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Monday, September 14, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 14, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Cherokee or Wrangler 4
2A 5. Omelet ingredients 4
3A 9. Big noisy fight 5
4A 14. Cornfield measure 4
5A 15. Little flying pest 4
6A 16. Dale who sang "Happy Trails" with Roy Rogers 5
7A 17. Crew building 9
8A 19. Assigns stars to, as on Yelp 5
9A 20. "Spare" things at a barbecue 4
10A 21. Stately tree 3
11A 23. Before, in poetry 3
12A 24. Atlantic City attraction 6
13A 27. "Is it bigger than a ___?" 8
14A 29. 911 respondent, in brief 3
15A 30. Latina toon explorer 4
16A 32. Beatles song with the lyric "She promises the earth to me" 4
17A 33. Pinocchio's are easily exposed 4
18A 35. "Absolutely, amigo!" 4
19A 37. The White Stripes and the Black Keys, for two 4
20A 39. Close boxing match outcome 13
21A 42. Picket line crosser 4
22A 43. Silverstein who wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree" 4
23A 44. Contacted on Instagram, informally 4
24A 46. Bills typically found in a tip jar 4
25A 48. Mallorca or Menorca, por ejemplo 4
26A 50. Place for a piercing or a plug 3
27A 51. All-out boxing match 8
28A 54. Sarcastic 6
29A 56. "Hamilton" composer ___-Manuel Miranda 3
30A 57. Singer/actress Rita ___ 3
31A 58. It's "smashed" in a particle accelerator 4
32A 59. Playful aquatic mammal 5
33A 61. Flip out ... or a hint to the beginnings of 17-, 27-, 39- and 51-Across 9
34A 66. Word said while pointing 5
35A 67. "Never Have I ___" (sleepover game) 4
36A 68. Coldest possible temperature on the Kelvin scale 4
37A 69. Informal hoops game 5
38A 70. Winter road application 4
39A 71. Rams' mates 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Cherokee or Wrangler"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Omelet ingredients"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Big noisy fight"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Cornfield measure"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of area (4840 square yards) used in english-speaking countries
  • Similar words include: Akko, Akka, Accho
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Little flying pest"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Crew building"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Stately tree"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Before, in poetry"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Atlantic City attraction"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Latina toon explorer"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "39. Close boxing match outcome"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "42. Picket line crosser"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "54. Sarcastic"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element
  • Similar words include: corpuscle, speck, mote
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATOM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. Playful aquatic mammal"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "66. Word said while pointing"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "69. Informal hoops game"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "70. Winter road application"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "71. Rams' mates"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

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

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Quick boxing punch"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Slice of history"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Self-esteem builder"

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. African antelopes"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Have the reins"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. One slow to develop"

11 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Beginning of el aƱo"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Female red deer"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Out of place"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Pedometer"

11 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

7 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Ancient Celtic priest"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Clears (of)"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Move stealthily"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

8 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. Soon, in poems"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "53. Wise sorts"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "55. Astound"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. Brother of Cain"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "63. Previously unseen"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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: September 14, 2026 at 09:06 AM

Saturday, September 12, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 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: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Light dƩcor 10
2A 11. Last place? 4
3A 15. Pop-up with an envelope icon 10
4A 16. Round figure 4
5A 17. Winner's circle? 10
6A 18. Take two 4
7A 19. Hyperfixated 6
8A 20. "Thick ___ Brick" (1972 Jethro Tull album) 3
9A 21. Earth's pull, informally 4
10A 22. On the ___ (free) 5
11A 23. Thumbs-down votes in the Duma 5
12A 25. Why wait? 3
13A 26. Personal circumstances, so to speak 5
14A 28. Justice who's the subject of the 2026 biography "Revenge for the Sixties" 5
15A 30. Rolls out the green carpet? 4
16A 34. First full word sung in "The Alphabet Song" 3
17A 35. Proverbial small amount 6
18A 36. "Now we're talking!" 15
19A 39. Capers 6
20A 40. Common ___ 3
21A 41. Rowing machines, in gym lingo 4
22A 42. "Schitt's Creek" matriarch 5
23A 43. Really hurts 5
24A 45. Rout, in computer game lingo 3
25A 46. Word with letter or grant 5
26A 48. Toothbrush handle? 5
27A 53. Smokes 4
28A 55. N.B.A. coach Jordan ___ 3
29A 56. Punnily named production company behind TV's "Insecure" and "A Black Lady Sketch Show" 6
30A 57. Stat 4
31A 58. Common sleep aid 10
32A 60. Acquire by default? 4
33A 61. Math class assignment 10
34A 62. Labor, e.g.: Abbr. 4
35A 63. Appliances that are always blowing out? 10

