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Wednesday, April 22, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers April 22, 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. "All the world," per Shakespeare's Jaques 5
2A 6. Countertop piece 4
3A 10. First things first for a chef 4
4A 14. Villain in the Bible's Christmas story 5
5A 15. Titanic 4
6A 16. Lead-in to pad or port 4
7A 17. Spurred on 10
8A 19. God served by the ravens Huginn and Muninn 4
9A 20. Condition that may involve stimming, for short 4
10A 21. "Good grief!" 6
11A 23. Trojan's sch. 3
12A 24. Some buggies, for short 4
13A 26. Rakish 6
14A 28. Exercise for the arms and back 6
15A 31. Emerge once more 8
16A 33. Not squarely balanced 5
17A 34. Like some Scots 6
18A 35. Ax 3
19A 36. Applies, as facial cream 5
20A 37. Paint container 3
21A 40. Opposed (to) 6
22A 42. Studies all night, say 5
23A 44. You might pass to one 8
24A 47. Like some Scots 6
25A 48. Small advancement 6
26A 49. En ___ (with all the judges present) 4
27A 50. One might be used for battering 3
28A 51. Tiny slice 6
29A 54. Cry of pain 4
30A 58. Apple on a desk? 4
31A 60. One offering lessons 10
32A 62. "Strega ___" (1975 children's book) 4
33A 63. Genesis grandchild 4
34A 64. Material for a ceramicist 5
35A 65. It might grow slowly on a face 4
36A 66. Fibrous 4
37A 67. "The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships" 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. "All the world," per Shakespeare's Jaques"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any distinct time period in a sequence of events
  • Similar words include: degree, microscope stage, represent
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Countertop piece"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that block consisting of a thick piece of something
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. First things first for a chef"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that preparatory school work done outside school (especially at home)
  • Similar words include: homework, preparation
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PREP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Villain in the Bible's Christmas story"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that king of judea who (according to the new testament) tried to kill jesus by ordering the death of all children under age two in bethlehem (73-4 bc)
  • Similar words include: Herod the Great
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEROD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Titanic"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Lead-in to pad or port"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Spurred on"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that contribute to the progress or growth of
  • Similar words include: bucked up, advance, boost
  • Opposite of: discourage
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENCOURAGED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. God served by the ravens Huginn and Muninn"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (norse mythology) ruler of the aesir; supreme god of war and poetry and knowledge and wisdom (for which he gave an eye) and husband of frigg; identified with the teutonic wotan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Condition that may involve stimming, for short"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders
  • Similar words include: MBD, ADD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADHD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. "Good grief!""

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Trojan's sch."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Some buggies, for short"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Rakish"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of questionable taste or morality
  • Similar words include: shady
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOUCHE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Exercise for the arms and back"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Emerge once more"

8 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that appear again
  • Similar words include: re-emerge
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REAPPEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Not squarely balanced"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that departing or being caused to depart from the true vertical or horizontal
  • Similar words include: leaning, canted, tipped
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATILT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Like some Scots"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a branch of the indo-european languages that (judging from inscriptions and place names) was spread widely over europe in the pre-christian era
  • Similar words include: Celtic language, Gaelic
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CELTIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Ax"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
  • Similar words include: canful, hind end, prat
  • Opposite of: hire
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "36. Applies, as facial cream"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that material used to daub walls
  • Similar words include: smudge, slur, plaster
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAUBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "37. Paint container"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
  • Similar words include: canful, hind end, prat
  • Opposite of: hire
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "40. Opposed (to)"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (usually followed by `to') strongly opposed
  • Similar words include: antipathetic, loth, antipathetical
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVERSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. Studies all night, say"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that crowd or pack to capacity
  • Similar words include: bone up, drum, jampack
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. You might pass to one"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fellow member of a team
  • Similar words include: mate
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEAMMATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "47. Like some Scots"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of several related languages of the celts in ireland and scotland
  • Similar words include: Goidelic, Erse, Celtic
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAELIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Small advancement"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an encroachment or intrusion
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INROAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. En ___ (with all the judges present)"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. One might be used for battering"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on; an integrated circuit memory chip allows information to be stored or accessed in any order and all storage locations are equally accessible
  • Similar words include: pound, drive, jampack
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "51. Tiny slice"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small thin sharp bit or wood or glass or metal
  • Similar words include: paring, splinter, shaving
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLIVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "54. Cry of pain"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "58. Apple on a desk?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "60. One offering lessons"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person whose occupation is teaching
  • Similar words include: teacher
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INSTRUCTOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "62. "Strega ___" (1975 children's book)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "63. Genesis grandchild"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "64. Material for a ceramicist"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various thin shiny (savory or sweet) coatings applied to foods
  • Similar words include: candy, sugarcoat, glass over
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLAZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "65. It might grow slowly on a face"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
  • Similar words include: grinning, smiling, smile
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GRIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "66. Fibrous"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of or resembling rope (or ropes) in being long and strong
  • Similar words include: thready, stringy, ropey
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "67. "The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships""

