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Wednesday, October 14, 2026

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

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: 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. Hot stuff 5
2A 6. Target 4
3A 10. Worshiper's locale, at times 4
4A 14. Poe's middle name 5
5A 15. Lingerie material 4
6A 16. Glimpse 4
7A 17. Response to "Good morning, everybody!" 10
8A 19. Glazier's product 4
9A 20. Consumed 3
10A 21. Debunked "facts" 5
11A 22. Amish, Shakers and others 5
12A 23. Long (for) 4
13A 24. Former Mideast bigwig 4
14A 25. Response to "Let's get this meeting going" 13
15A 30. Wrap, as rope 4
16A 32. Word before or after butt 4
17A 33. Flesh and blood 3
18A 34. Tree with edible nuts 5
19A 36. "A conversation carried out by other means," per Peter Ustinov 3
20A 37. Give in 5
21A 39. Triumphant cry 3
22A 40. Prefix with -meter 4
23A 42. Chilean money 4
24A 43. Response to "Why is everyone ignoring me?" 13
25A 48. Small valley 4
26A 49. They may be subject to inflation 4
27A 50. Flora and fauna, collectively 5
28A 52. Sharp part of a kite 5
29A 54. Chicago sights, for short 3
30A 57. Apartment option 4
31A 58. Reaction to the unsuccessful "conversation" in this puzzle 10
32A 60. Off base? 4
33A 61. ___ test 4
34A 62. Isolated 5
35A 63. Befuddled state 4
36A 64. Deep-six 4
37A 65. Source of strength and resilience 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Hot stuff"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that molten rock in the earth's crust
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAGMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Target"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it
  • Similar words include: end, destination, finish
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Worshiper's locale, at times"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a domed or vaulted recess or projection on a building especially the east end of a church; usually contains the altar
  • Similar words include: apsis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Poe's middle name"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Lingerie material"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cord that is drawn through eyelets or around hooks in order to draw together two edges (as of a shoe or garment)
  • Similar words include: braid, lace up, enlace
  • Opposite of: untwine
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LACE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Glimpse"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a secret look
  • Similar words include: glint, glance, peep
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEEK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Response to "Good morning, everybody!""

10 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Glazier's product"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sheet glass cut in shapes for windows or doors
  • Similar words include: window glass, paneling, panelling
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Consumed"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Debunked "facts""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people
  • Similar words include: myth
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MYTHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Amish, Shakers and others"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "23. Long (for)"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "24. Former Mideast bigwig"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "25. Response to "Let's get this meeting going""

13 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Wrap, as rope"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops
  • Similar words include: gyre, gyrate, scroll
  • Opposite of: uncoil
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "32. Word before or after butt"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains
  • Similar words include: channelize, forefront, heading
  • Opposite of: foot, rear
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Flesh and blood"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person having kinship with another or others
  • Similar words include: tribe, cognate, clan
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "34. Tree with edible nuts"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that australian tree grown especially for ornament and its fine-grained wood and bearing edible nuts
  • Similar words include: Pomaderris apetala, hazelnut tree, hazel tree
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAZEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "36. "A conversation carried out by other means," per Peter Ustinov"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that activities associated with sexual intercourse
  • Similar words include: arouse, gender, excite
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "37. Give in"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that production of a certain amount
  • Similar words include: pay, bear, takings
  • Opposite of: survive, stand
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YIELD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Triumphant cry"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Prefix with -meter"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. Chilean money"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic unit of money in uruguay; equal to 100 centesimos
  • Similar words include: Mexican peso, Chilean peso, Guinea-Bissau peso
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PESO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "43. Response to "Why is everyone ignoring me?""

