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Thursday, April 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers April 16, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Medium

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Ventricle suppliers 5
2A 6. Accepted unquestioningly 5
3A 11. Rx for a root canal 7
4A 14. ___ Moshfegh, "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" novelist 7
5A 16. Performer known for her runs 7
6A 17. Sommeliers' assets 7
7A 18. Like some gins and cleaning products 5
8A 19. Wipe clean 5
9A 20. Fast fliers 7
10A 22. Insect nicknamed for its small size 7
11A 25. "Midsommar" director Aster 3
12A 26. "Nova" network 3
13A 28. Sport that takes place in an octagon, in brief 3
14A 29. Ilk 4
15A 31. Risks it 5
16A 33. Leaning 4
17A 34. Upper hand 4
18A 35. "I, Robot" author Asimov 5
19A 36. Big deals 4
20A 37. Facilities, informally 3
21A 39. Booking, for short 3
22A 41. Torah writers 7
23A 45. Unit for ultra-high-speed internet 7
24A 49. This isn't working! 7
25A 50. Fault line? 7
26A 51. Home security co. 3
27A 52. Wail 3
28A 54. Word seen between here and there 3
29A 55. Joel's smuggling partner on "The Last of Us" 4
30A 57. Bouquet 5
31A 59. Tzatziki scooper 4
32A 60. Big payroll service co. 4
33A 61. Number of Super Bowl rings for Tom Brady 5
34A 62. Abbr. seen before a person's name 4
35A 63. With 65-Across, with extreme precision ... or a hint to reading 15 of this puzzle's answers 4
36A 64. Serious 5
37A 65. See 63-Across 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Ventricle suppliers"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any chamber that is connected to other chambers or passageways (especially one of the two upper chambers of the heart)
  • Similar words include: atrium
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATRIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Accepted unquestioningly"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Rx for a root canal"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. ___ Moshfegh, "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" novelist"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "16. Performer known for her runs"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "17. Sommeliers' assets"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the upper surface of the mouth that separates the oral and nasal cavities
  • Similar words include: palate, roof of the mouth
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PALATES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "18. Like some gins and cleaning products"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Wipe clean"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Fast fliers"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that diurnal birds of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight
  • Similar words include: falcon
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FALCONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Insect nicknamed for its small size"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "25. "Midsommar" director Aster"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "26. "Nova" network"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a solution containing a phosphate buffer
  • Similar words include: Pbit, Pb, PiB
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "28. Sport that takes place in an octagon, in brief"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Ilk"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality
  • Similar words include: form, variety, tolerant
  • Opposite of: unkind
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KIND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Risks it"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a challenge to do something dangerous or foolhardy
  • Similar words include: daring, defy, presume
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DARES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Leaning"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
  • Similar words include: crumpled, dead set, turn away
  • Opposite of: straighten, unbend
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Upper hand"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the boundary of a surface
  • Similar words include: butt on, sharpness, adjoin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. "I, Robot" author Asimov"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) the second patriarch; son of abraham and sarah who was offered by abraham as a sacrifice to god; father of jacob and esau
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISAAC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "36. Big deals"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a rapid active commotion
  • Similar words include: ado, bustle, fuss
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "37. Facilities, informally"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
  • Similar words include: bathroom, toilet, lavatory
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAV

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Booking, for short"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a widely distributed system consisting of all the cells able to ingest bacteria or colloidal particles etc, except for certain white blood cells
  • Similar words include: re, Ra, reticuloendothelial system
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "41. Torah writers"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that french playwright (1791-1861)
  • Similar words include: scrivener, copyist, scratch awl
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCRIBES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "45. Unit for ultra-high-speed internet"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of information equal to 1000 megabits or 10^9 (1,000,000,000) bits
  • Similar words include: Gb, Gbit
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIGABIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "49. This isn't working!"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that time available for ease and relaxation
  • Similar words include: leisure time
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEISURE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "50. Fault line?"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an expression of regret at having caused trouble for someone
  • Similar words include: apologia, excuse
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APOLOGY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "51. Home security co."