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Light dƩcor"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protective ornamental shade used to screen a light bulb from direct view
  • Similar words include: lampshade, lamp shade
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAMPSHADES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "11. Last place?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone)
  • Similar words include: grave
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOMB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "15. Pop-up with an envelope icon"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "16. Round figure"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

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, ovate, prolate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "17. Winner's circle?"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "18. Take two"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that do over, as of (part of) a house
  • Similar words include: remake, remodel, refashion
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "19. Hyperfixated"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. "Thick ___ Brick" (1972 Jethro Tull album)"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Earth's pull, informally"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. On the ___ (free)"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that grant freedom to; free from confinement
  • Similar words include: unaffixed, at large, relax
  • Opposite of: confine, stiffen
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Thumbs-down votes in the Duma"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Why wait?"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
  • Similar words include: confidential information, wind, bakshish
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Personal circumstances, so to speak"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a particular situation
  • Similar words include: shoe, horseshoe, brake shoe
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHOES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Justice who's the subject of the 2026 biography "Revenge for the Sixties""

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Rolls out the green carpet?"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that surface layer of ground containing a mat of grass and grass roots
  • Similar words include: sod, turf, sodomite
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SODS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. First full word sung in "The Alphabet Song""

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Proverbial small amount"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a very small quantity of something
  • Similar words include: lowlife, rotter, crumb
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRUMBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "36. "Now we're talking!""

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "39. Capers"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement
  • Similar words include: trick, put-on, caper
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTICS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Common ___"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. Rowing machines, in gym lingo"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cgs unit of work or energy; the work done by a force of one dyne acting over a distance of one centimeter
  • Similar words include: erg
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. "Schitt's Creek" matriarch"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Really hurts"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that injure or wound seriously and leave permanent disfiguration or mutilation
  • Similar words include: maim
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAIMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "45. Rout, in computer game lingo"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "46. Word with letter or grant"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides)
  • Similar words include: deflect, forget, embarrass
  • Opposite of: unstuff, unblock
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLOCK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "48. Toothbrush handle?"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "53. Smokes"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "55. N.B.A. coach Jordan ___"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "56. Punnily named production company behind TV's "Insecure" and "A Black Lady Sketch Show""

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Stat"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that as soon as possible
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. Common sleep aid"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Acquire by default?"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Math class assignment"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "62. Labor, e.g.: Abbr."