13 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "48. Small valley"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small wooded hollow
  • Similar words include: dingle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "49. They may be subject to inflation"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. Flora and fauna, collectively"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that all the plant and animal life of a particular region
  • Similar words include: biology
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BIOTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "52. Sharp part of a kite"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sharp hooked claw especially on a bird of prey
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TALON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "54. Chicago sights, for short"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object)
  • Similar words include: el, ALT, elevated
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Apartment option"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that floor consisting of a large unpartitioned space over a factory or warehouse or other commercial space
  • Similar words include: attic, garret, pigeon loft
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOFT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "58. Reaction to the unsuccessful "conversation" in this puzzle"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Off base?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one who is away or absent without leave
  • Similar words include: truant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AWOL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. ___ test"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an open way (generally public) for travel or transportation
  • Similar words include: route
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "62. Isolated"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that isolated from others
  • Similar words include: unparalleled, unequaled, unique
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "63. Befuddled state"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that atmospheric moisture or dust or smoke that causes reduced visibility
  • Similar words include: fog, daze
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "64. Deep-six"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cover from sight
  • Similar words include: lay to rest, immerse, forget
  • Opposite of: remember
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BURY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "65. Source of strength and resilience"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Bygone Mesoamerican civilization 4
2D 2. Oodles 4
3D 3. Affix, in a way 4
4D 4. Besmirch 3
5D 5. Low on red blood cells, perhaps 6
6D 6. It's in wheat, but not buckwheat 6
7D 7. Requirement for a juror 4
8D 8. Wild cards, at times 4
9D 9. Took the helm 3
10D 10. Look 6
11D 11. Dandy 10
12D 12. Label on an email folder 4
13D 13. Scratches (out) 4
14D 18. Talkative bird 4
15D 22. Like a good tree or a bad deal 5
16D 23. Three-season star of the New York Cosmos 4
17D 24. Word before green or after Red 3
18D 25. Literary title character who's mostly unseen 10
19D 26. Pronoun with two homophones 5
20D 27. Curse 3
21D 28. Mechanic's canfuls 4
22D 29. Edit menu command 4
23D 30. Shoot the breeze 4
24D 31. Locale of the Battleship Missouri Memorial 4
25D 35. Who "turned my whole world upside down," in a 1970s rock hit 5
26D 36. "Rugrats" dad 3
27D 38. Announcements in The Economist, for short 4
28D 41. "What a riot!," in brief 3
29D 44. Irk 6
30D 45. Something to hum 6
31D 46. Sikorsky of aviation fame 4
32D 47. Cuban drums 6
33D 50. Unexciting 4
34D 51. "American Gothic" setting 4
35D 52. First word of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" 4
36D 53. Way off 4
37D 54. Alma mater for George Orwell and Hugh Laurie 4
38D 55. Cue from a cuer 4
39D 56. Hearty dish 4
40D 58. Ball 3
41D 59. Hollywood's Roth or Wallach 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Bygone Mesoamerican civilization"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of an american indian people of yucatan and belize and guatemala who had a culture (which reached its peak between ad 300 and 900) characterized by outstanding architecture and pottery and astronomy
  • Similar words include: Mayan language, Mayan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAYA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Oodles"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Affix, in a way"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cement consisting of a sticky substance that is used as an adhesive
  • Similar words include: paste, mucilage, gum
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Besmirch"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the month following february and preceding april
  • Similar words include: mutilate, impair, defect
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Low on red blood cells, perhaps"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that lacking vigor or energy
  • Similar words include: anaemic
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANEMIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. It's in wheat, but not buckwheat"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protein substance that remains when starch is removed from cereal grains; gives cohesiveness to dough
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLUTEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Requirement for a juror"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
  • Similar words include: curse, swearing, swearword
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OATH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Wild cards, at times"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
  • Similar words include: single, wiz, whizz
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Took the helm"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that diode such that light emitted at a p-n junction is proportional to the bias current; color depends on the material used
  • Similar words include: conduce, go, take
  • Opposite of: follow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Look"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
  • Similar words include: come out, seem, look
  • Opposite of: disappear
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APPEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Dandy"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Label on an email folder"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that 100 senti equal 1 kroon in estonia
  • Similar words include: ship, post, transmit
  • Opposite of: unsent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SENT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Scratches (out)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Talkative bird"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tropical asian starlings
  • Similar words include: mina, minah, mynah bird
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MYNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Like a good tree or a bad deal"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (of businesses and businessmen) unscrupulous
  • Similar words include: umbrageous, fishy, suspicious
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHADY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Three-season star of the New York Cosmos"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Word before green or after Red"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Literary title character who's mostly unseen"

