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Tuesday, May 12, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 12, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Tricky

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Appropriate answer for 1-Across 5
2A 6. Have the sense of 4
3A 10. Females shepherded by shepherds 4
4A 14. Fuel-bearing ship 5
5A 15. Leer at 4
6A 16. One piece of a three-piece suit 4
7A 17. Listing at an ice cream shop in Ipswich 15
8A 20. Lou Gehrig's disease, in brief 3
9A 21. "___ Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel song) 3
10A 22. Happen afterward 5
11A 23. Some limb-moving muscles 9
12A 27. Kids' items at a day care in Derby 14
13A 32. Pack tightly 5
14A 33. Spanish for "this" 4
15A 34. Pod tidbit 3
16A 35. Spoke to a convention, say 6
17A 37. Members of the aristocracy 6
18A 40. Establishment that might offer free breakfast 3
19A 41. Quaint lead-in to while 4
20A 45. Leads off 5
21A 46. Areas on a map of Manchester 14
22A 50. Sudden, widespread appearances of illness 9
23A 51. Live (in) 5
24A 54. "Thanks a ___!" (informal appreciation) 3
25A 55. Butcher's discard 3
26A 58. "Hmm, why use the spellings of 17-, 27- and 46-Across?" 15
27A 63. Laura of "Jurassic Park" 4
28A 64. A pelican can hold more water in this than in its belly 4
29A 65. Franz ___, Prague-born writer of dark fiction 5
30A 66. Force holding us onto Earth, informally 4
31A 67. Pepsi alternative 4
32A 68. Be present 5

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Appropriate answer for 1-Across"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the beginning of anything
  • Similar words include: originate, bug out, pop
  • Opposite of: finish, end
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: START

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "6. Have the sense of"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an intuitive awareness; or
  • Similar words include: look, finger, flavour
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEEL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Females shepherded by shepherds"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a people living in southern benin and togo and southeastern ghana
  • Similar words include: ewe, Ewe
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EWES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Fuel-bearing ship"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a worker who oils engines or machinery
  • Similar words include: tanker, oil well, tank ship
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OILER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Leer at"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that look at with amorous intentions
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. One piece of a three-piece suit"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a man's sleeveless garment worn underneath a coat
  • Similar words include: robe, undershirt, invest
  • Opposite of: divest
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Listing at an ice cream shop in Ipswich"

15 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. Lou Gehrig's disease, in brief"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that thickening of tissue in the motor tracts of the lateral columns and anterior horns of the spinal cord; results in progressive muscle atrophy that starts in the limbs
  • Similar words include: Heart of Dixie, Camellia State, Al
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. "___ Robinson" (Simon & Garfunkel song)"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a form of address for a married woman
  • Similar words include: Mrs., Mr., Mister
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MRS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Happen afterward"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that issue or terminate (in a specified way, state, etc.); end
  • Similar words include: result
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENSUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Some limb-moving muscles"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who unlawfully seizes and detains a victim (usually for ransom)
  • Similar words include: kidnapper, abductor muscle, snatcher
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABDUCTORS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "27. Kids' items at a day care in Derby"

14 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "32. Pack tightly"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "33. Spanish for "this""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "34. Pod tidbit"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that seed of a pea plant used for food
  • Similar words include: pea plant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "35. Spoke to a convention, say"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that talk pompously
  • Similar words include: orate
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORATED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "37. Members of the aristocracy"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status
  • Similar words include: elite, elite group
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELITES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "40. Establishment that might offer free breakfast"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "41. Quaint lead-in to while"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at a previous time
  • Similar words include: erstwhile, once, formerly
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "45. Leads off"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clear or unobstructed space or expanse of land or water
  • Similar words include: unfold, give, clear
  • Opposite of: fold, close
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "46. Areas on a map of Manchester"