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of zeus and leda who was abducted by paris; the greek army sailed to troy to get her back which resulted in the trojan war
  • Similar words include: Helen of Troy
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HELEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. ___ butter 4
2D 2. Mind 4
3D 3. Grand entryway 4
4D 4. Jane ___ Institute (wildlife conservation group) 7
5D 5. Professor's URL ender 3
6D 6. Some prerevolutionary Mideast leaders 5
7D 7. It's going downhill fast! 4
8D 8. James who wrote "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" 4
9D 9. Supporters of a king or queen? 8
10D 10. Dish traditionally flavored with Saigon cinnamon 3
11D 11. With 31- and 43-Down, an environmentalist motto ... as suggested elsewhere in different ways in this puzzle 6
12D 12. Actress Cuthbert of "The Girl Next Door" 6
13D 13. One of two on a scorpion 6
14D 18. "Let me know if you're coming" 4
15D 22. Kachina doll carvers 4
16D 25. Alternative to "tsk" 3
17D 27. Bars on an energy bar, say, for short 3
18D 28. K Street grp. 3
19D 29. Tony winner Hagen 3
20D 30. Former N.B.A. champion Jeremy 3
21D 31. See 11-Down 5
22D 32. German river to the North Sea 4
23D 34. Icon on an online shop 4
24D 36. Like a black mamba vis-à-vis a python 8
25D 37. Golden Bears' school, familiarly 3
26D 38. "___ dreaming?" 3
27D 39. Grp. in the Situation Room 3
28D 40. "Te ___" (Spanish "I love you") 3
29D 41. Annual show with astronaut-shaped trophies, for short 4
30D 42. Is able to 3
31D 43. See 11-Down 7
32D 44. Draining 6
33D 45. Win over 6
34D 46. Italian luxury brand 6
35D 47. Teri of "Tootsie" 4
36D 49. Nickname alternative for Liz 5
37D 52. ___ uncertain terms (clearly) 4
38D 53. Letters on a Cognac bottle 4
39D 55. "And some other authors": Abbr. 4
40D 56. Seep 4
41D 57. Carolina ___ 4
42D 59. John 3
43D 61. "That stinks!" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. ___ butter"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Mind"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Grand entryway"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Jane ___ Institute (wildlife conservation group)"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english zoologist noted for her studies of chimpanzees in the wild (born in 1934)
  • Similar words include: Jane Goodall
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOODALL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Professor's URL ender"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Some prerevolutionary Mideast leaders"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that title for the former hereditary monarch of iran
  • Similar words include: Shah of Iran, Shah
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHAHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. It's going downhill fast!"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a racing sled for one or two people
  • Similar words include: toboggan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. James who wrote "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states novelist (1909-1955)
  • Similar words include: James Agee
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Supporters of a king or queen?"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Dish traditionally flavored with Saigon cinnamon"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. With 31- and 43-Down, an environmentalist motto ... as suggested elsewhere in different ways in this puzzle"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cut down on; make a reduction in
  • Similar words include: subdue, shrink, come down
  • Opposite of: blow up, gain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REDUCE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Actress Cuthbert of "The Girl Next Door""

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. One of two on a scorpion"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hand tool for holding consisting of a compound lever for grasping
  • Similar words include: nipper, pair of pincers, chela
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PINCER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. "Let me know if you're coming""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Kachina doll carvers"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the shoshonean people of northeastern arizona
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOPI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Alternative to "tsk""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Bars on an energy bar, say, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. K Street grp."