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "63. Appliances that are always blowing out?"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Carpenter's tool 5
2D 2. ___ acid 5
3D 3. Kind of photography lens for a close-up 5
4D 4. Wraps in the Mideast 5
5D 5. Certain geometry calculations 6
6D 6. Playwright Moss ___ 4
7D 7. Gymnast Raisman 3
8D 8. What a joke may get eventually 15
9D 9. Takes marks off in a classroom? 6
10D 10. Mid-March V.I.P., informally 5
11D 11. "Surf" food in Japan, or "turf" animal in Spain 4
12D 12. Kitchen counter 9
13D 13. Became a household name, say 9
14D 14. Examples of media on Medium 9
15D 23. Many a listing in an etiquette book 4
16D 24. Wrap in South Asia 4
17D 27. Actors unsuited for subtle roles 4
18D 29. Country singer Combs 4
19D 30. Rewards program tracker 9
20D 31. "It's finally clear" 9
21D 32. Phone connector? 9
22D 33. Arouse 4
23D 35. Simoleon 4
24D 37. Labor pain? 4
25D 38. Journalist Larson who wrote "The Splendid and the Vile" 4
26D 43. Godzilla adversary 6
27D 44. Longhorn's rival 6
28D 47. Acidic 5
29D 49. Capacious 5
30D 50. Surface 5
31D 51. Pointer for a public speaker 5
32D 52. Sources of the juice that "bleeds" in a faux meat patty 5
33D 54. Tough thing to be in 4
34D 56. Stayed together 4
35D 59. Placeholder abbr. 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Carpenter's tool"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a position on a scale of intensity or amount or quality
  • Similar words include: stratum, plane, tied
  • Opposite of: raise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEVEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. ___ acid"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the radical -nh2
  • Similar words include: amino group, aminic
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMINO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Kind of photography lens for a close-up"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a single computer instruction that results in a series of instructions in machine language
  • Similar words include: macro instruction
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MACRO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Wraps in the Mideast"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that usually small round bread that can open into a pocket for filling
  • Similar words include: pita, pocket bread
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PITAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Certain geometry calculations"

6 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an elevated geological formation
  • Similar words include: squelch, squish, splosh
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOPES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Playwright Moss ___"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states playwright who collaborated with george s. kaufman (1904-1961)
  • Similar words include: stag, Lorenz Hart, Moss Hart
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HART

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Gymnast Raisman"

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. What a joke may get eventually"

15 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Takes marks off in a classroom?"

6 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Mid-March V.I.P., informally"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. "Surf" food in Japan, or "turf" animal in Spain"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Kitchen counter"

9 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Became a household name, say"

9 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. Examples of media on Medium"

9 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "23. Many a listing in an etiquette book"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Wrap in South Asia"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dress worn primarily by hindu women; consists of several yards of light material that is draped around the body
  • Similar words include: saree
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SARI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Actors unsuited for subtle roles"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
  • Similar words include: ham actor, ham, overplay
  • Opposite of: underact
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "29. Country singer Combs"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (new testament) the apostle closely associated with st. paul and traditionally assumed to be the author of the third gospel
  • Similar words include: Saint Luke, Gospel of Luke, Gospel According to Luke
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "30. Rewards program tracker"

9 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "31. "It's finally clear""

9 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Phone connector?"

9 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Arouse"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a prominent or sensational but short-lived news event
  • Similar words include: shake, put forward, ado
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Simoleon"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud; the shell closes with viselike firmness
  • Similar words include: dollar bill, buck, dollar
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. Labor pain?"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Journalist Larson who wrote "The Splendid and the Vile""

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "43. Godzilla adversary"

6 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "44. Longhorn's rival"

6 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or resident of oklahoma
  • Similar words include: Oklahoman, preferably, rather
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOONER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "47. Acidic"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. Capacious"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an associate who shares a room with you
  • Similar words include: roomie, spacious, roommate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROOMY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "50. Surface"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come into existence; take on form or shape
  • Similar words include: lift, originate, rise up
  • Opposite of: sit down, go to bed
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARISE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "51. Pointer for a public speaker"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation; an optical device that produces an intense monochromatic beam of coherent light
  • Similar words include: optical maser
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "52. Sources of the juice that "bleeds" in a faux meat patty"

5 letters šŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that biennial eurasian plant usually having a swollen edible root; widely cultivated as a food crop
  • Similar words include: Beta vulgaris, common beet, beetroot
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEETS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "54. Tough thing to be in"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a point located with respect to surface features of some region
  • Similar words include: stain, smirch, make out
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "56. Stayed together"

4 letters šŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,
  • Similar words include: book, bind, concur
  • Opposite of: disagree, let go of
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HELD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "59. Placeholder abbr."

3 letters šŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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

35 Across Clues
35 Down Clues
70 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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Last updated: September 12, 2026 at 08:01 AM