" 5
23D 30. Wails 5
24D 31. Give some lip to 4
25D 32. Sign up for 4
26D 36. Some are said to be "swimming" in this 4
27D 38. Resemble 8
28D 39. Ways to raise capital, in brief 4
29D 42. Lowe on TV 3
30D 43. Big ___, West Coast tourist destination 3
31D 44. Shake with fear 7
32D 47. Sandlot QB's order to a receiver 6
33D 48. Streaming service owned by Disney 4
34D 49. Cause of a shower drain clog, maybe 4
35D 51. Birdbrain 4
36D 52. "At what time?" 4
37D 53. BrontΓ« heroine 4
38D 55. Popular female poodle name 4
39D 56. Inquires 4
40D 57. Word after "Copy" or "Fancy" 4
41D 59. Airer of "The View" 3
42D 60. Site of the world's largest Carnival celebration 3
43D 61. Wapiti, by another name 3
44D 62. Put a burden on 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Divan"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an upholstered seat for more than one person
  • Similar words include: lounge, couch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOFA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Tens or ones place?"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unstratified soil deposited by a glacier; consists of sand and clay and gravel and boulders mixed together
  • Similar words include: cashbox, public treasury, trough
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Lead-in to "poor Yorick!""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism
  • Similar words include: regrettably, unluckily, ala
  • Opposite of: fortunately, luckily
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Al Sharpton's title, for short"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rate of revolution of a motor
  • Similar words include: rpm, revolutions per minute, rev up
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REV

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Instrument with a Renaissance-era ancestor called a sackbut"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brass instrument consisting of a long tube whose length can be varied by a u-shaped slide
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROMBONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. "Absolutely!""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Sense of self"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Hermey is one, in TV's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Do-over at serving"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brutal terrorist group active in kashmir; fights against india with the goal of restoring islamic rule of india
  • Similar words include: Army of the Pure, lease, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
  • Opposite of: disallow, prevent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. "Nevertheless ...""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Marries"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fourth day of the week; the third working day
  • Similar words include: splice, Midweek, hook up with
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. One son of Isaac and Rebekah"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) the eldest son of isaac who would have inherited the covenant that god made with abraham and that abraham passed on to isaac; he traded his birthright to his twin brother jacob for a mess of pottage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESAU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Bacterial eye malady"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Pakistani language"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the official literary language of pakistan, closely related to hindi; widely used in india (mostly by moslems); written in arabic script
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URDU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Chervil or chive"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests
  • Similar words include: herbaceous plant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HERB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Touched down"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Stool pigeons, in police shorthand"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Explosive inits."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Kind of arch in architecture"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a molding that (in section) has the shape of an s with the convex part above and the concave part below
  • Similar words include: cyma reversa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. ___ asada"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Resident of a Mideast sultanate"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of oman
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMANI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "29. Chose, with "for""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that select as an alternative over another
  • Similar words include: choose, opt, prefer
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "30. Wails"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a funeral lament sung with loud wailing
  • Similar words include: keen, lament
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "31. Give some lip to"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an impudent or insolent rejoinder
  • Similar words include: lip, back talk, Special Air Service
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SASS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "32. Sign up for"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the shape or manner in which things come together and a connection is made
  • Similar words include: articulation, joint, junction
  • Opposite of: disjoin
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. Some are said to be "swimming" in this"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of owing something (especially money)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEBT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. Resemble"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "39. Ways to raise capital, in brief"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a corporation's first offer to sell stock to the public
  • Similar words include: initial offering, initial public offering, IPO
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IPOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "42. Lowe on TV"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
  • Similar words include: overcharge, gazump, soak
  • Opposite of: undercharge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "43. Big ___, West Coast tourist destination"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a port in southern lebanon on the mediterranean sea; formerly a major phoenician seaport famous for silks
  • Similar words include: Tyre
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "44. Shake with fear"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement
  • Similar words include: shake, shiver
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREMBLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "47. Sandlot QB's order to a receiver"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "48. Streaming service owned by Disney"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "49. Cause of a shower drain clog, maybe"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
  • Similar words include: hairsbreadth, pilus, hair's-breadth
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "51. Birdbrain"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone whose style is out of fashion
  • Similar words include: fogy, fogey, Raphus cucullatus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DODO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "52. "At what time?""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "53. BrontΓ« heroine"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shallow salt lake in south central australia about 35 feet below sea level; the largest lake in the country and the lowest point on the continent
  • Similar words include: Lake Eyre
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EYRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "55. Popular female poodle name"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "56. Inquires"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inquire about
  • Similar words include: expect, demand, ask
  • Opposite of: obviate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "57. Word after "Copy" or "Fancy""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "59. Airer of "The View""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)
  • Similar words include: alphabet, ABC's, rudiment
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "60. Site of the world's largest Carnival celebration"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the former capital and 2nd largest city of brazil; chief brazilian port; famous as a tourist attraction
  • Similar words include: Rio de Janeiro
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "61. Wapiti, by another name"