14 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a surrounding or nearby region
  • Similar words include: neck of the woods, vicinity, locality
  • Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEIGHBOURHOODS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "50. Sudden, widespread appearances of illness"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (usually of some undesirable condition)
  • Similar words include: irruption, outbreak, eruption
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUTBREAKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "51. Live (in)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "54. "Thanks a ___!" (informal appreciation)"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cypriot monetary unit equal to one thousandth of a pound
  • Similar words include: ml, Swedish mile, cc
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "55. Butcher's discard"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft greasy substance occurring in organic tissue and consisting of a mixture of lipids (mostly triglycerides)
  • Similar words include: rich, adipose tissue, blubber
  • Opposite of: thin, leanness
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "58. "Hmm, why use the spellings of 17-, 27- and 46-Across?""

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "63. Laura of "Jurassic Park""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "64. A pelican can hold more water in this than in its belly"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statute in draft before it becomes law
  • Similar words include: card, account, circular
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "65. Franz ___, Prague-born writer of dark fiction"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that czech novelist who wrote in german about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals (1883-1924)
  • Similar words include: Franz Kafka
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KAFKA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "66. Force holding us onto Earth, informally"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "67. Pepsi alternative"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that carbon fuel produced by distillation of coal
  • Similar words include: snow, C, Coca Cola
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COKE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "68. Be present"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have an existence, be extant
  • Similar words include: live, be, survive
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Divan 4
2D 2. Tens or ones place? 4
3D 3. Lead-in to "poor Yorick!" 4
4D 4. Al Sharpton's title, for short 3
5D 5. Instrument with a Renaissance-era ancestor called a sackbut 8
6D 6. "Absolutely!" 7
7D 7. Sense of self 3
8D 8. Hermey is one, in TV's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" 3
9D 9. Do-over at serving 3
10D 10. "Nevertheless ..." 6
11D 11. Marries 4
12D 12. One son of Isaac and Rebekah 4
13D 13. Bacterial eye malady 4
14D 18. Pakistani language 4
15D 19. Chervil or chive 4
16D 23. Touched down 4
17D 24. Stool pigeons, in police shorthand 3
18D 25. Explosive inits. 3
19D 26. Kind of arch in architecture 4
20D 27. ___ asada 5
21D 28. Resident of a Mideast sultanate 5
22D 29. Chose, with "for" 5
23D 30. Wails 5
24D 31. Give some lip to 4
25D 32. Sign up for 4
26D 36. Some are said to be "swimming" in this 4
27D 38. Resemble 8
28D 39. Ways to raise capital, in brief 4
29D 42. Lowe on TV 3
30D 43. Big ___, West Coast tourist destination 3
31D 44. Shake with fear 7
32D 47. Sandlot QB's order to a receiver 6
33D 48. Streaming service owned by Disney 4
34D 49. Cause of a shower drain clog, maybe 4
35D 51. Birdbrain 4
36D 52. "At what time?" 4
37D 53. BrontΓ« heroine 4
38D 55. Popular female poodle name 4
39D 56. Inquires 4
40D 57. Word after "Copy" or "Fancy" 4
41D 59. Airer of "The View" 3
42D 60. Site of the world's largest Carnival celebration 3
43D 61. Wapiti, by another name 3
44D 62. Put a burden on 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Divan"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an upholstered seat for more than one person
  • Similar words include: lounge, couch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOFA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Tens or ones place?"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unstratified soil deposited by a glacier; consists of sand and clay and gravel and boulders mixed together
  • Similar words include: cashbox, public treasury, trough
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Lead-in to "poor Yorick!""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Al Sharpton's title, for short"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that rate of revolution of a motor
  • Similar words include: rpm, revolutions per minute, rev up
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REV

