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Showing posts sorted by date for query pure. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers October 13, 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. ___ classic ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Pulp Fiction," e.g.) 4
2A 5. Spongy wetlands 4
3A 9. Titleholder 5
4A 14. Engrave 4
5A 15. Dirt pie ingredient 4
6A 16. Greek goddesses of the seasons 5
7A 17. Optional mission in a video game 9
8A 19. Gradually eat away 5
9A 20. Selfless sort 8
10A 21. Shindig for someone to announce whether they're having a boy or a girl 6
11A 22. – 6
12A 23. Lie next to 4
13A 25. Show on which Tina Fey and Seth Meyers have worked as head writers, in brief 3
14A 26. Tropical cocktail with bananas, strawberries, rum and coconut cream 8
15A 31. Go downhill fast 3
16A 34. Feedbag contents 4
17A 36. Shindig for someone settling into a new home 5
18A 37. – 7
19A 40. Flips, say 7
20A 42. Skirt, as an issue 5
21A 43. Jennifer who wrote "A Visit From the Goon Squad" 4
22A 45. Auction unit 3
23A 46. Cowboy's kerchief 8
24A 48. Show stoppers? 3
25A 51. Goes bad 4
26A 52. Shindig for someone who's about to tie the knot 6
27A 56. – 6
28A 60. Like a dish of veal or chicken dipped in egg and breadcrumbs, then fried in butter 8
29A 62. Surfers ride them 5
30A 63. Lunchroom 9
31A 64. Wolf in "The Jungle Book" 5
32A 65. Initials on a map until 1991 4
33A 66. Shindig for the cast and crew after filming is done ... with a hint to entering this answer and three others in the grid 4
34A 67. – 5
35A 68. Boxing stats 4
36A 69. Jazz singer Sylvia 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. ___ classic ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show" or "Pulp Fiction," e.g.)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices
  • Similar words include: fad, rage, cultus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CULT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Spongy wetlands"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wet spongy ground of decomposing vegetation; has poorer drainage than a swamp; soil is unfit for cultivation but can be cut and dried and used for fuel
  • Similar words include: bog, bog down, peat bog
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Titleholder"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who has won first place in a competition
  • Similar words include: chomp, title-holder, champion
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHAMP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Engrave"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make an etching of
  • Similar words include: engrave
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Dirt pie ingredient"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Greek goddesses of the seasons"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Optional mission in a video game"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Gradually eat away"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that become ground down or deteriorate
  • Similar words include: gnaw, wear away, eat away
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERODE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Selfless sort"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who makes charitable donations intended to increase human well-being
  • Similar words include: philanthropist
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALTRUIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Shindig for someone to announce whether they're having a boy or a girl"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a grammatical category in inflected languages governing the agreement between nouns and pronouns and adjectives; in some languages it is quite arbitrary but in indo-european languages it is usually based on sex or animateness
  • Similar words include: sex, sexuality, grammatical gender
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GENDER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. –"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make visible
  • Similar words include: discover, let out, unwrap
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REVEAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Lie next to"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
  • Similar words include: butt, butt on, adjoin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Show on which Tina Fey and Seth Meyers have worked as head writers, in brief"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "26. Tropical cocktail with bananas, strawberries, rum and coconut cream"

8 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Go downhill fast"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that narrow wood or metal or plastic runners used in pairs for gliding over snow
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SKI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Feedbag contents"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that annual grass of europe and north africa; grains used as food and fodder (referred to primarily in the plural: `oats')
  • Similar words include: oat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OATS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. Shindig for someone settling into a new home"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
  • Similar words include: theatre, firm, planetary house
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. –"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the process of becoming warmer; a rising temperature
  • Similar words include: heating, thaw, thawing
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WARMING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "40. Flips, say"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sell (something) again after having bought it
  • Similar words include: resell
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RESELLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. Skirt, as an issue"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
  • Similar words include: deflect, stave off, head off
  • Opposite of: validate, confront
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVOID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Jennifer who wrote "A Visit From the Goon Squad""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. Auction unit"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
  • Similar words include: hatful, spate, batch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. Cowboy's kerchief"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large and brightly colored handkerchief; often used as a neckerchief
  • Similar words include: bandana
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BANDANNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "48. Show stoppers?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public promotion of some product or service
  • Similar words include: advertizing, advertisement, advertizement
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "51. Goes bad"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: buncombe, decomposition, molder
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "52. Shindig for someone who's about to tie the knot"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that archaic terms for a wedding or wedding feast
  • Similar words include: espousal, spousal, nuptial
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRIDAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "56. –"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a plumbing fixture that sprays water over you
  • Similar words include: exhibitor, shower bath, rain shower
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHOWER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "60. Like a dish of veal or chicken dipped in egg and breadcrumbs, then fried in butter"