10 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Pronoun with two homophones"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Curse"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an evil spell
  • Similar words include: enchant, curse, glamour
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Mechanic's canfuls"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water
  • Similar words include: petroleum, crude oil, anoint
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OILS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "29. Edit menu command"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect
  • Similar words include: loosen, unmake, untie
  • Opposite of: wrap, make
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "30. Shoot the breeze"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an informal conversation
  • Similar words include: claver, Old World chat, chew the fat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "31. Locale of the Battleship Missouri Memorial"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an island of central hawaii (between molokai and kauai); the chief island of the state
  • Similar words include: Oahu Island
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAHU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "35. Who "turned my whole world upside down," in a 1970s rock hit"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. "Rugrats" dad"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. Announcements in The Economist, for short"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "41. "What a riot!," in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. Irk"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous plants having stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact (especially of the genus urtica or family urticaceae)
  • Similar words include: urticate, rile, rag
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NETTLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "45. Something to hum"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
  • Similar words include: line, tonal pattern, melodic line
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MELODY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "46. Sikorsky of aviation fame"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "47. Cuban drums"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that music composed for dancing the conga
  • Similar words include: conga
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CONGAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Unexciting"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that pompous or pretentious talk or writing
  • Similar words include: fustian, bombast, rant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "51. "American Gothic" setting"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the siouan people formerly living in iowa and minnesota and missouri
  • Similar words include: IA, Hawkeye State, Ioway
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IOWA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "52. First word of "Ode on a Grecian Urn""

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the product of 10 and 100
  • Similar words include: chiliad, G, thousand
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THOU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "53. Way off"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old-fashioned) at or from or to a great distance; far
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "54. Alma mater for George Orwell and Hugh Laurie"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "55. Cue from a cuer"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a formation of people or things one beside another
  • Similar words include: dividing line, wrinkle, agate line
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "56. Hearty dish"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that agitation resulting from active worry
  • Similar words include: brood, fret, sweat
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "58. Ball"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye
  • Similar words include: orbit, eyeball, revolve
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "59. Hollywood's Roth or Wallach"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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
41 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

Looking for more puzzle solutions? Check out our comprehensive archive of NYT crossword hints and answers. We update daily with expert analysis and solving strategies.

Disclaimer: Crossword clues and grid © The New York Times. This site provides hints and educational content for puzzle enthusiasts. XWordHint is not affiliated with The New York Times.

Last updated: October 14, 2026 at 08:52 AM

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 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. Important info to have while you're waiting in a cellphone lot, for short 3
2A 4. Fall or fell 6
3A 10. Cause of a sudden change in interest, informally? 4
4A 14. Close 4
5A 15. Pho soup garnishes 7
6A 16. Conduit of neural signals 4
7A 17. Early models 10
8A 19. Relative of a gull 4
9A 20. "Ain't gonna happen" 4
10A 21. Big bang cause 3
11A 22. Chilling 5
12A 24. The remotest of remote jobs? 9
13A 27. Kid 5
14A 28. Supermodel Banks 4
15A 29. Break into loud cheers, as a crowd 5
16A 31. Answer to "Who's ready to go?" 3
17A 33. Broadcast 3
18A 35. Uno + due 3
19A 36. Mononymous Irish singer 4
20A 37. Animated film that was the highest-grossing movie of 1992 7
21A 41. "Impossible!" 7
22A 43. Hibernation spots 4
23A 44. Dip target, maybe 3
24A 46. Things entered in a sudoku grid: Abbr. 3
25A 47. Messy dorm room, figuratively 3
26A 48. Fruits often seen in still lifes 5
27A 50. Take back, for short 4
28A 53. City haze 4
29A 55. Canine guard? 8
30A 57. Dishwasher cycle 5
31A 59. "A form of madness," it's said 3
32A 60. Actress Pinkett Smith of "Girls Trip" 4
33A 62. Singer/songwriter Mitchell 4
34A 63. Fruits named after a mythical drink 10
35A 66. Noted cartoon dog 5
36A 67. Its first video, "Me at the zoo," has over 400 million views 7
37A 68. State whose outline can be made by connecting seven particular squares in this puzzle 4
38A 69. Valley 4
39A 70. Give a once-over 6
40A 71. Crafty 3

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Important info to have while you're waiting in a cellphone lot, for short"