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an ester of adenosine that is converted to atp for energy storage
  • Similar words include: automatic data processing, adenosine diphosphate
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "52. Wail"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
  • Similar words include: holler, cry out, outcry
  • Opposite of: laugh
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "54. Word seen between here and there"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Joel's smuggling partner on "The Last of Us""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Bouquet"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any property detected by the olfactory system
  • Similar words include: scent, odour, olfactory property
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AROMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "59. Tzatziki scooper"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Big payroll service co."

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a terrorist organization organized in 1959 by student activists who were dissatisfied with the moderate nationalism of the traditional basque party; want to create an independent homeland in spain's western pyrenees
  • Similar words include: ETA, Basque Fatherland and Liberty, Euskadi ta Askatasuna
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Number of Super Bowl rings for Tom Brady"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
  • Similar words include: vii, septenary, VII
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEVEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "62. Abbr. seen before a person's name"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "63. With 65-Across, with extreme precision ... or a hint to reading 15 of this puzzle's answers"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that soft fine feathers
  • Similar words include: gloomy, refine, John L. H. Down
  • Opposite of: upwardly, upwards
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOWN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "64. Serious"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the rear part of a ship
  • Similar words include: Isaac Stern, severe, hind end
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STERN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "65. See 63-Across"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. X, for one 3
2D 2. Fields medalist Terence 3
3D 3. Like a lake on a breezy day 8
4D 4. Charge 6
5D 5. Question from someone seeking reassurance 6
6D 6. "Finally!" 6
7D 7. Service with cups and saucers 6
8D 8. Dear 8
9D 9. Exercise 3
10D 10. Negation word in French 3
11D 12. Occasion 5
12D 13. Previous times 8
13D 14. Welcome sight in musical chairs 8
14D 15. Source of a deal with The Devil? 5
15D 20. Sham 4
16D 21. Like most of Nevada 4
17D 23. "Yeah, nice try" 4
18D 24. Gymnasts' rolls? 4
19D 27. Kid who might get grounded 4
20D 30. Take off the market 6
21D 31. Reroute 6
22D 32. Something a reality show lacks 6
23D 33. Igneous rock that composes most of Venus's surface 6
24D 38. Be against, in a way 4
25D 40. Achievement for Whoopi Goldberg and Rita Moreno, in brief 4
26D 41. Planned 6
27D 42. Officially give 6
28D 43. Tool with coarse teeth 6
29D 44. "It's a ___!" 6
30D 45. Portmanteau for a queer Fortnite player, say 6
31D 46. Fish whose name is Spanish for "pretty" 6
32D 47. "There's no stopping me!" 6
33D 48. Ruler with an iron fist 6
34D 53. Meander 4
35D 56. Fig. with two hyphens 3
36D 57. Modern intensifying suffix 3
37D 58. Journalist Curry 3
38D 59. Glib 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. X, for one"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Fields medalist Terence"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adherent of any branch of taoism
  • Similar words include: Taoist
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Like a lake on a breezy day"

8 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small wave on the surface of a liquid
  • Similar words include: ripple, cockle, ruffle
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIPPLING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Charge"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that accuse formally of a crime
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INDICT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Question from someone seeking reassurance"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. "Finally!""

