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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 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: Moderate

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Tried-and-true choice, informally 4
2A 5. It's perfect for some musicians 5
3A 10. Motorcyclist's invitation 5
4A 15. Asia's shrinking ___ Sea 4
5A 16. Ruckus 5
6A 17. Where Boise is 5
7A 18. It's a piece of cake 10
8A 20. Computer geeks 5
9A 21. Source of some South American wool 5
10A 22. Alaska politico Palin 5
11A 24. ___-Ball 4
12A 25. Alternative to a Word doc 3
13A 27. It's child's play 9
14A 29. Glassblower, e.g. 7
15A 33. One of three statistical averages 4
16A 34. M.L.B. stadium demolished in 2009 4
17A 35. Ones always blowing off steam? 7
18A 39. Altar promise 3
19A 42. It's a no-brainer 16
20A 45. Starchy tuber 3
21A 46. 2016 Ariana Grande love song 7
22A 47. Drug buster 4
23A 48. Heavy, spiked club 4
24A 50. Bared one's teeth, say 7
25A 52. It's a breeze 9
26A 57. ___-fi 3
27A 58. Sudden or impulsive, as a decision 4
28A 59. Lipstick blunder 5
29A 61. Intermittently offered fast-food pork sandwich 5
30A 65. Oscars host, e.g. 5
31A 67. It's a walk in the park 10
32A 69. Abandon prematurely, as a mission 5
33A 70. Piano exercise 5
34A 71. Fencing blade 4
35A 72. "OMG, same!" 5
36A 73. About 50.7% of all Americans 5
37A 74. Like typical communicators in sign language 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Tried-and-true choice, informally"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. It's perfect for some musicians"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Motorcyclist's invitation"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "15. Asia's shrinking ___ Sea"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "16. Ruckus"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "17. Where Boise is"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in the rocky mountains
  • Similar words include: Gem State, ID
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDAHO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "18. It's a piece of cake"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small finger-shaped sponge cake
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LADYFINGER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. Computer geeks"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a school teaching mechanical and industrial arts and the applied sciences
  • Similar words include: technical school, tech
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TECHS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Source of some South American wool"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wild or domesticated south american cud-chewing animal related to camels but smaller and lacking a hump
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LLAMA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Alaska politico Palin"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old testament) the wife of abraham and mother of isaac
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SARAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "24. ___-Ball"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Alternative to a Word doc"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "27. It's child's play"

9 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. Glassblower, e.g."

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft
  • Similar words include: craftsman, artificer, journeyman
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARTISAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "33. One of three statistical averages"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n
  • Similar words include: tight, signify, mean value
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "34. M.L.B. stadium demolished in 2009"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "35. Ones always blowing off steam?"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a metal pot for stewing or boiling; usually has a lid
  • Similar words include: kettleful, kettle, boiler
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KETTLES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "39. Altar promise"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an artificial language that is a revision and simplification of esperanto
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "42. It's a no-brainer"

16 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Pattern: ________________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEADLESSHORSEMAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "45. Starchy tuber"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that edible tuber of any of several yams
  • Similar words include: yam plant
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "46. 2016 Ariana Grande love song"

7 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "47. Drug buster"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a lawman concerned with narcotics violations
  • Similar words include: narcotics agent, nark
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NARC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "48. Heavy, spiked club"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (trademark) a liquid that temporarily disables a person; prepared as an aerosol and sprayed in the face, it irritates the eyes and causes dizziness and immobilization
  • Similar words include: Chemical Mace, macebearer, macer
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MACE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "50. Bared one's teeth, say"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone
  • Similar words include: snarl up, entangle, knotty
  • Opposite of: disentangle, unsnarl
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNARLED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "52. It's a breeze"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "57. ___-fi"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "58. Sudden or impulsive, as a decision"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any red eruption of the skin
  • Similar words include: foolhardy, blizzard, efflorescence
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RASH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "59. Lipstick blunder"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that slanderous defamation
  • Similar words include: calumniate, daub, smudge
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMEAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "61. Intermittently offered fast-food pork sandwich"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "65. Oscars host, e.g."