3 letters πŸ’­ 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: Alces alces, wapiti, red deer
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

44D: "62. Put a burden on"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government
  • Similar words include: revenue enhancement, assess, taxation
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAX

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

32 Across Clues
44 Down Clues
76 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 12, 2026 at 06:25 AM

Monday, February 9, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers February 09, 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. The slightest bit 4
2A 5. Mariner's septet 4
3A 9. Picket line crosser 4
4A 13. Like a situation with only bad outcomes 5
5A 15. St. Louis's Gateway ___ National Park 4
6A 16. Voice above tenor 4
7A 17. Thanksgiving boatful 5
8A 18. Spanish cat 4
9A 19. Nutritionist's plan 4
10A 20. Main drag through Sin City 13
11A 23. "Fancy meeting you here!" 4
12A 24. Apply, as a new skill 3
13A 25. Indigenous Southwestern people 6
14A 28. Body part that can serve as a pencil holder 3
15A 30. "Delicious!" 3
16A 31. Trireme implement 3
17A 32. Valuable bit in a prospector's pan 10
18A 37. Like sudokus with very few given digits, generally 4
19A 38. "Nope, not for me" 5
20A 39. Online "haha" 3
21A 40. Steep-walled canyon 5
22A 41. Hoarse voice 4
23A 42. Hockey player who typically plays the entire game 10
24A 44. Explosive-sounding TV channel 3
25A 45. Crow's call 3
26A 46. Punk-inspired music genre 3
27A 47. Minor disruption in the proceedings 6
28A 49. [Their typo, not mine!] 3
29A 51. Be a passenger 4
30A 55. Question to a scaredy-cat ... to which the final parts of 20-, 32- and 42-Across would answer "Yes!" 13
31A 58. "You have a point there" 4
32A 60. Lake on Ohio's northern border 4
33A 61. Nine-member musical group 5
34A 62. Lack of difficulty 4
35A 63. Pimples 4
36A 64. Like a lot 5
37A 65. Amazed 4
38A 66. From ___ to riches 4
39A 67. Water pitcher 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. The slightest bit"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Mariner's septet"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
  • Similar words include: ocean, sea
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Picket line crosser"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "13. Like a situation with only bad outcomes"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. St. Louis's Gateway ___ National Park"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a curved shape in the vertical plane that spans an opening
  • Similar words include: arc, wicked, patronising
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Voice above tenor"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a singer whose voice lies in the alto clef
  • Similar words include: contralto, countertenor
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Thanksgiving boatful"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sauce made by adding stock, flour, or other ingredients to the juice and fat that drips from cooking meats
  • Similar words include: boom, manna from heaven, godsend
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRAVY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Spanish cat"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Nutritionist's plan"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. Main drag through Sin City"