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Instrument with a Renaissance-era ancestor called a sackbut"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brass instrument consisting of a long tube whose length can be varied by a u-shaped slide
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TROMBONE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. "Absolutely!""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Sense of self"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Hermey is one, in TV's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous
  • Similar words include: pixy, gremlin, extremely low frequency
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Do-over at serving"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a brutal terrorist group active in kashmir; fights against india with the goal of restoring islamic rule of india
  • Similar words include: Army of the Pure, lease, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba
  • Opposite of: disallow, prevent
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. "Nevertheless ...""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Marries"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fourth day of the week; the third working day
  • Similar words include: splice, Midweek, hook up with
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. One son of Isaac and Rebekah"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) the eldest son of isaac who would have inherited the covenant that god made with abraham and that abraham passed on to isaac; he traded his birthright to his twin brother jacob for a mess of pottage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESAU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Bacterial eye malady"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Pakistani language"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the official literary language of pakistan, closely related to hindi; widely used in india (mostly by moslems); written in arabic script
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URDU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Chervil or chive"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests
  • Similar words include: herbaceous plant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HERB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Touched down"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Stool pigeons, in police shorthand"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an alliance made up of states that had been soviet socialist republics in the soviet union prior to its dissolution in dec 1991
  • Similar words include: Commonwealth of Independent States, curie, Ci
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Explosive inits."

3 letters πŸ’­ 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!

19D: "26. Kind of arch in architecture"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a molding that (in section) has the shape of an s with the convex part above and the concave part below
  • Similar words include: cyma reversa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OGEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "27. ___ asada"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "28. Resident of a Mideast sultanate"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a native or inhabitant of oman
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OMANI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "29. Chose, with "for""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that select as an alternative over another
  • Similar words include: choose, opt, prefer
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OPTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "30. Wails"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a funeral lament sung with loud wailing
  • Similar words include: keen, lament
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KEENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "31. Give some lip to"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an impudent or insolent rejoinder
  • Similar words include: lip, back talk, Special Air Service
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SASS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "32. Sign up for"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the shape or manner in which things come together and a connection is made
  • Similar words include: articulation, joint, junction
  • Opposite of: disjoin
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JOIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. Some are said to be "swimming" in this"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of owing something (especially money)
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEBT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "38. Resemble"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "39. Ways to raise capital, in brief"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "42. Lowe on TV"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that take something away by force or without the consent of the owner
  • Similar words include: overcharge, gazump, soak
  • Opposite of: undercharge
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROB

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "43. Big ___, West Coast tourist destination"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a port in southern lebanon on the mediterranean sea; formerly a major phoenician seaport famous for silks
  • Similar words include: Tyre
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SUR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "44. Shake with fear"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reflex motion caused by cold or fear or excitement
  • Similar words include: shake, shiver
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREMBLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "47. Sandlot QB's order to a receiver"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "48. Streaming service owned by Disney"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "49. Cause of a shower drain clog, maybe"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss
  • Similar words include: hairsbreadth, pilus, hair's-breadth
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "51. Birdbrain"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone whose style is out of fashion
  • Similar words include: fogy, fogey, Raphus cucullatus
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DODO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "52. "At what time?""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "53. BrontΓ« heroine"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shallow salt lake in south central australia about 35 feet below sea level; the largest lake in the country and the lowest point on the continent
  • Similar words include: Lake Eyre
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EYRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "55. Popular female poodle name"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "56. Inquires"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that inquire about
  • Similar words include: expect, demand, ask
  • Opposite of: obviate
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "57. Word after "Copy" or "Fancy""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "59. Airer of "The View""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)
  • Similar words include: alphabet, ABC's, rudiment
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "60. Site of the world's largest Carnival celebration"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the former capital and 2nd largest city of brazil; chief brazilian port; famous as a tourist attraction
  • Similar words include: Rio de Janeiro
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

43D: "61. Wapiti, by another name"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in europe and `moose' in north america
  • Similar words include: Alces alces, wapiti, red deer
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

44D: "62. Put a burden on"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that charge against a citizen's person or property or activity for the support of government
  • Similar words include: revenue enhancement, assess, taxation
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAX

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

32 Across Clues
44 Down Clues
76 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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