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Service with cups and saucers"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Dear"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that regard highly; think much of
  • Similar words include: esteem, respect, value
  • Opposite of: disesteem, disrespect
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESTEEMED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Exercise"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of using
  • Similar words include: use of goods and services, employ, habituate
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Negation word in French"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (ballet) a step in dancing (especially in classical ballet)
  • Similar words include: dada, pappa, P.A.
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "12. Occasion"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something that happens at a given place and time
  • Similar words include: consequence, result, case
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "13. Previous times"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "14. Welcome sight in musical chairs"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "15. Source of a deal with The Devil?"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of a set of (usually 72) cards that include 22 cards representing virtues and vices and death and fortune etc.; used by fortunetellers
  • Similar words include: tarot card
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAROT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "20. Sham"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be
  • Similar words include: impostor, imposter, manipulate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "21. Like most of Nevada"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lacking sufficient water or rainfall
  • Similar words include: desiccate, waterless, desiccated
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "23. "Yeah, nice try""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "24. Gymnasts' rolls?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Kid who might get grounded"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a very troublesome child
  • Similar words include: holy terror, little terror, bratwurst
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Take off the market"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove (a security) from listing at a stock exchange
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DELIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Reroute"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that turn aside; turn away from
  • Similar words include: disport, hive off, deviate
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIVERT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Something a reality show lacks"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a written version of a play or other dramatic composition; used in preparing for a performance
  • Similar words include: book, hand, playscript
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCRIPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Igneous rock that composes most of Venus's surface"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the commonest type of solidified lava; a dense dark grey fine-grained igneous rock that is composed chiefly of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "38. Be against, in a way"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. Achievement for Whoopi Goldberg and Rita Moreno, in brief"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "41. Planned"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that designate or schedule
  • Similar words include: slate, slat
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLATED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. Officially give"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Tool with coarse teeth"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a handsaw for cutting with the grain of the wood
  • Similar words include: splitsaw
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIPSAW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. "It's a ___!""

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something that should remain hidden from others (especially information that is not to be passed on)
  • Similar words include: private, surreptitious, hole-and-corner
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SECRET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "45. Portmanteau for a queer Fortnite player, say"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "46. Fish whose name is Spanish for "pretty""

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that flesh of mostly pacific food fishes of the genus sarda of the family scombridae; related to but smaller than tuna
  • Similar words include: Katsuwonus pelamis, oceanic bonito
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BONITO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "47. "There's no stopping me!""

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "48. Ruler with an iron fist"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cruel and oppressive dictator
  • Similar words include: autocrat, despot
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TYRANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Meander"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment
  • Similar words include: roam, reeve, wander
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROVE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "56. Fig. with two hyphens"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "57. Modern intensifying suffix"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. Journalist Curry"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Glib"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a gentle blow
  • Similar words include: rap, slick, dab
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAT

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

37 Across Clues
38 Down Clues
75 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.

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Last updated: April 16, 2026 at 05:41 AM

Monday, February 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers February 16, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: 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. Necklace fastener 5
2A 6. Physique, slangily 3
3A 9. "___ to that!" 4
4A 13. Textile city NNE of Paris 5
5A 14. New wave band with the hit "Whip It" 4
6A 15. Improvise, in jazz 4
7A 16. Stared rudely 5
8A 17. Late-night kitchen visit, e.g. 4
9A 18. Stench 4
10A 19. Longtime comic strip set in a medieval kingdom 13
11A 22. Home for pigs 3
12A 23. Teen wearing heavy eyeliner, maybe 4
13A 24. Really, really cool 6
14A 27. "My dude!" 3
15A 28. Computer operating system developed by Bell Labs 4
16A 30. ___-Hulk 3
17A 31. Charge for airing a commercial 5
18A 34. Fictional lab assistant with a hunchback 4
19A 35. Stylish 4
20A 36. Capital of the Gem State, in a mailing address 7
21A 38. Possible cybercrime, informally 7
22A 40. M.I.T. Mystery ___ (annual puzzle competition) 4
23A 41. Close by 4
24A 43. Corrosion signs 5
25A 44. Stadium cheer 3
26A 45. Glance through 4
27A 46. Reader's Digest or Golf Digest, in brief 3
28A 47. Where clams are served 6
29A 49. Knotted (up) 4
30A 51. Rep.'s counterpart 3
31A 54. "Makes no difference to me" 13
32A 57. Actress Kendrick 4
33A 59. Hourly pay rate 4
34A 60. Flock that honks 5
35A 61. Follow directions 4
36A 62. Conga, for one 4
37A 63. Chicago's ___ Planetarium 5
38A 64. Scottish girl 4
39A 65. Place to get a rubdown 3
40A 66. Voting spots 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Necklace fastener"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fastener (as a buckle or hook) that is used to hold two things together
  • Similar words include: clutches, grip, brooch
  • Opposite of: unclasp, unbuckle
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLASP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Physique, slangily"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that alternative names for the body of a human being
  • Similar words include: chassis, human body, form
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. "___ to that!""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "13. Textile city NNE of Paris"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an industrial city in northern france near the belgian border; was the medieval capital of flanders
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LILLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "14. New wave band with the hit "Whip It""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "15. Improvise, in jazz"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to exploit men
  • Similar words include: tease, flirt, vamper
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VAMP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "16. Stared rudely"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that look at with amorous intentions
  • Similar words include: ogle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGLED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "17. Late-night kitchen visit, e.g."