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who acts as host at formal occasions (makes an introductory speech and introduces other speakers)
  • Similar words include: compere, host, master of ceremonies
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMCEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "67. It's a walk in the park"

10 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "69. Abandon prematurely, as a mission"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of terminating a project or procedure before it is completed
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ABORT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "70. Piano exercise"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETUDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "71. Fencing blade"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fencing sword similar to a foil but with a heavier blade
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "72. "OMG, same!""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a capacious bag or basket
  • Similar words include: total, tote, tug
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOTES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "73. About 50.7% of all Americans"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "74. Like typical communicators in sign language"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that people who have severe hearing impairments
  • Similar words include: indifferent, deafen
  • Opposite of: hearing
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEAF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Effrontery 4
2D 2. Not in writing, as an exam 4
3D 3. Magician's "Look what I did!" 4
4D 4. International competition in math, science and other disciplines 8
5D 5. Greek letter that looks like an "O" superimposed with an "I" 3
6D 6. Charged particles 4
7D 7. Roman robes 5
8D 8. French sweetheart 5
9D 9. Prohibited in Islam 5
10D 10. Chart-topper 3
11D 11. Texas setting for 2004's "Friday Night Lights" 6
12D 12. Mule or burro 10
13D 13. "Fancy seeing you here!" 5
14D 14. They may be counted when taking attendance 5
15D 19. Bell-bottom jeans and pet rocks, in the 1970s 4
16D 23. Undeniable successes 8
17D 26. Media misinformation 8
18D 28. Loch ___ monster 4
19D 29. Like a campfire by morning, typically 4
20D 30. Flightless bird from South America 4
21D 31. Figure in a school pep rally 10
22D 32. Empty ___ (home after the kids go off to college) 4
23D 36. Chinese general on a menu 3
24D 37. "___ will be done" 3
25D 38. English facilities 4
26D 40. "Don't you ___!" 4
27D 41. How much 1990s music was issued 4
28D 43. Pet pests 4
29D 44. Having added nutrients 8
30D 49. Obey, with "to" 6
31D 51. Apex 4
32D 52. Pay for at a restaurant, say 5
33D 53. Title role for Sylvester Stallone 5
34D 54. "This is my first day on the job" 5
35D 55. "Groovy" 5
36D 56. Unit of information 5
37D 60. Like checking a dating app while you're on a date 4
38D 62. Fully matured 4
39D 63. Swedish furniture supplier 4
40D 64. Complaint, informally 4
41D 66. Arrivals in the 2016 thriller "Arrival," in brief 3
42D 68. ___ Faire (historical event) 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Effrontery"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an open sore on the back of a horse caused by ill-fitting or badly adjusted saddle
  • Similar words include: saddle sore, freshness, irk
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GALL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Not in writing, as an exam"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an examination conducted by spoken communication
  • Similar words include: viva voce, viva, oral exam
  • Opposite of: aboral, anal
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Magician's "Look what I did!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. International competition in math, science and other disciplines"

8 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of the four-year intervals between olympic games; used to reckon time in ancient greece for twelve centuries beginning in 776 bc
  • Similar words include: Olympics, Olympic Games
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLYMPIAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Greek letter that looks like an "O" superimposed with an "I""

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the 21st letter of the greek alphabet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Charged particles"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a particle that is electrically charged (positive or negative); an atom or molecule or group that has lost or gained one or more electrons
  • Similar words include: ion
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IONS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Roman robes"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a one-piece cloak worn by men in ancient rome
  • Similar words include: toga
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOGAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. French sweetheart"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Prohibited in Islam"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Chart-topper"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (baseball) a successful stroke in an athletic contest (especially in baseball)
  • Similar words include: stumble, reach, slay
  • Opposite of: miss
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Texas setting for 2004's "Friday Night Lights""

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a port city of south central ukraine on an arm of the black sea
  • Similar words include: Odesa
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ODESSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Mule or burro"

10 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. "Fancy seeing you here!""

