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Monday, October 5, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers October 05, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Write on stone, maybe 4
2A 5. Request at the bottom of an invitation 4
3A 9. Follower of Jah, informally 5
4A 14. "Me neither" 4
5A 15. Great Plains tribe 4
6A 16. Set of moral principles 5
7A 17. Famous ___ cookies 4
8A 18. Downfall in pinball 4
9A 19. Course for future therapists, for short 5
10A 20. Spot to work out knotted muscles 12
11A 23. U.F.O. occupants, in brief 3
12A 24. Yank 3
13A 25. Reach quickly, as a conclusion 6
14A 29. Internet meme feline 6
15A 31. "___ your mouth!" 4
16A 33. Stadium cheer 3
17A 34. Holiday at the end of Ramadan, informally 3
18A 35. Memphis barbecue staple 9
19A 37. Military rank above cpl. 3
20A 38. Tusked animals 5
21A 39. Squiggle shape 3
22A 40. Key to Aladdin's success 9
23A 42. ___ Paulo, Brazil 3
24A 43. Before, poetically 3
25A 44. Acorn growers 4
26A 45. Dress seen at Oktoberfest 6
27A 48. Black ___ (some spiders) 6
28A 50. Mental cloud 3
29A 51. Drag performer's accessory 3
30A 52. "Ah, that's where things get difficult" ... or what can be said about 20-, 35- and 40-Across? 12
31A 56. Singer Baker 5
32A 59. When Fantine sings "I Dreamed a Dream" in "Les Misérables" 4
33A 60. Block toy with its own chain of theme parks 4
34A 61. Bathroom door sign 5
35A 62. Occasion for a teen to rent a tux 4
36A 63. Spot for a wolf pack 4
37A 64. Weapon in a scabbard 5
38A 65. Manager of an apt. bldg. 4
39A 66. Squeaks (by) 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Write on stone, maybe"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Request at the bottom of an invitation"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Follower of Jah, informally"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that follower of rastafarianism
  • Similar words include: Rastafarian
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RASTA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. "Me neither""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Great Plains tribe"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the siouan people inhabiting the valleys of the platte and missouri rivers in nebraska
  • Similar words include: Oto
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTOE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Set of moral principles"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group
  • Similar words include: value orientation, ethical code, moral principle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETHIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Famous ___ cookies"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hebrew shepherd and minor prophet
  • Similar words include: Book of Amos
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AMOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Downfall in pinball"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a combat between two mounted knights tilting against each other with blunted lances
  • Similar words include: angle, disceptation, leaning
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TILT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "19. Course for future therapists, for short"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "20. Spot to work out knotted muscles"

12 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MASSAGETABLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. U.F.O. occupants, in brief"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Yank"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden abrupt pull
  • Similar words include: tugboat, labour, tower
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Reach quickly, as a conclusion"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Internet meme feline"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. "___ your mouth!""

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: shut out, keep out, closed
  • Opposite of: admit, open
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Stadium cheer"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. Holiday at the end of Ramadan, informally"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "35. Memphis barbecue staple"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that baked or roasted with a spicy sauce
  • Similar words include: sparerib, barbecued spareribs
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPARERIBS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. Military rank above cpl."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. Tusked animals"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that old world wild swine having a narrow body and prominent tusks from which most domestic swine come; introduced in united states
  • Similar words include: boar, Sus scrofa, wild boar
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Squiggle shape"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a radioactive transuranic element produced by bombarding plutonium with neutrons
  • Similar words include: atomic number 99, Es, E
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Key to Aladdin's success"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. ___ Paulo, Brazil"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "43. Before, poetically"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "44. Acorn growers"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
  • Similar words include: oak, oak tree
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. Dress seen at Oktoberfest"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a full skirt with a gathered waistband
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIRNDL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "48. Black ___ (some spiders)"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried
  • Similar words include: widow woman, widow
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WIDOWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "50. Mental cloud"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that droplets of water vapor suspended in the air near the ground
  • Similar words include: murkiness, obnubilate, obscure
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Drag performer's accessory"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a long thin fluffy scarf of feathers or fur
  • Similar words include: feather boa
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "52. "Ah, that's where things get difficult" ... or what can be said about 20-, 35- and 40-Across?"