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

Last updated: May 12, 2026 at 06:25 AM

Sunday, April 26, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers April 26, 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. Touch up text 4
2A 5. One might be used for stepping up or sitting down 5
3A 10. Hoot or holler 4
4A 14. "Let's go, guys!" 4
5A 18. Like the Islamic calendar 5
6A 20. Windy City airport 5
7A 21. Birmingham bum 4
8A 22. "Stay in your ___!" 4
9A 23. Fashion item for an aspiring grocer? 11
10A 25. ... for an aspiring nanny? 9
11A 27. Place to dive in 7
12A 28. Became apparent 5
13A 30. Stands around an art gallery 6
14A 31. Neither's counterpart 3
15A 32. Small detail 4
16A 33. Central 5
17A 34. ... for an aspiring manicurist? 13
18A 40. Outmoded component of a car's dashboard 7
19A 43. Biblical garden 4
20A 44. Did some doughnuts? 5
21A 45. Dermatology case 4
22A 47. What gives a wine tartness 4
23A 48. Quip 3
24A 49. Fragile mineral 4
25A 50. ... for an aspiring housekeeper? 10
26A 53. Scored 100 on a test 6
27A 55. Soaks up the sun 4
28A 59. ___ One (presidential helicopter) 6
29A 60. Church spaces 5
30A 61. Your wish is his command 5
31A 62. CΓ³rdoba's country: Abbr. 3
32A 63. Soccer star Hamm 3
33A 66. Corporate fashion advice embraced by the candidates in eight clues 21
34A 72. One in 100: Abbr. 3
35A 73. Ming in the Basketball Hall of Fame 3
36A 74. Holiday seasons 5
37A 75. Works on an ice cream cone 5
38A 76. Tawdry 6
39A 79. All over again 4
40A 80. Japanese floor mat 6
41A 81. ... for an aspiring travel agent? 10
42A 85. In the distance 4
43A 87. Wiping cloth 3
44A 88. Italian cooking staple, for short 4
45A 89. "Progress through technology" automaker 4
46A 90. Like contact lenses for astigmatism 5
47A 92. "I wasn't ___ yesterday" 4
48A 93. Make it through 7
49A 96. ... for an aspiring dry cleaner? 13
50A 99. Machines in some print shops 5
51A 100. Tour de France peaks 4
52A 101. Nutrient in avocados 3
53A 102. Apartment cooler, for short 6
54A 104. Palm spring? 5
55A 106. Stroll 7
56A 110. ... for an aspiring flutist? 9
57A 112. ... for an aspiring photographer? 11
58A 115. Used the doorbell 4
59A 116. Hides 4
60A 117. As of now 5
61A 118. Solution strength 5
62A 119. It has its ups and downs 4
63A 120. Accomplishment 4
64A 121. UnitedHealthcare competitor 5
65A 122. Absolutely nothing 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Touch up text"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that prepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting
  • Similar words include: cut, edit out, redact
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. One might be used for stepping up or sitting down"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a simple seat without a back or arms
  • Similar words include: defecate, tiller, ca-ca
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STOOL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Hoot or holler"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a loud utterance; often in protest or opposition
  • Similar words include: call, shout out, scream
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. "Let's go, guys!""

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "18. Like the Islamic calendar"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of or relating to or associated with the moon
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUNAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "20. Windy City airport"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "21. Birmingham bum"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
  • Similar words include: hind end, asshole, bum
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "22. "Stay in your ___!""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a narrow way or road
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LANE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "23. Fashion item for an aspiring grocer?"

11 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "25. ... for an aspiring nanny?"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "27. Place to dive in"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "28. Became apparent"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come into existence; take on form or shape
  • Similar words include: rise up, go up, originate
  • Opposite of: fall, go to bed
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AROSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "30. Stands around an art gallery"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an upright tripod for displaying something (usually an artist's canvas)
  • Similar words include: easel
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EASELS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "31. Neither's counterpart"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "32. Small detail"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work
  • Similar words include: specification
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPEC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "33. Central"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that located inward; - leonard bernstein; - david denby; - a.r.gurney,jr.
  • Similar words include: intimate, inside, privileged
  • Opposite of: outer
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INNER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "34. ... for an aspiring manicurist?"