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that committee formed by a special-interest group to raise money for their favorite political candidates
  • Similar words include: political action committee
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Tony winner Hagen"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reptile genus of iguanidae
  • Similar words include: genus Uta
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Former N.B.A. champion Jeremy"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. See 11-Down"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that use again after processing
  • Similar words include: reprocess, recycle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REUSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. German river to the North Sea"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a river in central europe that arises in northwestern czechoslovakia and flows northward through germany to empty into the north sea
  • Similar words include: Elbe River
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELBE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "34. Icon on an online shop"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a heavy open wagon usually having two wheels and drawn by an animal
  • Similar words include: pushcart, hale, haul
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CART

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Like a black mamba vis-à-vis a python"

8 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that causing or capable of causing death
  • Similar words include: virulent, mortal, deathly
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEADLIER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. Golden Bears' school, familiarly"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "38. "___ dreaming?""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "39. Grp. in the Situation Room"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a committee in the executive branch of government that advises the president on foreign and military and national security; supervises the central intelligence agency
  • Similar words include: National Security Council
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NSC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "40. "Te ___" (Spanish "I love you")"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "41. Annual show with astronaut-shaped trophies, for short"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "42. Is able to"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
  • Similar words include: canful, hind end, prat
  • Opposite of: hire
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "43. See 11-Down"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause to repeat a cycle
  • Similar words include: reprocess, reuse
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RECYCLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "44. Draining"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lose interest or become bored with something or somebody
  • Similar words include: fag out, outwear, wear down
  • Opposite of: interest, refresh
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIRING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "45. Win over"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that attract; cause to be enamored
  • Similar words include: bewitch, enamour, capture
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENAMOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "46. Italian luxury brand"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "47. Teri of "Tootsie""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "49. Nickname alternative for Liz"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "52. ___ uncertain terms (clearly)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "53. Letters on a Cognac bottle"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "55. "And some other authors": Abbr."

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "56. Seep"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any thick, viscous matter
  • Similar words include: gook, seepage, transude
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OOZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "57. Carolina ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english architect who designed more than fifty london churches (1632-1723)
  • Similar words include: jenny wren, Sir Christopher Wren
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WREN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "59. John"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.
  • Similar words include: canful, hind end, prat
  • Opposite of: hire
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "61. "That stinks!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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
43 Down Clues
80 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: April 22, 2026 at 05:38 AM

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

XWordHint Crossword Answers December 17, 2025 | 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: Moderate

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. Lock combinations? 5
2A 6. ___ League 4
3A 10. Single instruction 4
4A 14. Enemy W.W. II vessel 5
5A 15. Turner of old movies 4
6A 16. Powerful impulse 4
7A 17. Group of grumps sitting around kvetching? 10
8A 19. Elmer's nemesis 4
9A 20. Meeting, casually 4
10A 21. A smartphone has lots of these 4
11A 22. Centerpiece of "The Hobbit" 5
12A 23. Community property pronoun 3
13A 25. Like barked orders 4
14A 26. Ali vs. Frazier, e.g.? 15
15A 34. Genre for GloRilla 3
16A 35. Official mandate 6
17A 36. Fellow fighter 4
18A 37. Brand once known as "Standard Oil Company of Indiana" 5
19A 39. Mardi Gras day, in brief 3
20A 40. Works on a muffler, say 5
21A 41. Welcome figure on Wall Street, unwelcome figure in a china shop 4
22A 42. See 50-Down 6
23A 44. To and ___ 3
24A 45. Welcome sight on a whale-watching cruise? 15
25A 48. Poindexter 4
26A 49. TV freebie of a sort 3
27A 50. Easter Island's country 5
28A 52. Dark-skinned fruit 4
29A 55. Pieces of advice 4
30A 59. Primordial substance 4
31A 60. Painstakingly explain something ... or a hint to 17-, 26- and 45-Across 10
32A 62. Takes a tour of 4
33A 63. Compassionate 4
34A 64. Terra ___ 5
35A 65. Does the math, in a way 4
36A 66. Pot grower? 4
37A 67. H, on the N.Y.S.E. 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Lock combinations?"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair)
  • Similar words include: hairdo, hairstyle, do
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COIFS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. ___ League"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a semitic people originally from the arabian peninsula and surrounding territories who speaks arabic and who inhabits much of the middle east and northern africa
  • Similar words include: Arabian
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARAB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Single instruction"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
  • Similar words include: whole tone, tread, tone
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Enemy W.W. II vessel"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Turner of old movies"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Powerful impulse"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an instinctive motive
  • Similar words include: itch, urge on, barrack
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Group of grumps sitting around kvetching?"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Elmer's nemesis"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that general term for any insect or similar creeping or crawling invertebrate
  • Similar words include: intercept, bug, glitch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUGS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Meeting, casually"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. A smartphone has lots of these"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of using
  • Similar words include: United States of America, utilisation, economic consumption
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Centerpiece of "The Hobbit""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a search for an alternative that meets cognitive criteria
  • Similar words include: request, pursuance, seeking
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: QUEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Community property pronoun"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Like barked orders"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by rude or peremptory shortness
  • Similar words include: crisp, laconic, brusk
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CURT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "26. Ali vs. Frazier, e.g.?"

