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Wednesday, May 6, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers May 06, 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. Don't believe it 3
2A 4. Soccer great Mia 4
3A 8. Prepared (for) 6
4A 14. Feature of a spy film 8
5A 16. Scalper's transaction 6
6A 17. Prairie bloom for which a creamery is named 8
7A 18. DC good guy 6
8A 19. They're found in a circle 5
9A 20. Dispensary inits. 3
10A 22. Late spring or early summer bloom 5
11A 23. Leave speechless 3
12A 24. Texter's "I can't even" 3
13A 26. In perpetuity 4
14A 28. Winter coat? 3
15A 29. Narrow margin of victory 4
16A 30. Lunchbox staple, informally 3
17A 33. All primes except 2 10
18A 37. Country nearest to the Equator without touching it 4
19A 38. Hybridized, botanically ... or like four pairs of answers in this puzzle (and the circled letters they intersect on)? 15
20A 40. "Stop right there!" 4
21A 41. "Great Scott!" 10
22A 42. Bird adapted for silent flight 3
23A 43. Charging option 4
24A 44. Deciding periods, in brief 3
25A 45. Airdrops? 4
26A 46. [I'm a good boy!] 3
27A 47. Summer cooler 3
28A 50. Movement started by Tarana Burke in 2006 5
29A 53. Dip 3
30A 55. Philosopher William of ___ 5
31A 57. Become part of a club 6
32A 59. ___ method (type of teaching) 8
33A 61. Bloom whose toxic nectar is one source of "mad honey" 6
34A 62. Flower found along a metaphorical path of ease 8
35A 63. A bad review might merit a rotten one 6
36A 64. Like some advice 4
37A 65. Manhattan liquor 3

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Don't believe it"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
  • Similar words include: prevarication, dwell, lie down
  • Opposite of: stand, arise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "4. Soccer great Mia"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "8. Prepared (for)"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant or difficult
  • Similar words include: stimulate, stabilize, stabilise
  • Opposite of: sedate, de-energize
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRACED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Feature of a spy film"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends
  • Similar words include: scheme, machination, fascinate
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INTRIGUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "16. Scalper's transaction"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the selling of something purchased
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RESALE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "17. Prairie bloom for which a creamery is named"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that sometimes placed in genus scilla
  • Similar words include: prairie gentian, Campanula rotundifolia, wood hyacinth
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BLUEBELL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "18. DC good guy"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an orderly assigned to serve a british military officer
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BATMAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. They're found in a circle"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the length of a line segment between the center and circumference of a circle or sphere
  • Similar words include: wheel spoke, radius, spoke
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RADII

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Dispensary inits."

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Late spring or early summer bloom"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous plants widely cultivated for their showy single or double red or pink or white flowers
  • Similar words include: paeony
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEONY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Leave speechless"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration
  • Similar words include: fear, veneration, reverence
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AWE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Texter's "I can't even""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. In perpetuity"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that at any time
  • Similar words include: always, of all time, ever so
  • Opposite of: never
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EVER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. Winter coat?"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
  • Similar words include: meth, frappe, ice-skating rink
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Narrow margin of victory"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

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: tomentum, pilus, hairsbreadth
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HAIR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "30. Lunchbox staple, informally"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "33. All primes except 2"

10 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "37. Country nearest to the Equator without touching it"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic in western south america; achieved independence from spain in 1821; was the heart of the inca empire from the 12th to 16th centuries
  • Similar words include: Republic of Peru
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PERU

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "38. Hybridized, botanically ... or like four pairs of answers in this puzzle (and the circled letters they intersect on)?"

15 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "40. "Stop right there!""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of inactivity following an interruption
  • Similar words include: stay, stanch, halting
  • Opposite of: start
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "41. "Great Scott!""

10 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "42. Bird adapted for silent flight"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that nocturnal bird of prey with hawk-like beak and claws and large head with front-facing eyes
  • Similar words include: bird of Minerva, hooter, bird of night
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "43. Charging option"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an endorsement made in a passport that allows the bearer to enter the country issuing it
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VISA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "44. Deciding periods, in brief"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "45. Airdrops?"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a thin fog with condensation near the ground
  • Similar words include: fog, obscure, mist over
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "46. [I'm a good boy!]"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "47. Summer cooler"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sweetened beverage of diluted fruit juice
  • Similar words include: fruit drink
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "50. Movement started by Tarana Burke in 2006"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "53. Dip"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a shape that sags
  • Similar words include: sag down, flag, swag
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAG

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "55. Philosopher William of ___"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that english scholastic philosopher and assumed author of occam's razor (1285-1349)
  • Similar words include: Ockham, William of Occam, William of Ockham
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OCCAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "57. Become part of a club"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that register formally as a participant or member
  • Similar words include: enter, enrol, recruit
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ENROLL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. ___ method (type of teaching)"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of or relating to socrates or to his method of teaching
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOCRATIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "61. Bloom whose toxic nectar is one source of "mad honey""

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous ornamental shrubs grown for their showy flowers of various colors
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AZALEA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "62. Flower found along a metaphorical path of ease"