8 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of milan
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MILANESE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "62. Surfers ride them"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)
  • Similar words include: Wave, flourish, waving
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WAVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "63. Lunchroom"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a restaurant where you serve yourself and pay a cashier
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAFETERIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "64. Wolf in "The Jungle Book""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "65. Initials on a map until 1991"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a former communist country in eastern europe and northern asia; established in 1922; included russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics (ukraine and byelorussia and others); officially dissolved 31 december 1991
  • Similar words include: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Soviet Union, Russia
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USSR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "66. Shindig for the cast and crew after filming is done ... with a hint to entering this answer and three others in the grid"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cloak that is folded or wrapped around a person
  • Similar words include: enwrap, twine, wrapping
  • Opposite of: unwind, unwrap
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WRAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "67. –"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an organization to gain political power
  • Similar words include: political party, company
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARTY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "68. Boxing stats"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a knockout declared by the referee who judges one boxer unable to continue
  • Similar words include: TKO, technical knockout
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TKOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "69. Jazz singer Sylvia"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. ___ Millan, celebrity dog trainer 5
2D 2. Handy 5
3D 3. High-def flat screen, for short 5
4D 4. "Ay, ___ the rub" 6
5D 5. Broth that might come from a dissolved cube 8
6D 6. Magnetite and bauxite 4
7D 7. Whole that's greater than the sum of its parts, from the German 7
8D 8. Barfly 3
9D 9. Spotted African sprinters 8
10D 10. Car's honker 4
11D 11. Longtime Yankee slugger, familiarly 4
12D 12. Earned 4
13D 13. Member of a jury 4
14D 18. Ke Huy ___, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" actor 4
15D 21. Boss, in Britain 3
16D 24. Major Iraqi port city 5
17D 27. Adversary 3
18D 28. Quiet period 4
19D 29. Scandinavian capital 4
20D 30. Toward sunset 4
21D 31. Mop, as the deck 4
22D 32. Polynesian brew 4
23D 33. Smooth out, as a wrinkled shirt 4
24D 35. Talent broker 5
25D 38. Mediocre, in modern slang 3
26D 39. "'Tis entirely likely" 8
27D 41. Those going along with others' unhealthy habits 8
28D 44. Item worn with a hazmat suit 7
29D 47. Negative connector 3
30D 49. "Curses!" 4
31D 50. Fibrous connecting tissues 6
32D 53. Second-largest city in Northern Ireland 5
33D 54. "Take me ___" 5
34D 55. Bounds 5
35D 56. Substitute 4
36D 57. Ceremonial Maori dance 4
37D 58. Done 4
38D 59. Mark left by a whip 4
39D 61. "Should that be true ..." 4
40D 63. Word before "one's losses" or "both ways" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. ___ Millan, celebrity dog trainer"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Handy"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that being of use or service
  • Similar words include: useful
  • Opposite of: useless
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UTILE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. High-def flat screen, for short"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. "Ay, ___ the rub""

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a location other than here; that place
  • Similar words include: there
  • Opposite of: here
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THERES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Broth that might come from a dissolved cube"

8 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear seasoned broth
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOUILLON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Magnetite and bauxite"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mineral that contains metal that is valuable enough to be mined
  • Similar words include: ore
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Whole that's greater than the sum of its parts, from the German"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GESTALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Barfly"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chronic drinker
  • Similar words include: drunk, wino, rummy
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Spotted African sprinters"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long-legged spotted cat of africa and southwestern asia having nonretractile claws; the swiftest mammal; can be trained to run down game
  • Similar words include: chetah, cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHEETAHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Car's honker"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
  • Similar words include: tusk, trump, car horn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HORN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Longtime Yankee slugger, familiarly"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Earned"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that give certain properties to something
  • Similar words include: progress to, create, cause
  • Opposite of: unmake, unmade
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Member of a jury"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who is of equal standing with another in a group
  • Similar words include: match, compeer, equal
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Ke Huy ___, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" actor"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Boss, in Britain"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Major Iraqi port city"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the second largest city in iraq; an oil port in southern iraq
  • Similar words include: Basia
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Adversary"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
  • Similar words include: foeman, opposition, enemy
  • Opposite of: friend
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Quiet period"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a pause during which things are calm or activities are diminished
  • Similar words include: quiet, calm down, still
  • Opposite of: agitate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LULL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Scandinavian capital"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the capital and largest city of norway; the country's main port; located at the head of a fjord on norway's southern coast
  • Similar words include: capital of Norway, Christiania
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OSLO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Toward sunset"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the countries of (originally) europe and (now including) north america and south america
  • Similar words include: Occident, western United States, Rebecca West
  • Opposite of: east
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Mop, as the deck"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that implement consisting of a small piece of cotton that is used to apply medication or cleanse a wound or obtain a specimen of a secretion
  • Similar words include: mop, dab, swob
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Polynesian brew"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an alcoholic drink made from the aromatic roots of the kava shrub
  • Similar words include: kavakava
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Smooth out, as a wrinkled shirt"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a heavy ductile magnetic metallic element; is silver-white in pure form but readily rusts; used in construction and tools and armament; plays a role in the transport of oxygen by the blood
  • Similar words include: cast-iron, Fe, atomic number 26
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Talent broker"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect
  • Similar words include: broker, federal agent, factor
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Mediocre, in modern slang"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. "'Tis entirely likely""