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "34. Genre for GloRilla"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
  • Similar words include: belt, knock, pat
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Official mandate"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge)
  • Similar words include: rescript, rule, fiat
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DECREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "36. Fellow fighter"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a friendly nation
  • Similar words include: friend
  • Opposite of: foe
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. Brand once known as "Standard Oil Company of Indiana""

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "39. Mardi Gras day, in brief"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. Works on a muffler, say"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fabric made by knitting
  • Similar words include: knit, cockle, knitting
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KNITS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. Welcome figure on Wall Street, unwelcome figure in a china shop"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle
  • Similar words include: Taurus, fuzz, bullshit
  • Opposite of: bear
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BULL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. See 50-Down"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. To and ___"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "45. Welcome sight on a whale-watching cruise?"

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Poindexter"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a carnival performer who does disgusting acts
  • Similar words include: oddball, eccentric, flake
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEEK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. TV freebie of a sort"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protein manufactured exclusively by the prostate gland; psa is produced for the ejaculate where it liquifies the semen and allows sperm cells to swim freely; elevated levels of psa in blood serum are associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer
  • Similar words include: prostate specific antigen
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. Easter Island's country"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic in southern south america on the western slopes of the andes on the south pacific coast
  • Similar words include: chilli, Republic of Chile, chili
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHILE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "52. Dark-skinned fruit"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wild plum of northeastern united states having dark purple fruits with yellow flesh
  • Similar words include: Allegheny plum, blackthorn, Prunus spinosa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Pieces of advice"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
  • Similar words include: baksheesh, wind, fee
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "59. Primordial substance"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any thick, viscous matter
  • Similar words include: slime, oozing, seepage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OOZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "60. Painstakingly explain something ... or a hint to 17-, 26- and 45-Across"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "62. Takes a tour of"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the seat within a bishop's diocese where his cathedral is located
  • Similar words include: run into, hear, ensure
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "63. Compassionate"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "64. Terra ___"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "65. Does the math, in a way"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a condition (mostly in boys) characterized by behavioral and learning disorders
  • Similar words include: ADD, attention deficit disorder, contribute
  • Opposite of: subtract, take away
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "66. Pot grower?"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (poker) the initial contribution that each player makes to the pot
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "67. H, on the N.Y.S.E."

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Tarot suit associated with the element of water 4
2D 2. Yamaha product 4
3D 3. What makes a stud become studious? 4
4D 4. Fully get 6
5D 5. Hog's home 3
6D 6. "That's a real shame" 4
7D 7. Steakhouse order 4
8D 8. Marchers in sidewalk cracks 4
9D 9. Howl at the moon 3
10D 10. Chevy S.U.V. 8
11D 11. Authentic 10
12D 12. Ones from platypuses have leathery shells 4
13D 13. Fly by night ... or by day 4
14D 18. Compact holder 5
15D 22. Neighbor of Ont. 3
16D 24. Red carpet hairstyle, perhaps 4
17D 25. Jost's longtime "Weekend Update" co-anchor 3
18D 26. Food you might eat wearing a bib 5
19D 27. Overplay for the audience 5
20D 28. Was the bigger person, say 10
21D 29. Follow, as advice 5
22D 30. Have faith in 5
23D 31. Canines, e.g. 5
24D 32. Mega- 5
25D 33. Big name in chicken or boxing 5
26D 38. 1990s comedy inspired by "Emma" 8
27D 40. "Get Smart" bad guys 4
28D 42. Suffix with beat or neat 3
29D 43. Throw off 5
30D 46. Stick in the ground? 3
31D 47. Just about anything on a string 6
32D 50. With 42-Across, the Mafia 4
33D 51. Cultivated, in a way 4
34D 52. Start a turn in Twister 4
35D 53. Time to do without 4
36D 54. Gary's ___ Towne Tavern (rival bar on "Cheers") 4
37D 56. Minuscule amount 4
38D 57. Short stroke 4
39D 58. Batting avg., e.g. 4
40D 60. Rocksteady relative 3
41D 61. "___ bin ein Berliner" 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Tarot suit associated with the element of water"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small open container usually used for drinking; usually has a handle
  • Similar words include: loving cup, transfuse, cup
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Yamaha product"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slender double-reed instrument; a woodwind with a conical bore and a double-reed mouthpiece
  • Similar words include: hautboy, hautbois
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OBOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. What makes a stud become studious?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an informal debt instrument; representing `i owe you'
  • Similar words include: IOU
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Fully get"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth
  • Similar words include: sound, penetrate, fthm
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FATHOM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Hog's home"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. "That's a real shame""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Steakhouse order"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness
  • Similar words include: rarefied, rarified, uncommon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RARE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Marchers in sidewalk cracks"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Howl at the moon"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an indentation of a shoreline larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf
  • Similar words include: quest, true laurel, bay laurel
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Chevy S.U.V."