13 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "40. Outmoded component of a car's dashboard"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "43. Biblical garden"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
  • Similar words include: paradise, promised land, Garden of Eden
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "44. Did some doughnuts?"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cook and make edible by putting in a hot oven
  • Similar words include: broil, parched, adust
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAKED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "45. Dermatology case"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an inflammatory disease involving the sebaceous glands of the skin; characterized by papules or pustules or comedones
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACNE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "47. What gives a wine tartness"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various water-soluble compounds having a sour taste and capable of turning litmus red and reacting with a base to form a salt
  • Similar words include: pane, Lucy in the sky with diamonds, acrid
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "48. Quip"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a clever remark
  • Similar words include: MOT test, bon mot, Ministry of Transportation test
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "49. Fragile mineral"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various minerals consisting of hydrous silicates of aluminum or potassium etc. that crystallize in forms that allow perfect cleavage into very thin leaves; used as dielectrics because of their resistance to electricity
  • Similar words include: isinglass
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MICA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "50. ... for an aspiring housekeeper?"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "53. Scored 100 on a test"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "55. Soaks up the sun"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
  • Similar words include: bronze, tangent, sunburn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "59. ___ One (presidential helicopter)"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of the united states marine corps
  • Similar words include: maritime, shipboard soldier, leatherneck
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MARINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "60. Church spaces"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the central area of a church
  • Similar words include: nave
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NAVES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "61. Your wish is his command"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (islam) an invisible spirit mentioned in the koran and believed by muslims to inhabit the earth and influence mankind by appearing in the form of humans or animals
  • Similar words include: djinny, jinni, jinnee
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GENIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "62. CΓ³rdoba's country: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "63. Soccer star Hamm"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "66. Corporate fashion advice embraced by the candidates in eight clues"

21 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: _____________________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRESSFORTHEJOBYOUWANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "72. One in 100: Abbr."

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fractional monetary unit of japan and indonesia and cambodia; equal to one hundredth of a yen or rupiah or riel
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "73. Ming in the Basketball Hall of Fame"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "74. Holiday seasons"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that period extending from dec. 24 to jan. 6
  • Similar words include: Noel, Christmas, Yuletide
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YULES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "75. Works on an ice cream cone"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a salt deposit that animals regularly lick
  • Similar words include: figure out, slug, work out
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LICKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "76. Tawdry"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that morally degraded; ; ; ; - seattle weekly; - james joyce
  • Similar words include: seamy, squalid, flyblown
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SORDID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "79. All over again"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that again but in a new or different way
  • Similar words include: afresh
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANEW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40A: "80. Japanese floor mat"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41A: "81. ... for an aspiring travel agent?"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42A: "85. In the distance"

4 letters Category: Common Word

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!

43A: "87. Wiping cloth"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small piece of cloth or paper
  • Similar words include: bedevil, reprimand, call on the carpet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

44A: "88. Italian cooking staple, for short"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

45A: "89. "Progress through technology" automaker"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

46A: "90. Like contact lenses for astigmatism"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

47A: "92. "I wasn't ___ yesterday""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that british nuclear physicist (born in germany) honored for his contributions to quantum mechanics (1882-1970)
  • Similar words include: assume, wear, accept
  • Opposite of: unborn
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BORN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

48A: "93. Make it through"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

49A: "96. ... for an aspiring dry cleaner?"