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. They may be counted when taking attendance"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals
  • Similar words include: horn in, wind, pry
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOSES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "19. Bell-bottom jeans and pet rocks, in the 1970s"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an interest followed with exaggerated zeal
  • Similar words include: craze, rage, cult
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FADS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Undeniable successes"

8 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Media misinformation"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Loch ___ monster"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Like a campfire by morning, typically"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Flightless bird from South America"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fertility goddess in ancient greek mythology; wife of cronus and mother of zeus; identified with roman ops and cybele of ancient asia minor
  • Similar words include: nandu, Pterocnemia pennata, Rhea americana
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RHEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Figure in a school pep rally"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Empty ___ (home after the kids go off to college)"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
  • Similar words include: snuggle, draw close, cuddle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "36. Chinese general on a menu"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "37. "___ will be done""

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. English facilities"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that austrian architect (1870-1933)
  • Similar words include: closet, Adolf Loos, water closet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "40. "Don't you ___!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. How much 1990s music was issued"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "43. Pet pests"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wingless usually flattened bloodsucking insect parasitic on warm-blooded animals
  • Similar words include: bird louse, worm, dirt ball
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LICE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. Having added nutrients"

8 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that make better or improve in quality
  • Similar words include: enrich
  • Opposite of: deprive, impoverish
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENRICHED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "49. Obey, with "to""

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be compatible or in accordance with
  • Similar words include: bind, bond, hold fast
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADHERE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "51. Apex"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
  • Similar words include: vertex, summit, pinnacle
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "52. Pay for at a restaurant, say"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something considered choice to eat
  • Similar words include: care for, plow, deal
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TREAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "53. Title role for Sylvester Stallone"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "54. "This is my first day on the job""

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "55. "Groovy""

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "56. Unit of information"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an item of factual information derived from measurement or research
  • Similar words include: data point
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DATUM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "60. Like checking a dating app while you're on a date"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that socially incorrect in behavior
  • Similar words include: uncivil, unmannered, underbred
  • Opposite of: civil
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUDE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "62. Fully matured"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "63. Swedish furniture supplier"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "64. Complaint, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that cattle that are reared for their meat
  • Similar words include: gripe, bellyache, bitch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BEEF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "66. Arrivals in the 2016 thriller "Arrival," in brief"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

42D: "68. ___ Faire (historical event)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

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Begin with fill-in-the-blank clues and short 3-4 letter words. These are your foundation.

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

37 Across Clues
42 Down Clues
79 Total Clues

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Last updated: May 05, 2026 at 06:01 AM

Monday, January 19, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers January 19, 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. Package under a Christmas tree 4
2A 5. Old-fashioned butter maker 5
3A 10. Branded cotton swab 4
4A 14. Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan 4
5A 15. In on, as a trend 5
6A 16. Big coffee containers 4
7A 17. 1972 song by Elton John 10
8A 19. Luxury auto whose logo is four overlapping rings 4
9A 20. In progress 7
10A 21. :), ;), :D and others 7
11A 23. Formal "you," in Spanish 5
12A 25. Comedian Wong 3
13A 26. Projects, as a shadow 5
14A 29. 1985 song by John Cougar Mellencamp 9
15A 34. Comes to light 6
16A 36. X minus III, in old Rome 3
17A 37. Cosmonaut Gagarin 4
18A 38. Held the reins 3
19A 39. Spot for a massage 3
20A 41. R&B singer whose album "SOS" spent 100+ weeks in the Billboard top 10 3
21A 43. Element used in bronze 3
22A 44. Sporting blade 4
23A 46. Draft pick? 3
24A 48. Firstborn 6
25A 50. 1987 song by Billy Joel and Ray Charles 9
26A 53. Midsection measurement 5
27A 54. Apt rhyme for "shriek" 3
28A 55. Martial arts studios 5
29A 57. Disheveled 7
30A 61. Caribbean island with a liqueur named for it 7
31A 65. Gently persuade 4
32A 66. Capital of Arkansas ... or a description of 17-, 29- and 50-Across? 10
33A 68. In ___ land (daydreaming) 4
34A 69. "I wish I could ___ that!" 5
35A 70. A second helping, say 4
36A 71. "Excuse me ..." 4
37A 72. Things shifted on a bicycle or in a car 5
38A 73. Winter coaster 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Package under a Christmas tree"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that something acquired without compensation
  • Similar words include: indue, invest, endow
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIFT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Old-fashioned butter maker"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a vessel in which cream is agitated to separate butterfat from buttermilk
  • Similar words include: boil, roil, moil
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHURN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "10. Branded cotton swab"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. In on, as a trend"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Big coffee containers"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
  • Similar words include: urn
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URNS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. 1972 song by Elton John"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Luxury auto whose logo is four overlapping rings"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. In progress"