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that relating to or characteristic of or situated in suburbs
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUBURBAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Authentic"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Ones from platypuses have leathery shells"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Fly by night ... or by day"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a serious (sometimes fatal) infection of rodents caused by yersinia pestis and accidentally transmitted to humans by the bite of a flea that has bitten an infected animal
  • Similar words include: gadfly, pestis, pesterer
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Compact holder"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a container used for carrying money and small personal items or accessories (especially by women)
  • Similar words include: pocketbook, handbag, wrinkle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PURSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Neighbor of Ont."

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Red carpet hairstyle, perhaps"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "25. Jost's longtime "Weekend Update" co-anchor"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "26. Food you might eat wearing a bib"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that infestation of the pubic hair by crab lice
  • Similar words include: crab, squawk, bellyache
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. Overplay for the audience"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Was the bigger person, say"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that acknowledge faults or shortcomings or failing
  • Similar words include: apologize, excuse, justify
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APOLOGIZED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. Follow, as advice"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "30. Have faith in"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something (as property) held by one party (the trustee) for the benefit of another (the beneficiary)
  • Similar words include: believe, corporate trust, cartel
  • Opposite of: distrust, mistrust
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRUST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "31. Canines, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the kind and number and arrangement of teeth (collectively) in a person or animal
  • Similar words include: tooth, dentition
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEETH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "32. Mega-"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (used of opinions and actions) far beyond the norm
  • Similar words include: radical, extremist
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ULTRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "33. Big name in chicken or boxing"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states prizefighter who was world heavyweight champion (born in 1966)
  • Similar words include: Mike Tyson, Michael Gerald Tyson
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TYSON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "38. 1990s comedy inspired by "Emma""

8 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that totally uninformed about what is going on; not having even a clue from which to infer what is occurring
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CLUELESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. "Get Smart" bad guys"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Suffix with beat or neat"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "43. Throw off"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause to move back by force or influence
  • Similar words include: fight off, beat back, drive back
  • Opposite of: attract
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REPEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Stick in the ground?"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the starting place for each hole on a golf course
  • Similar words include: tee up, golf tee, football tee
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Just about anything on a string"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. With 42-Across, the Mafia"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "51. Cultivated, in a way"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that dig with a hoe
  • Similar words include: hoe
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. Start a turn in Twister"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a swift whirling motion (usually of a missile)
  • Similar words include: spin around, twisting, gyrate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "53. Time to do without"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a period of 40 weekdays from ash wednesday to holy saturday
  • Similar words include: bring, Lententide, contribute
  • Opposite of: borrow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENT

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36D: "54. Gary's ___ Towne Tavern (rival bar on "Cheers")"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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37D: "56. Minuscule amount"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tiny or scarcely detectable amount
  • Similar words include: smidgin, smidgen, whit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOTA

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38D: "57. Short stroke"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hitting a golf ball that is on the green using a putter
  • Similar words include: putting
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PUTT

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39D: "58. Batting avg., e.g."

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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40D: "60. Rocksteady relative"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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41D: "61. "___ bin ein Berliner""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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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

37 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: December 17, 2025 at 04:06 AM