3 letters Category: Common Word

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: Basque Homeland and Freedom, Euskadi ta Askatasuna, Basque Fatherland and Liberty
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "4. Fall or fell"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fall down, as if collapsing
  • Similar words include: tip, tumble
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOPPLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Cause of a sudden change in interest, informally?"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Close"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut
  • Similar words include: closed, exclude, shut out
  • Opposite of: admit, open
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Pho soup garnishes"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any new growth of a plant such as a new branch or a bud
  • Similar words include: bourgeon, stock, sprout
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPROUTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Conduit of neural signals"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long nerve fiber that conducts away from the cell body of the neuron
  • Similar words include: axone
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AXON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Early models"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a standard or typical example
  • Similar words include: prototype, image, paradigm
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROTOTYPES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Relative of a gull"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small slender gull having narrow wings and a forked tail
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TERN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. "Ain't gonna happen""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. Big bang cause"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Chilling"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. The remotest of remote jobs?"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person trained to travel in a spacecraft
  • Similar words include: cosmonaut, spaceman
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASTRONAUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. Kid"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a young person (especially a young man or boy)
  • Similar words include: young, early days, spring chicken
  • Opposite of: aged
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YOUTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Supermodel Banks"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Break into loud cheers, as a crowd"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that start abruptly
  • Similar words include: flare, belch, burst
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERUPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Answer to "Who's ready to go?""

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. Broadcast"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
  • Similar words include: air out, melodic phrase, air travel
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Uno + due"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "36. Mononymous Irish singer"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "37. Animated film that was the highest-grossing movie of 1992"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in the arabian nights a boy who acquires a magic lamp from which he can summon a genie
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALADDIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. "Impossible!""

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "43. Hibernation spots"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the habitation of wild animals
  • Similar words include: hideaway, den, hideout
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "44. Dip target, maybe"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "46. Things entered in a sudoku grid: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a radioactive transuranic element synthesized by bombarding curium with carbon ions; 7 isotopes are known
  • Similar words include: No, no, nobelium
  • Opposite of: yes
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "47. Messy dorm room, figuratively"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "48. Fruits often seen in still lifes"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sweet juicy gritty-textured fruit available in many varieties
  • Similar words include: pear tree, pear, Pyrus communis
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "50. Take back, for short"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "53. City haze"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that air pollution by a mixture of smoke and fog
  • Similar words include: smogginess
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMOG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "55. Canine guard?"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fee charged in advance to retain the services of someone
  • Similar words include: consideration, servant
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RETAINER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "57. Dishwasher cycle"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a liquid preparation used on wet hair to give it a tint
  • Similar words include: rinsing, wash, gargle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RINSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "59. "A form of madness," it's said"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
  • Similar words include: warfare, state of war
  • Opposite of: make peace, peace
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "60. Actress Pinkett Smith of "Girls Trip""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "62. Singer/songwriter Mitchell"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "63. Fruits named after a mythical drink"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that variety or mutation of the peach bearing fruit with smooth skin and (usually) yellow flesh
  • Similar words include: Prunus persica nectarina, nectarine tree, nectarine
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NECTARINES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "66. Noted cartoon dog"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cartoon character created by walt disney
  • Similar words include: Aides, Aidoneus, Hades
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLUTO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "67. Its first video, "Me at the zoo," has over 400 million views"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "68. State whose outline can be made by connecting seven particular squares in this puzzle"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in the western united states; settled in 1847 by mormons led by brigham young
  • Similar words include: Mormon State, Beehive State, UT
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UTAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "69. Valley"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow secluded valley (in the mountains)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "70. Give a once-over"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of
  • Similar words include: value, appraise, tax
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40A: "71. Crafty"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by skill in deception
  • Similar words include: cunning, wily, guileful
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Channel with "2" and "U" spinoffs 4
2D 2. Pharynx setting 6
3D 3. Post-mortem 7
4D 4. General on a Chinese menu 3
5D 5. Decide one will 5
6D 6. Hester of "The Scarlet Letter" 6
7D 7. Grab-and-go breakfast option 7
8D 8. Guitar relative 4
9D 9. Gas brand seen in Edward Hopper's "Portrait of Orleans" 4
10D 10. Betting odds, e.g. 5
11D 11. Concern for a gymnastics judge 9
12D 12. Certain pickleball shot 8
13D 13. Greenwich Village's Stonewall, e.g. 3
14D 18. Groups of four 7
15D 23. Paper competing with the W.S.J. 3
16D 25. Debugger? 4
17D 26. Remedy for a missed exit 5
18D 30. Lowly worker 4
19D 32. Farm sound 3
20D 34. Ready to eat 4
21D 36. Small hound that doesn't bark 7
22D 37. What a premium subscription may help you avoid 3
23D 38. "Time to go!" 8
24D 39. Very soon 9
25D 40. By 4
26D 42. What "Coco" is a nickname for, for tennis's Coco Gauff 4
27D 45. Military hairstyles 8
28D 48. Family-friendly movie ratings 3
29D 49. The Sphinx, for one 6
30D 51. Classic comic strip that's the source for nine Emmys and two Tonys 7
31D 52. Folding a fitted sheet, it may seem 6
32D 54. Edible bulb 5
33D 56. Many Moroccans 5
34D 58. Mononymous Irish singer 4
35D 61. Grayish 4
36D 62. Profile pic format, in brief 3
37D 64. Dawn deity 3
38D 65. In medias ___ 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Channel with "2" and "U" spinoffs"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Pharynx setting"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the passage to the stomach and lungs; in the front part of the neck below the chin and above the collarbone
  • Similar words include: pharynx
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THROAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Post-mortem"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease
  • Similar words include: post-mortem, PM, post-mortem examination
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AUTOPSY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. General on a Chinese menu"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Decide one will"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Hester of "The Scarlet Letter""