13 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

50A: "99. Machines in some print shops"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

51A: "100. Tour de France peaks"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large mountain system in south-central europe; scenic beauty and winter sports make them a popular tourist attraction
  • Similar words include: the Alps, alp
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

52A: "101. Nutrient in avocados"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a soft greasy substance occurring in organic tissue and consisting of a mixture of lipids (mostly triglycerides)
  • Similar words include: avoirdupois, fatten out, productive
  • Opposite of: leanness, nonfat
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

53A: "102. Apartment cooler, for short"

6 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

54A: "104. Palm spring?"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fertile tract in a desert (where the water table approaches the surface)
  • Similar words include: haven
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OASIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

55A: "106. Stroll"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a careless leisurely gait
  • Similar words include: perambulation, stroll, promenade
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAUNTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

56A: "110. ... for an aspiring flutist?"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a truncated cloth cone mounted on a mast; used (e.g., at airports) to show the direction of the wind
  • Similar words include: windsock, sock, air-sleeve
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WINDSOCKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

57A: "112. ... for an aspiring photographer?"

11 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

58A: "115. Used the doorbell"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sound loudly and sonorously
  • Similar words include: band, ring, telephone
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RANG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

59A: "116. Hides"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the dressed hairy coat of a mammal
  • Similar words include: pelt, fur
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FURS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

60A: "117. As of now"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

61A: "118. Solution strength"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the concentration of a solution as determined by titration
  • Similar words include: titre
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TITER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

62A: "119. It has its ups and downs"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

63A: "120. Accomplishment"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a notable achievement
  • Similar words include: exploit, effort
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

64A: "121. UnitedHealthcare competitor"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

65A: "122. Absolutely nothing"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a quantity of no importance
  • Similar words include: aught, naught, cipher
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NADA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Massachusetts' state tree 3
2D 2. Pair 4
3D 3. Memo starter 4
4D 4. Consumed, say 7
5D 5. Planted 4
6D 6. Trumpeter Jones 4
7D 7. Bit in a horse's mouth? 3
8D 8. Group spotted on an Alaskan cruise, perhaps 7
9D 9. "Hanukkah in Santa Monica" songwriter Tom 6
10D 10. Jabbers 4
11D 11. Lake from which the Niagara River flows 4
12D 12. Trip strip 3
13D 13. Tale as old as time 6
14D 14. Anyone's game 9
15D 15. Independent thinker 8
16D 16. Justice Kagan in '83, e.g. 4
17D 17. Scottish loch 4
18D 19. Transplant, as a plant 5
19D 24. Large measure of computer data 7
20D 26. Earth 4
21D 29. Four 2-Downs 5
22D 32. Yacht's pronoun 3
23D 33. Freeze frames? 8
24D 34. Calls for 7
25D 35. "It's truly important to me" 7
26D 36. Settle the score 7
27D 37. Standing eau? 3
28D 38. Blade runner? 6
29D 39. Dirty film 4
30D 41. Compete 3
31D 42. Summer setting in Somerset, in brief 3
32D 46. Fed. intelligence group 3
33D 49. "Come home soon" 7
34D 51. "___ Dreams of Sushi" (acclaimed 2011 documentary) 4
35D 52. Sharp-cornered 7
36D 54. From abroad? 3
37D 56. Insect with more than 14,000 known species 3
38D 57. PubMed org. 3
39D 58. "I'm outta here!" 5
40D 61. Super food? 8
41D 63. Patisserie treat 7
42D 64. Stain from a pen 7
43D 65. Name tags? 7
44D 67. Jamie with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 4
45D 68. End of Q2 3
46D 69. World Cup cheer 3
47D 70. "Watch your back!" 6
48D 71. Intelligent humor 3
49D 76. Like rush-hour traffic 9
50D 77. Post-op area, in brief 3
51D 78. Pops 4
52D 80. Diplomatic 7
53D 81. Not do much of anything, say 3
54D 82. Night before 3
55D 83. Like a comedian who bombs 8
56D 84. Stack at a falafel shop 5
57D 86. Tree whose wood is used for telephone poles 3
58D 90. One clicking with an audience? 7
59D 91. Meditation syllables 3
60D 92. Interrupts rudely 7
61D 94. Grid line 4
62D 95. Leave on a trip 6
63D 97. Michigan politician Slotkin 6
64D 98. Charged 5
65D 102. Out of its correct position 4
66D 103. Florentine farewell 4
67D 104. Pod in Creole cooking 4
68D 105. Helper: Abbr. 4
69D 106. Marvel-ous Lee 4
70D 107. Taj Mahal city 4
71D 108. ___ noche (tonight: Sp.) 4
72D 109. Marsh grass 4
73D 111. Stick used for breaking 3
74D 113. O'er and o'er 3
75D 114. Madrid Mme. 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Massachusetts' state tree"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various trees of the genus ulmus: important timber or shade trees
  • Similar words include: elm tree, elmwood
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Pair"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that two items of the same kind
  • Similar words include: couple, pair, twain
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DUAD