12 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THERESTHERUB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "56. Singer Baker"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. When Fantine sings "I Dreamed a Dream" in "Les Misérables""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "60. Block toy with its own chain of theme parks"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (trademark) a child's plastic construction set for making mechanical models
  • Similar words include: Lego set
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEGO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "61. Bathroom door sign"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
  • Similar words include: womanhood, charwoman, fair sex
  • Opposite of: man
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WOMEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "62. Occasion for a teen to rent a tux"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a formal ball held for a school class toward the end of the academic year
  • Similar words include: promenade
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "63. Spot for a wolf pack"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "64. Weapon in a scabbard"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cutting or thrusting weapon that has a long metal blade and a hilt with a hand guard
  • Similar words include: blade, brand, steel
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SWORD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "65. Manager of an apt. bldg."

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "66. Squeaks (by)"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Tooth covering 6
2D 2. Fruit, botanically, that's treated as a vegetable 6
3D 3. One way to sit while meditating 11
4D 4. Snake's warning 4
5D 5. Cheap hooch 6
6D 6. ___ Larsson, author of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" 5
7D 7. Bygone electric Chevy 4
8D 8. Org. that advocates for "cruelty-free" products 4
9D 9. Filled to the gills 7
10D 10. Completely lost 5
11D 11. Not likely to make the first move, say 3
12D 12. Unconscious mannerism 3
13D 13. German outburst 3
14D 21. Slightly 4
15D 22. Things you might see when you're not wearing glasses 5
16D 26. Escape from jail 11
17D 27. Clickables at the top of a computer screen 4
18D 28. Exclamations of surprise 3
19D 30. Commercial lead-in to card 4
20D 31. Inundates with junk mail 5
21D 32. Musical instrument in the Guinness logo 4
22D 35. Luxuriate in a bathtub 4
23D 36. "___ Window" 4
24D 37. South Asian dress 4
25D 38. Nonchalant 5
26D 40. Kitten's call 3
27D 41. Ranch worker 7
28D 42. [Oh, well] 4
29D 45. Serve a jail sentence 6
30D 46. Dance craze of the 2010s 6
31D 47. Hercules had 12 of these 6
32D 49. Playful aquatic animal 5
33D 50. Camera lens setting 5
34D 53. Emulates Big Boi and Lil' Kim 4
35D 54. Light beige 4
36D 55. Woods of "Legally Blonde" 4
37D 56. Reactions to something adorable 3
38D 57. "Immediately!" 3
39D 58. "If you ask me ...," to a texter 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Tooth covering"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Fruit, botanically, that's treated as a vegetable"

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that mildly acid red or yellow pulpy fruit eaten as a vegetable
  • Similar words include: Lycopersicon esculentum, tomato plant, love apple
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOMATO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. One way to sit while meditating"

11 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Snake's warning"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fricative sound (especially as an expression of disapproval)
  • Similar words include: razz, fizzle, hushing
  • Opposite of: applaud
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HISS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Cheap hooch"

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any alcoholic beverage of inferior quality
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTGUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. ___ Larsson, author of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo""

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Bygone electric Chevy"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of potential equal to the potential difference between two points on a conductor carrying a current of 1 ampere when the power dissipated between the two points is 1 watt; equivalent to the potential difference across a resistance of 1 ohm when 1 ampere of current flows through it
  • Similar words include: V
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VOLT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Org. that advocates for "cruelty-free" products"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Filled to the gills"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fill to satisfaction
  • Similar words include: sate, full, instinct
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REPLETE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Completely lost"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Not likely to make the first move, say"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quick throw
  • Similar words include: diffident, timid, unsure
  • Opposite of: confident
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Unconscious mannerism"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a local and habitual twitching especially in the face
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. German outburst"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "21. Slightly"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Things you might see when you're not wearing glasses"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hazy or indistinct representation
  • Similar words include: slur, blur, obnubilate
  • Opposite of: focus
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLURS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "26. Escape from jail"