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Those going along with others' unhealthy habits"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. Item worn with a hazmat suit"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protective mask with a filter; protects the face and lungs against poisonous gases
  • Similar words include: gas helmet, respirator
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GASMASK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "47. Negative connector"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "49. "Curses!""

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "50. Fibrous connecting tissues"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cord or band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment
  • Similar words include: tendon, brawniness, muscularity
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINEWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "53. Second-largest city in Northern Ireland"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "54. "Take me ___""

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "55. Bounds"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
  • Similar words include: jump, jump off, bound
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "56. Substitute"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an equal exchange
  • Similar words include: switch, barter, swop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "57. Ceremonial Maori dance"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. Done"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (cricket) the division of play during which six balls are bowled at the batsman by one player from the other team from the same end of the pitch
  • Similar words include: concluded, complete, ended
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Mark left by a whip"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions
  • Similar words include: flog, weal, strap
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WELT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "61. "Should that be true ...""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "63. Word before "one's losses" or "both ways""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a share of the profits
  • Similar words include: mown, excision, cold shoulder
  • Opposite of: uncut, untrimmed
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUT

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

36 Across Clues
40 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: October 13, 2026 at 10:49 AM

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 08, 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. Prized gem in Chinese culture 4
2A 5. Long (for) 4
3A 9. Wise one 4
4A 13. Lyft competitor 4
5A 14. Trims, say 5
6A 16. Bullet point on an agenda 4
7A 17. ___ Scotia 4
8A 18. Actress Judi with an Oscar and a Tony 5
9A 19. Hawaiian bird with a reduplicative name 4
10A 20. Smooths (over) 7
11A 22. Pest at a comedy club 7
12A 24. Soda bottle units 6
13A 25. Food court locale 4
14A 26. "This American Life" host Glass 3
15A 27. Suffix in the names of many languages 3
16A 28. "Please don't go!" 4
17A 30. French cosmetics company founded in 1909 6
18A 32. "For ___ a jolly good fellow ..." 3
19A 34. Crafts' partner 4
20A 36. "A Whole New ___" ("Aladdin" song) 5
21A 37. CVS rival ... or a phonetic hint to the answers on this puzzle's perimeter 9
22A 40. "What a shame!" 5
23A 43. Chopped down 4
24A 44. Broody music genre 3
25A 47. Hardest substance in the human body 6
26A 49. Aide: Abbr. 4
27A 51. Sound from a pound 3
28A 53. Energy-carrying chemical found in all living things, in brief 3
29A 54. Santa makes one 4
30A 56. Pompadour or pigtails 6
31A 58. "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the ___ one of all?" 7
32A 60. Site of a paper jam 7
33A 61. Milkshake flavor 4
34A 62. ___ dish (lab item) 5
35A 64. Father 4
36A 65. "___ I a Woman?" (Sojourner Truth speech) 4
37A 66. Plastic wrap brand 5
38A 67. Colleges, to Aussies 4
39A 68. Stuff growing on a tree trunk 4
40A 69. Acidic ingredient in guacamole 4
41A 70. Money maker 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Prized gem in Chinese culture"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a semiprecious gemstone that takes a high polish; is usually green but sometimes whitish; consists of jadeite or nephrite
  • Similar words include: hussy, wear, fornicatress
  • Opposite of: refresh
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Long (for)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a coniferous tree
  • Similar words include: yen, languish, yearn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Wise one"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
  • Similar words include: sage-green, salvia
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "13. Lyft competitor"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "14. Trims, say"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that prepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting
  • Similar words include: redact, edit, blue-pencil
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDITS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Bullet point on an agenda"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. ___ Scotia"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a star that ejects some of its material in the form of a cloud and become more luminous in the process
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOVA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Actress Judi with an Oscar and a Tony"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Hawaiian bird with a reduplicative name"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. Smooths (over)"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an explanation or definition of an obscure word in a text
  • Similar words include: colour, polish, semblance
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLOSSES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Pest at a comedy club"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who tries to embarrass you with gibes and questions and objections
  • Similar words include: badgerer
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HECKLER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Soda bottle units"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a metric unit of capacity, formerly defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water under standard conditions; now equal to 1,000 cubic centimeters (or approximately 1.75 pints)
  • Similar words include: cubic decimetre, cubic decimeter, litre
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LITERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Food court locale"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a public area set aside as a pedestrian walk
  • Similar words include: promenade, shopping centre, center
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MALL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "26. "This American Life" host Glass"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a militant organization of irish nationalists who used terrorism and guerilla warfare in an effort to drive british forces from northern ireland and achieve a united independent ireland
  • Similar words include: individual retirement account, Provos, anger
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "27. Suffix in the names of many languages"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the compass point midway between east and southeast