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Grab-and-go breakfast option"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Guitar relative"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a substance for packing a joint or coating a porous surface to make it impervious to gas or liquid
  • Similar words include: luting
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUTE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Gas brand seen in Edward Hopper's "Portrait of Orleans""

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Betting odds, e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient)
  • Similar words include: proportion
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RATIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Concern for a gymnastics judge"

9 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that putting a condemned person to death
  • Similar words include: instruction execution, writ of execution, execution of instrument
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXECUTION

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Certain pickleball shot"

8 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (sports) a return made with the palm of the hand facing the direction of the stroke (as in tennis or badminton or squash)
  • Similar words include: forehanded, forehand stroke, forehand shot
  • Opposite of: backhand
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOREHAND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Greenwich Village's Stonewall, e.g."

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
  • Similar words include: hostel, lodge, hostelry
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Groups of four"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
  • Similar words include: IV, tetrad, quaternity
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TETRADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "23. Paper competing with the W.S.J."

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Debugger?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Remedy for a missed exit"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "30. Lowly worker"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a laborer who is obliged to do menial work
  • Similar words include: navvy, drudge, galley slave
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "32. Farm sound"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a cow or bull
  • Similar words include: low
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "34. Ready to eat"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fully developed or matured and ready to be eaten or used
  • Similar words include: mature, good, advanced
  • Opposite of: green
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "36. Small hound that doesn't bark"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small smooth-haired breed of african origin having a tightly curled tail and the inability to bark
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASENJI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "37. What a premium subscription may help you avoid"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "38. "Time to go!""

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "39. Very soon"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. By"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "42. What "Coco" is a nickname for, for tennis's Coco Gauff"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "45. Military hairstyles"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "48. Family-friendly movie ratings"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. The Sphinx, for one"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sculpture representing a human or animal
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STATUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "51. Classic comic strip that's the source for nine Emmys and two Tonys"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an insignificant sum of money; a trifling amount
  • Similar words include: peanut, goober, peanut vine
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEANUTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "52. Folding a fitted sheet, it may seem"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a severe or trying experience
  • Similar words include: trial by ordeal
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORDEAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "54. Edible bulb"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the bulb of an onion plant
  • Similar words include: onion plant, Allium cepa
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONION

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "56. Many Moroccans"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

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: Arab, Arabian
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. Mononymous Irish singer"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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35D: "61. Grayish"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of a light grey
  • Similar words include: ash-grey, ash-gray
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASHY

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36D: "62. Profile pic format, in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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37D: "64. Dawn deity"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (greek mythology) the winged goddess of the dawn in ancient mythology; daughter of hyperion; identified with roman aurora
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EOS

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38D: "65. In medias ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

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, rhenium, re
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RES

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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

40 Across Clues
38 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: September 16, 2026 at 08:43 AM