11 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an escape from jail
  • Similar words include: breakout, jailbreak, gaolbreak
  • Pattern: ___________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PRISONBREAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Clickables at the top of a computer screen"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the bill in a restaurant
  • Similar words include: tabloid, chit, tablet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TABS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Exclamations of surprise"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a midwestern state in north central united states in the great lakes region
  • Similar words include: Ohio, OH, Buckeye State
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "30. Commercial lead-in to card"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "31. Inundates with junk mail"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a canned meat made largely from pork
  • Similar words include: Spam, spam, junk e-mail
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. Musical instrument in the Guinness logo"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a chordophone that has a triangular frame consisting of a sounding board and a pillar and a curved neck; the strings stretched between the neck and the soundbox are plucked with the fingers
  • Similar words include: mouth organ, mouth harp, dwell
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "35. Luxuriate in a bathtub"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the process of becoming softened and saturated as a consequence of being immersed in water (or other liquid)
  • Similar words include: surcharge, sop, dowse
  • Opposite of: undercharge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOAK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. "___ Window""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the back of a military formation or procession
  • Similar words include: tooshie, tail end, hind end
  • Opposite of: front, head
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. South Asian dress"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. Nonchalant"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that very sophisticated especially because of surfeit; versed in the ways of the world
  • Similar words include: bored, worldly
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. Kitten's call"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this)
  • Similar words include: sea mew, miaou, meow
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Ranch worker"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hired hand who tends cattle and performs other duties on horseback
  • Similar words include: cowherd, puncher, cowpuncher
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COWHAND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. [Oh, well]"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an utterance made by exhaling audibly
  • Similar words include: suspire, suspiration
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIGH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Serve a jail sentence"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Dance craze of the 2010s"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Hercules had 12 of these"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a social class comprising those who do manual labor or work for wages
  • Similar words include: Labour, task, labor movement
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LABORS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "49. Playful aquatic animal"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Camera lens setting"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "53. Emulates Big Boi and Lil' Kim"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reproach for some lapse or misdeed
  • Similar words include: knap, pink, knock
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. Light beige"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a very light brown
  • Similar words include: beige
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ECRU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. Woods of "Legally Blonde""

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Reactions to something adorable"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "57. "Immediately!""

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the momentary present
  • Similar words include: straightaway, straight off, nowadays
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "58. "If you ask me ...," to a texter"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the united nations agency concerned with international maritime activities
  • Similar words include: International Maritime Organization
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IMO

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.

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Today's Puzzle Stats

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: October 05, 2026 at 10:40 AM

Monday, September 21, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers September 21, 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. Where Mongolia is 4
2A 5. Scaredy-cat 4
3A 9. Leafs (through) 5
4A 14. Album for which Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize 4
5A 15. Berry at a smoothie shop 4
6A 16. Company behind the game Pong 5
7A 17. Mentally pooped 15
8A 20. 1960s service site, informally 3
9A 21. Common injury site for a basketball player, informally 3
10A 22. Thick, as plant growth 4
11A 23. Deliberately give instruction in a way that targets an exam 14
12A 28. Commercial that may come with a jingle 7
13A 29. Took a chair 3
14A 30. Eager 4
15A 31. Hair parter 4
16A 34. Continue a subscription 5
17A 38. Barely passing grade 3
18A 39. Decade of W.W. II ... or a homophonic hint to 17-, 23-, 50- and 57-Across 7
19A 41. Around 18, typically, for a high school graduate 3
20A 42. Sometimes-floral organic compound 5
21A 44. Draped Indian garment 4
22A 45. ___-X (computer command to cut text) 4
23A 46. Crosses (out) 3
24A 48. Conjures up, say 7
25A 50. "If I'm being honest ..." 14
26A 54. Cook, in a way, as ahi tuna 4
27A 55. Opposite of 'neath 3
28A 56. Fools' mo. 3
29A 57. "A fight requires more than one person" 15
30A 63. "I'm available to help" 5
31A 64. Modern note-taking aid 4
32A 65. Plant in a marsh 4
33A 66. Spanish babies 5
34A 67. What a paper airplane icon may indicate 4
35A 68. Thing in a grove 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Where Mongolia is"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the largest continent with 60% of the earth's population; it is joined to europe on the west to form eurasia; it is the site of some of the world's earliest civilizations
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Scaredy-cat"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who lacks confidence, is irresolute and wishy-washy
  • Similar words include: chicken, weakly interacting massive particle, crybaby
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WIMP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Leafs (through)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one side of one leaf (of a book or magazine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains
  • Similar words include: varlet, foliate, Thomas Nelson Page
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Album for which Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something of little value
  • Similar words include: darn, curse, infernal
  • Opposite of: bless
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAMN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Berry at a smoothie shop"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Company behind the game Pong"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Mentally pooped"