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden short attack
  • Similar words include: maraud, bust, foray
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "18. Stench"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any property detected by the olfactory system
  • Similar words include: olfactory sensation, olfactory perception, scent
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "19. Longtime comic strip set in a medieval kingdom"

13 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Home for pigs"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an infection of the sebaceous gland of the eyelid
  • Similar words include: pigsty, hordeolum, stye
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Teen wearing heavy eyeliner, maybe"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement
  • Similar words include: tike, boor, peasant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "24. Really, really cool"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. "My dude!""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "28. Computer operating system developed by Bell Labs"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that trademark for a powerful operating system
  • Similar words include: UNIX operating system, UNIX system
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNIX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "30. ___-Hulk"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "31. Charge for airing a commercial"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "34. Fictional lab assistant with a hunchback"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "35. Stylish"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that elegance by virtue of being fashionable
  • Similar words include: chicness, last word, stylishness
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "36. Capital of the Gem State, in a mailing address"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "38. Possible cybercrime, informally"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. M.I.T. Mystery ___ (annual puzzle competition)"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that englishman and pre-raphaelite painter (1827-1910)
  • Similar words include: Leigh Hunt, hunt down, Holman Hunt
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUNT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "41. Close by"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move towards
  • Similar words include: come near, draw near, nearly
  • Opposite of: far
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "43. Corrosion signs"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a red or brown oxide coating on iron or steel caused by the action of oxygen and moisture
  • Similar words include: eat, rust fungus, rust
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUSTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "44. Stadium cheer"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. Glance through"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region
  • Similar words include: glance over, rake, CAT scan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Reader's Digest or Golf Digest, in brief"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a periodic publication containing pictures and stories and articles of interest to those who purchase it or subscribe to it
  • Similar words include: magazine
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "47. Where clams are served"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "49. Knotted (up)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fasten or secure with a rope, string, or cord
  • Similar words include: connect, draw, level
  • Opposite of: untied, disconnect
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "51. Rep.'s counterpart"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "54. "Makes no difference to me""