13 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. "Fancy meeting you here!""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Apply, as a new skill"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Indigenous Southwestern people"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of any of about two dozen native american peoples called `pueblos' by the spanish because they live in pueblos (villages built of adobe and rock)
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PUEBLO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Body part that can serve as a pencil holder"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. "Delicious!""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Trireme implement"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an implement used to propel or steer a boat
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Valuable bit in a prospector's pan"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. Like sudokus with very few given digits, generally"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
  • Similar words include: operose, severe, concentrated
  • Opposite of: easy, voiced
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "38. "Nope, not for me""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "39. Online "haha""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "40. Steep-walled canyon"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a deep ravine (usually with a river running through it)
  • Similar words include: stuff, overindulge, gormandize
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GORGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "41. Hoarse voice"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. Hockey player who typically plays the entire game"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the soccer or hockey player assigned to protect the goal
  • Similar words include: netminder, goalie, goalkeeper
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOALTENDER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Explosive-sounding TV channel"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "45. Crow's call"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by corvine birds
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "46. Punk-inspired music genre"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "47. Minor disruption in the proceedings"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (usually plural) the state of having reflex spasms of the diaphragm accompanied by a rapid closure of the glottis producing an audible sound; sometimes a symptom of indigestion
  • Similar words include: singultus, hiccough
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HICCUP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "49. [Their typo, not mine!]"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that urge to attack someone
  • Similar words include: set
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Be a passenger"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a journey in a vehicle (usually an automobile)
  • Similar words include: sit, mount, hinge upon
  • Opposite of: walk
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "55. Question to a scaredy-cat ... to which the final parts of 20-, 32- and 42-Across would answer "Yes!""