7 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that currently happening
  • Similar words include: on-going
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONGOING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. :), ;), :D and others"

7 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an emoticon of a smiling face
  • Similar words include: smiley
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SMILEYS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Formal "you," in Spanish"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Comedian Wong"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that united states prizefighter who won the world heavyweight championship three times (born in 1942)
  • Similar words include: Cassius Clay, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Muhammad Ali
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Projects, as a shadow"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the actors in a play
  • Similar words include: be sick, put, roll
  • Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CASTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "29. 1985 song by John Cougar Mellencamp"

9 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "34. Comes to light"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that come into existence; take on form or shape
  • Similar words include: grow, spring up, go up
  • Opposite of: fall, turn in
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARISES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "36. X minus III, in old Rome"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
  • Similar words include: 7, sevener, heptad
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VII

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "37. Cosmonaut Gagarin"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "38. Held the reins"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "39. Spot for a massage"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "41. R&B singer whose album "SOS" spent 100+ weeks in the Billboard top 10"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "43. Element used in bronze"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide
  • Similar words include: put up, can, atomic number 50
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "44. Sporting blade"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fencing sword similar to a foil but with a heavier blade
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "46. Draft pick?"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the united states an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "48. Firstborn"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the offspring who came first in the order of birth
  • Similar words include: firstborn
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELDEST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "50. 1987 song by Billy Joel and Ray Charles"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "53. Midsection measurement"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the distance around a person's body
  • Similar words include: cinch
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GIRTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "54. Apt rhyme for "shriek""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "55. Martial arts studios"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "57. Disheveled"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not neatly combed
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UNKEMPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "61. Caribbean island with a liqueur named for it"

7 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a popular island resort in the netherlands antilles
  • Similar words include: curacoa
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CURACAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "65. Gently persuade"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a transmission line for high-frequency signals
  • Similar words include: coax cable, palaver, blarney
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COAX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "66. Capital of Arkansas ... or a description of 17-, 29- and 50-Across?"

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "68. In ___ land (daydreaming)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "69. "I wish I could ___ that!""

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "70. A second helping, say"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english statesman who opposed henry viii's divorce from catherine of aragon and was imprisoned and beheaded; recalled for his concept of utopia, the ideal state
  • Similar words include: Sir Thomas More, more than, Thomas More
  • Opposite of: fewer, less
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MORE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "71. "Excuse me ...""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the utterance of a sound similar to clearing the throat; intended to get attention, express hesitancy, fill a pause, hide embarrassment, warn a friend, etc.
  • Similar words include: hem
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AHEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "72. Things shifted on a bicycle or in a car"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion
  • Similar words include: train, cogwheel, geartrain
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEARS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "73. Winter coaster"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a vehicle mounted on runners and pulled by horses or dogs; for transportation over snow
  • Similar words include: sleigh, sledge
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. ___ Jail (space on a Monopoly board) 4
2D 2. "Sign me up!" 4
3D 3. Vampire's tooth 4
4D 4. Auditions 7
5D 5. "U-S-A! U-S-A! ...," e.g. 5
6D 6. Movable joints on a door 6
7D 7. ___ code (what most product packages have) 3
8D 8. Google Maps options: Abbr. 4
9D 9. Bring into the mainstream 9
10D 10. Counterpart of quantity 7
11D 11. Factual 4
12D 12. Where the N.F.L.'s Colts play, informally 4
13D 13. Letters before omegas 4
14D 18. Insults 6
15D 22. Springfield is its capital: Abbr. 3
16D 24. Org. with notoriously long lines 3
17D 26. Biblical spy for Moses 5
18D 27. South American flatbread 5
19D 28. Lesser-played part of a 45 5
20D 30. ChatGPT and Google Gemini, for two 3
21D 31. Word before space or Mongolia 5
22D 32. Spot to find a pulse 5
23D 33. Final inning, typically 5
24D 35. Device for starting an engine 9
25D 40. In the style of 3
26D 42. Former vice president who won a Nobel Peace Prize 6
27D 45. Test taken at the 24-Down 7
28D 47. Finale 3
29D 49. Wins over with charm 7
30D 51. Jewel 3
31D 52. Pete who directed "Up," "Inside Out" and "Soul" 6
32D 56. Novelist Verne 5
33D 57. The N.C.A.A.'s Bruins 4
34D 58. Biblical ark builder 4
35D 59. Dark leafy green 4
36D 60. Fork prong 4
37D 62. Chilly 4
38D 63. Surveyor's measure 4
39D 64. Gave a thumbs-up 4
40D 67. Airport screening grp. 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. ___ Jail (space on a Monopoly board)"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. "Sign me up!""