  • Similar words include: east southeast
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "28. "Please don't go!""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that continuing or remaining in a place or state
  • Similar words include: appease, quell, persist
  • Opposite of: depart, change
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "30. French cosmetics company founded in 1909"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "32. "For ___ a jolly good fellow ...""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a very light colorless element that is one of the six inert gasses; the most difficult gas to liquefy; occurs in economically extractable amounts in certain natural gases (as those found in texas and kansas)
  • Similar words include: helium, atomic number 2, He
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "34. Crafts' partner"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that studies intended to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills (rather than occupational or professional skills)
  • Similar words include: artistic creation, humanistic discipline, nontextual matter
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "36. "A Whole New ___" ("Aladdin" song)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that everything that exists anywhere
  • Similar words include: existence, humanity, reality
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WORLD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "37. CVS rival ... or a phonetic hint to the answers on this puzzle's perimeter"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. "What a shame!""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Chopped down"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make or shape as with an axe
  • Similar words include: hew out, hew, hand-hewn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEWN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Broody music genre"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "47. Hardest substance in the human body"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hard white substance covering the crown of a tooth
  • Similar words include: tooth enamel
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENAMEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. Aide: Abbr."

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. Sound from a pound"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. Energy-carrying chemical found in all living things, in brief"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a nucleotide derived from adenosine that occurs in muscle tissue; the major source of energy for cellular reactions
  • Similar words include: adenosine triphosphate
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "54. Santa makes one"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics)
  • Similar words include: heel, listing, lean
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "56. Pompadour or pigtails"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair)
  • Similar words include: coiffure, hair style, coif
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAIRDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the ___ one of all?""

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception; conforming with established standards or rules
  • Similar words include: mediocre, bonny, sightly
  • Opposite of: foul, unfair
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAIREST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Site of a paper jam"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone whose occupation is printing
  • Similar words include: printing machine, pressman
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PRINTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Milkshake flavor"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "62. ___ dish (lab item)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "64. Father"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a title of address formerly used for a man of rank and authority
  • Similar words include: generate, engender, bring forth
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "65. "___ I a Woman?" (Sojourner Truth speech)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "66. Plastic wrap brand"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various thermoplastic resins used to make things
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SARAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "67. Colleges, to Aussies"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "68. Stuff growing on a tree trunk"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tiny leafy-stemmed flowerless plants
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOSS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40A: "69. Acidic ingredient in guacamole"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a caustic substance produced by heating limestone
  • Similar words include: linden, lime hydrate, calcium oxide
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41A: "70. Money maker"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
  • Similar words include: hatful, strike, great deal
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MINT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Jaguar's home 6
2D 2. Totally ban 7
3D 3. Faithful follower 7
4D 4. Clear, as a board 5
5D 5. Base of a statue 8
6D 6. March 15, e.g. 4
7D 7. Diarist Anaïs 3
8D 8. ___ Sketch (classic drawing toy) 5
9D 9. Kitchen fixture that might have a double or single basin 4
10D 10. Artist's workshop 7
11D 11. Army leader 7
12D 12. May birthstone 7
13D 15. Shape of conchiglie pasta 5
14D 21. Cohort above jrs. 3
15D 23. Ronald McDonald, e.g. 5
16D 25. "This one's on me!" 7
17D 29. Cry of frustration 4
18D 31. "Titanic" heroine 4
19D 33. Did the backstroke, say 4
20D 35. Works with a needle 4
21D 38. One-named "Hello" singer 5
22D 39. Induct into a hall of fame, perhaps 8
23D 40. Froth seen at the beach 7
24D 41. Most populous Canadian province 7
25D 42. 2014 nonfiction best seller subtitled "A Brief History of Humankind" 7
26D 45. "Shaken, not stirred" drink 7
27D 46. Use DoorDash or Grubhub, e.g. 7
28D 48. Some speech impediments 5
29D 50. ___ chi (Chinese martial art) 3
30D 52. Not see the ___ for the trees 6
31D 55. Amazing bargain 5
32D 57. "To recap ..." 5
33D 59. Decays 4
34D 60. British baby carriage 4
35D 63. The first "T" in TNT 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Jaguar's home"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a location marked by an intense competition and struggle for survival
  • Similar words include: hobo camp
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JUNGLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Totally ban"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that do away with
  • Similar words include: get rid of
  • Opposite of: establish
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABOLISH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Faithful follower"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an ardent follower and admirer
  • Similar words include: buff, fan, lover
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEVOTEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Clear, as a board"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Base of a statue"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a support or foundation
  • Similar words include: plinth, stand, base
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEDESTAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. March 15, e.g."