13 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. "You have a point there""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that proper alignment; the property possessed by something that is in correct or proper alignment
  • Similar words include: true up, truthful, honest
  • Opposite of: untruthful, false
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Lake on Ohio's northern border"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of an iroquoian people formerly living on the south shore of lake erie in northern ohio and northwest pennsylvania and western new york
  • Similar words include: Lake Erie
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Nine-member musical group"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "62. Lack of difficulty"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that freedom from difficulty or hardship or effort
  • Similar words include: repose, allay, relieve
  • Opposite of: difficulty
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "63. Pimples"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inflammatory disease involving the sebaceous glands of the skin; characterized by papules or pustules or comedones
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACNE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "64. Like a lot"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that love intensely
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "65. Amazed"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inspire awe in
  • Similar words include: awe, awful, awestricken
  • Opposite of: unawed
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AWED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "66. From ___ to riches"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small piece of cloth or paper
  • Similar words include: rile, sheet, crucify
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "67. Water pitcher"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an open vessel with a handle and a spout for pouring
  • Similar words include: pitcher
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EWER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. ___-Saxon 5
2D 2. Scroll read during a bat mitzvah ceremony 5
3D 3. Overflowing (with) 5
4D 4. Apportioned 9
5D 5. Long stories 5
6D 6. Wipe clean 5
7D 7. "America's Got Talent" segments 4
8D 8. Track-and-field event with a 16-pound ball 7
9D 9. British novelist Jones 5
10D 10. Portable writing surface 9
11D 11. Devoured 3
12D 12. Spam spewer 3
13D 14. Bill who says "Science rules!" in the intro to his TV show 3
14D 21. Sanskrit word for "teacher" 4
15D 22. "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of ___" 3
16D 26. Massive 5
17D 27. Pick from the menu 5
18D 29. Tiny hill dweller 3
19D 30. Bellow 4
20D 32. Measurement around the waist 5
21D 33. Resident of Muscat 5
22D 34. Something that's beyond help 9
23D 35. Luminesce 4
24D 36. India's smallest state by area 3
25D 37. What students abide by when they don't cheat 9
26D 40. Precious stone 3
27D 42. Period before starting more school 7
28D 43. Georgia ___ (Atlanta school) 4
29D 45. Pool player's stick 3
30D 48. Words to live by 5
31D 49. Taking to court 5
32D 50. Some frozen drinks 5
33D 52. "No need to remind me!" 5
34D 53. Outdoor John? 5
35D 54. "Come in" 5
36D 56. Oceanic predator 4
37D 57. All ___ day's work 3
38D 58. Drink served by the Mad Hatter 3
39D 59. Like the fish in poke 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. ___-Saxon"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Scroll read during a bat mitzvah ceremony"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the whole body of the jewish sacred writings and tradition including the oral tradition
  • Similar words include: Laws, Pentateuch
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TORAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Overflowing (with)"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that covered with water
  • Similar words include: afloat, flooded, inundated
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AWASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Apportioned"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Long stories"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Wipe clean"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove from memory or existence
  • Similar words include: wipe off, wipe out, score out
  • Opposite of: record
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. "America's Got Talent" segments"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Track-and-field event with a 16-pound ball"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. British novelist Jones"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Portable writing surface"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small writing board with a clip at the top for holding papers
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLIPBOARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Devoured"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment
  • Similar words include: eat, wipe out, corrode
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Spam spewer"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that botfly larva; typically develops inside the body of a horse or sheep or human
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "14. Bill who says "Science rules!" in the intro to his TV show"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "21. Sanskrit word for "teacher""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hindu or buddhist religious leader and spiritual teacher
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GURU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. "Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of ___""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that liquor distilled from fermented molasses
  • Similar words include: singular, queer, odd
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Massive"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a garment size for a large person
  • Similar words include: prominent, with child, great
  • Opposite of: small, little
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LARGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Pick from the menu"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often plural) a command given by a superior (e.g., a military or law enforcement officer) that must be obeyed
  • Similar words include: regularise, social club, put
  • Opposite of: disorder, deregulate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORDER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "29. Tiny hill dweller"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers
  • Similar words include: emmet, pismire
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "30. Bellow"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
  • Similar words include: squall, call, shout out
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "32. Measurement around the waist"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the distance around a person's body
  • Similar words include: cinch
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIRTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "33. Resident of Muscat"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of oman
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMANI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. Something that's beyond help"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Luminesce"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an alert and refreshed state
  • Similar words include: burn, freshness, gleam
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. India's smallest state by area"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of southwestern india; a former portuguese colony
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. What students abide by when they don't cheat"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. Precious stone"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that art highly prized for its beauty or perfection
  • Similar words include: muffin, stone, precious stone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. Period before starting more school"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Georgia ___ (Atlanta school)"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a school teaching mechanical and industrial arts and the applied sciences
  • Similar words include: technical school
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TECH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Pool player's stick"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech
  • Similar words include: pool cue, prompt, cue stick
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "48. Words to live by"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any system of principles or beliefs
  • Similar words include: religious doctrine, church doctrine, gospel
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CREED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "49. Taking to court"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against
  • Similar words include: litigate, process, sue
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUING

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32D: "50. Some frozen drinks"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that decorate with frosting
  • Similar words include: frost, ice
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICEES

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33D: "52. "No need to remind me!""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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34D: "53. Outdoor John?"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states industrialist who manufactured plows suitable for working the prairie soil (1804-1886)
  • Similar words include: John Deere
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEERE

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35D: "54. "Come in""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that to come or go into
  • Similar words include: go in, get into, accede
  • Opposite of: drop out, exit
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENTER

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36D: "56. Oceanic predator"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that predatory black-and-white toothed whale with large dorsal fin; common in cold seas
  • Similar words include: grampus, sea wolf, killer
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORCA

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37D: "57. All ___ day's work"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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38D: "58. Drink served by the Mad Hatter"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
  • Similar words include: Camellia sinensis, tea leaf, afternoon tea
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEA

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39D: "59. Like the fish in poke"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for nakedness
  • Similar words include: naked, sore, in the altogether
  • Opposite of: cooked
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAW

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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: February 09, 2026 at 05:15 AM