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3D: "3. Memo starter"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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4D: "4. Consumed, say"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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5D: "5. Planted"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth
  • Similar words include: inseminate, seeded, sow in
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOWN

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6D: "6. Trumpeter Jones"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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7D: "7. Bit in a horse's mouth?"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Group spotted on an Alaskan cruise, perhaps"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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9D: "9. "Hanukkah in Santa Monica" songwriter Tom"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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10D: "10. Jabbers"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large long-haired wild ox of tibet often domesticated
  • Similar words include: yakety-yak, cackle, yak
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YAKS

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11D: "11. Lake from which the Niagara River flows"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of an iroquoian people formerly living on the south shore of lake erie in northern ohio and northwest pennsylvania and western new york
  • Similar words include: Lake Erie
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ERIE

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12D: "12. Trip strip"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a powerful hallucinogenic drug manufactured from lysergic acid
  • Similar words include: lysergic acid diethylamide
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LSD

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13D: "13. Tale as old as time"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events
  • Similar words include: caption, fable
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LEGEND

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. Anyone's game"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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15D: "15. Independent thinker"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action
  • Similar words include: irregular, rebel, unorthodox
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAVERICK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "16. Justice Kagan in '83, e.g."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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17D: "17. Scottish loch"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strip of land projecting into a body of water
  • Similar words include: cape
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NESS

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18D: "19. Transplant, as a plant"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that put in a new, usually larger, pot
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REPOT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "24. Large measure of computer data"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of information equal to 1000 gigabits or 10^12 (1,000,000,000,000) bits
  • Similar words include: Tbit, Tb
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TERABIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "26. Earth"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the land on which real estate is located
  • Similar words include: commonwealth, shoot down, realm
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAND

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21D: "29. Four 2-Downs"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of seven and one
  • Similar words include: 8, ogdoad, VIII
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OCTAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Yacht's pronoun"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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23D: "33. Freeze frames?"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tray for making cubes of ice in a refrigerator
  • Similar words include: icetray
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICETRAYS

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24D: "34. Calls for"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an urgent or peremptory request
  • Similar words include: requirement, demand, need
  • Opposite of: obviate, supply
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEMANDS

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25D: "35. "It's truly important to me""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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26D: "36. Settle the score"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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27D: "37. Standing eau?"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that resinlike substance secreted by certain lac insects; used in e.g. varnishes and sealing wax
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAC

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28D: "38. Blade runner?"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who skates
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SKATER

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29D: "39. Dirty film"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that worthless people
  • Similar words include: trash
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SCUM

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30D: "41. Compete"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others
  • Similar words include: contend, compete
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIE

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31D: "42. Summer setting in Somerset, in brief"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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32D: "46. Fed. intelligence group"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the united states cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect united states information systems and to produce foreign intelligence information
  • Similar words include: National Security Agency
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NSA

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33D: "49. "Come home soon""

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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34D: "51. "___ Dreams of Sushi" (acclaimed 2011 documentary)"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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35D: "52. Sharp-cornered"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that measured by an angle or by the rate of change of an angle
  • Similar words include: angulate
  • Opposite of: rounded
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANGULAR

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36D: "54. From abroad?"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a potent estrogen used in medicine and in feed for livestock and poultry
  • Similar words include: stilboestrol, stilbesterol, diethylstilboestrol
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DES

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37D: "56. Insect with more than 14,000 known species"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "57. PubMed org."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agency in the department of health and human services whose mission is to employ science in the pursuit of knowledge to improve human health; is the principal biomedical research agency of the federal government
  • Similar words include: National Institutes of Health
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NIH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "58. "I'm outta here!""