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. 1960s service site, informally"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Common injury site for a basketball player, informally"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Thick, as plant growth"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually
  • Similar words include: alky, boozer, alcoholic
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUSH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Deliberately give instruction in a way that targets an exam"

14 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEACHTOTHETEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "28. Commercial that may come with a jingle"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "29. Took a chair"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the sabbath by jews and some christians
  • Similar words include: Sabbatum, posture, pose
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "30. Eager"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (often followed by `for') ardently or excessively desirous
  • Similar words include: zealous, esurient, greedy
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "31. Hair parter"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a flat device with narrow pointed teeth on one edge; disentangles or arranges hair
  • Similar words include: comb out, disentangle, ransack
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COMB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. Continue a subscription"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that reestablish on a new, usually improved, basis or make new or like new
  • Similar words include: regenerate, reincarnate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RENEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "38. Barely passing grade"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "39. Decade of W.W. II ... or a homophonic hint to 17-, 23-, 50- and 57-Across"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the time of life between 40 and 50
  • Similar words include: 40, mid-forties, 1940s
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FORTIES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Around 18, typically, for a high school graduate"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that how long something has existed
  • Similar words include: long time, maturate, geezerhood
  • Opposite of: rejuvenate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "42. Sometimes-floral organic compound"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that formed by reaction between an acid and an alcohol with elimination of water
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "44. Draped Indian garment"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "45. ___-X (computer command to cut text)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. Crosses (out)"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a colorless odorless inert gaseous element occurring in the earth's atmosphere in trace amounts
  • Similar words include: xenon, disco biscuit, cristal
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: XES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "48. Conjures up, say"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make or cause to be or to become
  • Similar words include: produce, create, make
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CREATES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "50. "If I'm being honest ...""

14 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOTELLTHETRUTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "54. Cook, in a way, as ahi tuna"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make very hot and dry
  • Similar words include: blacken, singe, char
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "55. Opposite of 'neath"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "56. Fools' mo."

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the month following march and preceding may
  • Similar words include: April
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: APR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "57. "A fight requires more than one person""

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "63. "I'm available to help""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "64. Modern note-taking aid"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "65. Plant in a marsh"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tall woody perennial grasses with hollow slender stems especially of the genera arundo and phragmites
  • Similar words include: vibrating reed, John Reed, beating-reed instrument
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "66. Spanish babies"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "67. What a paper airplane icon may indicate"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cause to go somewhere
  • Similar words include: air, transmit, send off
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "68. Thing in a grove"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tall perennial woody plant having a main trunk and branches forming a distinct elevated crown; includes both gymnosperms and angiosperms
  • Similar words include: shoetree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, tree diagram
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Big letters in home security 3
2D 2. ___ Paulo, Brazil 3
3D 3. Comment that might follow "None for me, thanks" 9
4D 4. Relief for an upset stomach 7
5D 5. Simple two-player card game 3
6D 6. Drink cooler 3
7D 7. Angry with 5
8D 8. Throw from a mound 5
9D 9. Butter square 3
10D 10. Any Olympian 7
11D 11. First name of Julius Caesar 5
12D 12. Artist Max 5
13D 13. Worshiper in a turban 4
14D 18. Texter's qualifier 4
15D 19. Cries in a fútbol stadium 4
16D 23. Barter 5
17D 24. Roof overhangs 5
18D 25. It may have a hard or soft shell 4
19D 26. Things indicated by squiggly lines in cartoons 5
20D 27. Paves the way? 4
21D 32. N.Y.C. subway letters 3
22D 33. Hardwood whose bark is sometimes used as paper 5
23D 35. Leader of an 1831 revolt against slavery 9
24D 36. Spearfishing bird 5
25D 37. People of SW Britain 5
26D 39. Without charge 4
27D 40. The Emerald Isle 4
28D 43. Like skydiving or cliff-diving 7
29D 45. Dashboard or bumper 7
30D 47. Place to put a coin 4
31D 49. Coup d'___ 4
32D 50. Joke with 5
33D 51. Like some wine barrels 5
34D 52. ___ and Clark 5
35D 53. Familiar narrative device 5
36D 54. Leave dumbfounded 4
37D 58. French possessive 3
38D 59. Catch some rays 3
39D 60. Bizarre 3
40D 61. "Golly!" 3
41D 62. Poetic tribute 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Big letters in home security"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. ___ Paulo, Brazil"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Comment that might follow "None for me, thanks""

9 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Relief for an upset stomach"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agent that counteracts or neutralizes acidity (especially in the stomach)
  • Similar words include: alkalizer, gastric antacid, antiacid
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTACID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Simple two-player card game"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

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!