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Vampire's tooth"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a bantu language spoken in cameroon
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FANG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Auditions"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that trying something to find out about it
  • Similar words include: test, audition, trial run
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRYOUTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. "U-S-A! U-S-A! ...," e.g."

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a repetitive song in which as many syllables as necessary are assigned to a single tone
  • Similar words include: tone, intonate, cantillate
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CHANT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Movable joints on a door"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a joint that holds two parts together so that one can swing relative to the other
  • Similar words include: hinge, flexible joint
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HINGES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. ___ code (what most product packages have)"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Google Maps options: Abbr."

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Bring into the mainstream"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that become normal or return to its normal state
  • Similar words include: renormalise, temper, anneal
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NORMALIZE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Counterpart of quantity"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; --shakespeare
  • Similar words include: lineament, prize, timbre
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: QUALITY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Factual"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that proper alignment; the property possessed by something that is in correct or proper alignment
  • Similar words include: truthful, dependable, straight
  • Opposite of: false, untruthful
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Where the N.F.L.'s Colts play, informally"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Letters before omegas"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of pressure
  • Similar words include: psi, pounds per square inch
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PSIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. Insults"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that treat, mention, or speak to rudely
  • Similar words include: affront, insult, diss
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DISSES

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "22. Springfield is its capital: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
  • Similar words include: sick, inauspicious, badly
  • Opposite of: well
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ILL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "24. Org. with notoriously long lines"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Biblical spy for Moses"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. South American flatbread"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Lesser-played part of a 45"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. ChatGPT and Google Gemini, for two"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agency of the united states army responsible for providing timely and relevant and accurate and synchronized intelligence to tactical and operational and strategic level commanders
  • Similar words include: Bradypus tridactylus, AI, three-toed sloth
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Word before space or Mongolia"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that being on the outside or further from a center
  • Similar words include: tabu, verboten, KO'd
  • Opposite of: safe, inner
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OUTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Spot to find a pulse"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a joint between the distal end of the radius and the proximal row of carpal bones
  • Similar words include: carpus, wrist joint, radiocarpal joint
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WRIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Final inning, typically"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that position nine in a countable series of things
  • Similar words include: 9th, one-ninth
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NINTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "35. Device for starting an engine"

9 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "40. In the style of"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "42. Former vice president who won a Nobel Peace Prize"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "45. Test taken at the 24-Down"

7 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "47. Finale"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that either extremity of something that has length
  • Similar words include: death, goal, oddment
  • Opposite of: beginning, begin
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: END

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "49. Wins over with charm"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that remove offensive capability from
  • Similar words include: demilitarise, unarm, demilitarize
  • Opposite of: arm
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DISARMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "51. Jewel"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that art highly prized for its beauty or perfection
  • Similar words include: treasure, precious stone, gemstone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GEM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "52. Pete who directed "Up," "Inside Out" and "Soul""

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "56. Novelist Verne"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "57. The N.C.A.A.'s Bruins"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "58. Biblical ark builder"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the hebrew patriarch who saved himself and his family and the animals by building an ark in which they survived 40 days and 40 nights of rain; the story of noah and the flood is told in the book of genesis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOAH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "59. Dark leafy green"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for money
  • Similar words include: lolly, colewort, cole
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KALE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "60. Fork prong"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that prong on a fork or pitchfork or antler
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TINE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "62. Chilly"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the quality of being at a refreshingly low temperature
  • Similar words include: cool off, cool down, coolheaded
  • Opposite of: warm, heat
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COOL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "63. Surveyor's measure"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of area (4840 square yards) used in english-speaking countries
  • Similar words include: Accho, Akko, Akka
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "64. Gave a thumbs-up"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "67. Airport screening grp."

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an agency established in 2001 to safeguard united states transportation systems and insure safe air travel
  • Similar words include: Transportation Security Administration
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

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

38 Across Clues
40 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: January 19, 2026 at 04:35 AM