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in the roman calendar: the 15th of march or may or july or october or the 13th of any other month
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Diarist Anaïs"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. ___ Sketch (classic drawing toy)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Kitchen fixture that might have a double or single basin"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that plumbing fixture consisting of a water basin fixed to a wall or floor and having a drainpipe
  • Similar words include: bury, swallow hole, sump
  • Opposite of: source, float
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Artist's workshop"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a studio especially for an artist or designer
  • Similar words include: artist's workroom
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATELIER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Army leader"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a general officer of the highest rank
  • Similar words include: superior general, ecumenical, cosmopolitan
  • Opposite of: particular, specific
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GENERAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. May birthstone"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a green transparent form of beryl; highly valued as a gemstone
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMERALD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "15. Shape of conchiglie pasta"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that ammunition consisting of a cylindrical metal casing containing an explosive charge and a projectile; fired from a large gun
  • Similar words include: casing, scale, vanquish
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "21. Cohort above jrs."

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element of the alkali metal group; turns yellow in air; occurs in celestite and strontianite
  • Similar words include: Sr, steradian, atomic number 38
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "23. Ronald McDonald, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a rude or vulgar fool
  • Similar words include: merry andrew, goof, clown around
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLOWN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. "This one's on me!""

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "29. Cry of frustration"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "31. "Titanic" heroine"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of many shrubs of the genus rosa that bear roses
  • Similar words include: stand up, develop, prove
  • Opposite of: turn in, set
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "33. Did the backstroke, say"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that travel through water
  • Similar words include: drown, swim, float
  • Opposite of: sink
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "35. Works with a needle"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fasten by sewing; do needlework
  • Similar words include: sew, run up, stitch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "38. One-named "Hello" singer"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "39. Induct into a hall of fame, perhaps"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that enclose in a shrine
  • Similar words include: shrine, saint
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENSHRINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "40. Froth seen at the beach"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "41. Most populous Canadian province"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the smallest of the great lakes
  • Similar words include: Lake Ontario
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONTARIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "42. 2014 nonfiction best seller subtitled "A Brief History of Humankind""

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of or relating to or characteristic of homo sapiens
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAPIENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "45. "Shaken, not stirred" drink"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cocktail made of gin (or vodka) with dry vermouth
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MARTINI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "46. Use DoorDash or Grubhub, e.g."

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "48. Some speech impediments"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a speech defect that involves pronouncing `s' like voiceless `th' and `z' like voiced `th'
  • Similar words include: list-processing language, lisp, LISP
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LISPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "50. ___ chi (Chinese martial art)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of thailand
  • Similar words include: Thai, Siamese
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "52. Not see the ___ for the trees"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
  • Similar words include: wood, timberland, timber
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOREST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "55. Amazing bargain"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an advantageous purchase
  • Similar words include: slip, buy, bargain
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEAL

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32D: "57. "To recap ...""

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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33D: "59. Decays"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: guff, molder, hogwash
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTS

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34D: "60. British baby carriage"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small vehicle with four wheels in which a baby or child is pushed around
  • Similar words include: stroller, baby buggy, go-cart
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PRAM

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35D: "63. The first "T" in TNT"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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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

41 Across Clues
35 Down Clues
76 Total Clues

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Last updated: September 08, 2026 at 08:13 AM