6D: "6. Drink cooler"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
  • Similar words include: frappe, methamphetamine hydrochloride, glass
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Angry with"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Throw from a mound"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration
  • Similar words include: cant over, flip, cant
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PITCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Butter square"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Any Olympian"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person trained to compete in sports
  • Similar words include: jock
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATHLETE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. First name of Julius Caesar"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that roman emperor who succeeded tiberius and whose uncontrolled passions resulted in manifest insanity; noted for his cruelty and tyranny; was assassinated (12-41)
  • Similar words include: Caligula, Gaius Caesar
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAIUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Artist Max"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that painter (born in germany, resident of france and the united states) who was a cofounder of dadaism; developed the technique of collage (1891-1976)
  • Similar words include: Max Ernst
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERNST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Worshiper in a turban"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an adherent of sikhism
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIKH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Texter's qualifier"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Cries in a fútbol stadium"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Barter"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the commercial exchange (buying and selling on domestic or international markets) of goods and services
  • Similar words include: trade in, switch, craft
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Roof overhangs"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the overhang at the lower edge of a roof
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EAVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. It may have a hard or soft shell"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of mexican descent
  • Similar words include: greaser, wetback
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TACO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "26. Things indicated by squiggly lines in cartoons"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. Paves the way?"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue
  • Similar words include: seaman, pitch, tar
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "32. N.Y.C. subway letters"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "33. Hardwood whose bark is sometimes used as paper"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that hard close-grained wood of any of various birch trees; used especially in furniture and interior finishes and plywood
  • Similar words include: birchen, birken, birch tree
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BIRCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Leader of an 1831 revolt against slavery"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Spearfishing bird"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various usually white herons having long plumes during breeding season
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EGRET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "37. People of SW Britain"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or resident of wales
  • Similar words include: Cambrian, welch, Cymric
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WELSH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. Without charge"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that people who are free
  • Similar words include: relinquish, gratis, liberate
  • Opposite of: confine, lodge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FREE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "40. The Emerald Isle"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic consisting of 26 of 32 counties comprising the island of ireland; achieved independence from the united kingdom in 1921
  • Similar words include: Republic of Ireland, Irish Republic, Ireland
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EIRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Like skydiving or cliff-diving"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the furthest or highest degree of something
  • Similar words include: utmost, extremum, extreme point
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXTREME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "45. Dashboard or bumper"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "47. Place to put a coin"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a position in a grammatical linguistic construction in which a variety of alternative units are interchangeable
  • Similar words include: time slot, expansion slot, one-armed bandit
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "49. Coup d'___"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "50. Joke with"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone given to teasing (as by mocking or stirring curiosity)
  • Similar words include: cod, fluff, pester
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "51. Like some wine barrels"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that consisting of or made of wood of the oak tree
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OAKEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. ___ and Clark"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states rock star singer and pianist (born in 1935)
  • Similar words include: Frederick Carleton Lewis, Carl Lewis, C. S. Lewis
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEWIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "53. Familiar narrative device"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
  • Similar words include: figure of speech, image, figure
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "54. Leave dumbfounded"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow
  • Similar words include: daze, stupefy, sandbag
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STUN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "58. French possessive"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium; occurs in several allotropic forms; a stable grey metallike allotrope conducts electricity better in the light than in the dark and is used in photocells; occurs in sulfide ores (as pyrite)
  • Similar words include: sulfur, reciprocal ohm, southward
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Catch some rays"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
  • Similar words include: sunburn, suntan, burn
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "60. Bizarre"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not divisible by two
  • Similar words include: uneven, unmatched, queer
  • Opposite of: even
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "61. "Golly!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity; used to indicate the force to which a body is subjected when it is accelerated
  • Similar words include: g, g-force
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "62. Poetic tribute"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODE

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Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

35 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
76 Total Clues

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Last updated: September 21, 2026 at 09:08 AM