13 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "57. Actress Kendrick"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a former copper coin of pakistan and india
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "59. Hourly pay rate"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something that remunerates
  • Similar words include: pay, salary, earnings
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "60. Flock that honks"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that web-footed long-necked typically gregarious migratory aquatic birds usually larger and less aquatic than ducks
  • Similar words include: goose, goofball, jackass
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEESE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "61. Follow directions"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be obedient to
  • Opposite of: disobey
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBEY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "62. Conga, for one"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a musical percussion instrument; usually consists of a hollow cylinder with a membrane stretched across each end
  • Similar words include: cram, grind away, bone
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRUM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "63. Chicago's ___ Planetarium"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "64. Scottish girl"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a girl or young woman who is unmarried
  • Similar words include: lassie, jeune fille, young girl
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LASS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "65. Place to get a rubdown"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40A: "66. Voting spots"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the place where people vote
  • Similar words include: public opinion poll, crown, canvass
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POLLS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Thickens, as cream 5
2D 2. Not heavy 5
3D 3. Narrow way between city buildings 5
4D 4. Whole bunch 4
5D 5. Horse's ancestral line 8
6D 6. Hearty embrace 7
7D 7. Roman poet who wrote "Metamorphoses" 4
8D 8. Dull-witted sort 8
9D 9. Eschew 5
10D 10. Frantic scrambles 9
11D 11. Rock subgenre with confessional lyrics 3
12D 12. "All Things Considered" airer 3
13D 14. "Fiddlesticks!" 4
14D 20. D.C.'s National ___ 3
15D 21. Kind of number on an old business card 3
16D 25. Change gears 5
17D 26. Religious offshoots 5
18D 27. Top-tier 4
19D 29. Pinot ___ 4
20D 31. Give 0 stars in a review, say 5
21D 32. One giving support during childbirth 5
22D 33. High-quality reds and whites 9
23D 34. Something to noodle on 4
24D 35. Drink very quickly 4
25D 37. Glitterati 8
26D 39. Shortfall of exports vis-à-vis imports 8
27D 42. One of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean 7
28D 45. Droop 3
29D 46. "It's just OK" 3
30D 48. Occasions for blowing out candles on cakes, informally 5
31D 50. Agenda bullet point 4
32D 51. Linger (on), as a topic 5
33D 52. Art supporter 5
34D 53. Mike who voiced Shrek in "Shrek" 5
35D 55. Wyatt at the O.K. Corral 4
36D 56. Make over 4
37D 57. Early leader in instant messaging 3
38D 58. Org. for the Raptors, but not the Blue Jays 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Thickens, as cream"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lump of material formed from the content of a liquid
  • Similar words include: clog, coagulum, clabber
  • Opposite of: homogenize
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLOTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Not heavy"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (physics) electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation
  • Similar words include: easy, Light Within, illumine
  • Opposite of: extinguish, heavy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIGHT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Narrow way between city buildings"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow street with walls on both sides
  • Similar words include: alleyway, back street, skittle alley
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLEY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Whole bunch"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Horse's ancestral line"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the descendants of one individual
  • Similar words include: stemma, stock, line
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEDIGREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Hearty embrace"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Roman poet who wrote "Metamorphoses""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that roman poet remembered for his elegiac verses on love (43 bc - ad 17)
  • Similar words include: Publius Ovidius Naso
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Dull-witted sort"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Eschew"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Frantic scrambles"

9 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Rock subgenre with confessional lyrics"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. "All Things Considered" airer"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "14. "Fiddlesticks!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "20. D.C.'s National ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the facility where wild animals are housed for exhibition
  • Similar words include: menagerie, zoological garden
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ZOO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Kind of number on an old business card"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that duplicator that transmits the copy by wire or radio
  • Similar words include: facsimile, facsimile machine, telefax
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Change gears"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an event in which something is displaced without rotation
  • Similar words include: shift key, agitate, transfer
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHIFT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Religious offshoots"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a subdivision of a larger religious group
  • Similar words include: sect, religious sect, faction
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SECTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Top-tier"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the supreme effort one can make
  • Similar words include: Charles Herbert Best, sound, serious
  • Opposite of: badly, bad
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Pinot ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "31. Give 0 stars in a review, say"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that find repugnant
  • Similar words include: execrate, loathe, abominate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABHOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. One giving support during childbirth"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an assistant (often the father of the soon-to-be-born child) who provides support for a woman in labor by encouraging her to use techniques learned in childbirth-preparation classes
  • Similar words include: birthing coach, monitrice, labor coach
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOULA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. High-quality reds and whites"

9 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "34. Something to noodle on"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
  • Similar words include: melodic theme, theme, approximation
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Drink very quickly"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the dull explosive noise made by an engine
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHUG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. Glitterati"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Shortfall of exports vis-à-vis imports"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "42. One of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the largest of the islands comprising antigua and barbuda
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTIGUA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "45. Droop"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shape that sags
  • Similar words include: flag, swag, sag down
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "46. "It's just OK""

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "48. Occasions for blowing out candles on cakes, informally"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "50. Agenda bullet point"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

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: particular, point, detail
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ITEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "51. Linger (on), as a topic"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "52. Art supporter"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an upright tripod for displaying something (usually an artist's canvas)
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EASEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Mike who voiced Shrek in "Shrek""

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "55. Wyatt at the O.K. Corral"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "56. Make over"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "57. Early leader in instant messaging"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "58. Org. for the Raptors, but not the Blue Jays"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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

40 Across Clues
38 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: February 16, 2026 at 05:14 AM