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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40D: "61. Super food?"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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41D: "63. Patisserie treat"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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42D: "64. Stain from a pen"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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43D: "65. Name tags?"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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44D: "67. Jamie with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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45D: "68. End of Q2"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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46D: "69. World Cup cheer"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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47D: "70. "Watch your back!""

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be on one's guard; be cautious or wary about; be alert to
  • Similar words include: mind
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEWARE

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48D: "71. Intelligent humor"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
  • Similar words include: wittiness, card, brainpower
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WIT

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49D: "76. Like rush-hour traffic"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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50D: "77. Post-op area, in brief"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a hospital unit staffed and equipped to provide intensive care
  • Similar words include: intensive care unit
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICU

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51D: "78. Pops"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
  • Similar words include: pa, papa, pop
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

52D: "80. Diplomatic"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that having or showing a sense of what is fitting and considerate in dealing with others
  • Similar words include: kid-glove
  • Opposite of: tactless
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TACTFUL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

53D: "81. Not do much of anything, say"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that edible seeds or roots or stems or leaves or bulbs or tubers or nonsweet fruits of any of numerous herbaceous plant
  • Similar words include: veggie, vegetable
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VEG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

54D: "82. Night before"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) adam's wife in judeo-christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; god created eve from adam's rib and placed adam and eve in the garden of eden
  • Similar words include: evening, even, eventide
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVE

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55D: "83. Like a comedian who bombs"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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56D: "84. Stack at a falafel shop"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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57D: "86. Tree whose wood is used for telephone poles"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that nonresinous wood of a fir tree
  • Similar words include: fir tree, true fir
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FIR

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58D: "90. One clicking with an audience?"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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59D: "91. Meditation syllables"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

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60D: "92. Interrupts rudely"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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61D: "94. Grid line"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a straight line through a body or figure that satisfies certain conditions
  • Similar words include: bloc, axis vertebra, axis of rotation
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AXIS

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62D: "95. Leave on a trip"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that structure where a wall or building narrows abruptly
  • Similar words include: offset, set-back
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SETOFF

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63D: "97. Michigan politician Slotkin"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

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64D: "98. Charged"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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65D: "102. Out of its correct position"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that turned or twisted toward one side; - g.k.chesterton
  • Similar words include: amiss, wrong, haywire
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AWRY

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66D: "103. Florentine farewell"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an acknowledgment that can be used to say hello or goodbye (aloha is hawaiian and ciao is italian)
  • Similar words include: aloha
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

67D: "104. Pod in Creole cooking"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that long green edible beaked pods of the okra plant
  • Similar words include: Abelmoschus esculentus, gumbo, okra plant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OKRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

68D: "105. Helper: Abbr."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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69D: "106. Marvel-ous Lee"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

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70D: "107. Taj Mahal city"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a city in northern india; former capital of the mogul empire; site of the taj mahal
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGRA

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71D: "108. ___ noche (tonight: Sp.)"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

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72D: "109. Marsh grass"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

73D: "111. Stick used for breaking"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an actor's line that immediately precedes and serves as a reminder for some action or speech
  • Similar words include: cue stick, pool cue, clew
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

74D: "113. O'er and o'er"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that many times at short intervals
  • Similar words include: oftentimes, ofttimes, often
  • Opposite of: infrequently, rarely
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OFT

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75D: "114. Madrid Mme."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

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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

65 Across Clues
75 Down Clues
140 Total Clues

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Last updated: April 26, 2026 at 05:55 AM