8 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous short-stemmed plants of the genus primula having tufted basal leaves and showy flowers clustered in umbels or heads
  • Similar words include: primula
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PRIMROSE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "63. A bad review might merit a rotten one"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "64. Like some advice"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
  • Similar words include: salvia, sage-green
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAGE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "65. Manhattan liquor"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the seed of the cereal grass
  • Similar words include: Secale cereale, rye whiskey, rye whisky
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RYE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. First sign of fall 5
2D 2. Family tree addition 5
3D 3. One of 12 in a Pulitzer-winning piece by composer/pianist William Bolcom 5
4D 4. Blossom in a lei 8
5D 5. Period in history 3
6D 6. Bed cover 5
7D 7. Scary Spice, by another nickname 4
8D 8. Texter's "just a sec" 3
9D 9. Harvesting machine 6
10D 10. Cousin of edelweiss 5
11D 11. Pattern based on nature, for short 4
12D 12. Stylish flair 4
13D 13. Turn down 4
14D 15. King, in Portuguese 3
15D 21. First word from a wedding officiant 6
16D 25. Home of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music 7
17D 27. Alice, in Wonderland 7
18D 28. Part of M.I.T.: Abbr. 4
19D 29. Very, slangily 5
20D 30. Politician Buttigieg 4
21D 31. Partner of born 4
22D 32. Sport with throws 4
23D 33. Siete + uno 4
24D 34. Cry in a gunfight 4
25D 35. Cutie pie 4
26D 36. Gives a lift 6
27D 37. Besties 4
28D 39. "I'll pass" 8
29D 43. Flower found at the end of a rainbow? 6
30D 45. Cold, hard cash 5
31D 46. Ancient marketplace 5
32D 47. Company man? 5
33D 48. "Link" in a botanical chain 5
34D 49. Play the host 5
35D 50. Nitty-gritty 4
36D 51. Automaker Ferrari 4
37D 52. Airport transport 4
38D 54. Some vipers 4
39D 56. Viper, e.g. 3
40D 58. Language of Vientiane 3
41D 60. Smoke 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. First sign of fall"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in libra
  • Similar words include: Libra the Scales, Libra the Balance, Balance
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIBRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Family tree addition"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. One of 12 in a Pulitzer-winning piece by composer/pianist William Bolcom"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

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!

4D: "4. Blossom in a lei"

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any plant of the genus hibiscus
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HIBISCUS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Period in history"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Bed cover"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protective covering of rotting vegetable matter spread to reduce evaporation and soil erosion
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MULCH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Scary Spice, by another nickname"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Texter's "just a sec""

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Harvesting machine"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who helps to gather the harvest
  • Similar words include: harvester, Grim Reaper
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REAPER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Cousin of edelweiss"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of various chiefly fall-blooming herbs of the genus aster with showy daisylike flowers
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASTER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Pattern based on nature, for short"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fabric dyed with splotches of green and brown and black and tan; intended to make the wearer of a garment made of this fabric hard to distinguish from the background
  • Similar words include: camouflage
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAMO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Stylish flair"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause)
  • Similar words include: dash, flair, panache
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Turn down"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that declare untrue; contradict
  • Similar words include: traverse, refuse, abnegate
  • Opposite of: admit, allow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DENY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "15. King, in Portuguese"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. First word from a wedding officiant"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in a sincere and heartfelt manner
  • Similar words include: affectionately, dear, in a heartfelt way
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEARLY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Home of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that largest city of tennessee; located in southwestern tennessee on bluffs overlooking the mississippi river
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEMPHIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "27. Alice, in Wonderland"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone who visits
  • Similar words include: visitant
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VISITOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "28. Part of M.I.T.: Abbr."

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that in or of the present month
  • Similar words include: instant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "29. Very, slangily"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Politician Buttigieg"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. Partner of born"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that copulate with a female, used especially of horses
  • Similar words include: engender, multiply, cover
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "32. Sport with throws"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sport adapted from jujitsu (using principles of not resisting) and similar to wrestling; developed in japan
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JUDO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "33. Siete + uno"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "34. Cry in a gunfight"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a gully that is shallower than a ravine
  • Similar words include: drawing card, tie, delineate
  • Opposite of: push, deposit
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRAW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "35. Cutie pie"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small replica of a person; used as a toy
  • Similar words include: chick, bird, skirt
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOLL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. Gives a lift"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of giving hope or support to someone
  • Similar words include: cost increase, boost, hike up
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BOOSTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "37. Besties"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a close friend who accompanies his buddies in their activities
  • Similar words include: pal, brother, chum
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PALS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "39. "I'll pass""

8 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "43. Flower found at the end of a rainbow?"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous low-growing violas with small flowers
  • Similar words include: purplish, reddish blue, purple
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VIOLET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "45. Cold, hard cash"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "46. Ancient marketplace"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that 100 agorot equal 1 shekel in israel
  • Similar words include: public square
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGORA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "47. Company man?"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a theatrical performer
  • Similar words include: doer, thespian, role player
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACTOR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "48. "Link" in a botanical chain"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous composite plants having flower heads with well-developed ray flowers usually arranged in a single whorl
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAISY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "49. Play the host"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

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: host, compere, master of ceremonies
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EMCEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "50. Nitty-gritty"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) used as food
  • Similar words include: gist, center, sum
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "51. Automaker Ferrari"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "52. Airport transport"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a conveyance that transports passengers or freight in carriers suspended from cables and supported by a series of towers
  • Similar words include: trolley car, tramway, aerial tramway
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRAM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "54. Some vipers"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that of southern europe; similar to but smaller than the adder
  • Similar words include: asp viper, Naja haje, Vipera aspis
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "56. Viper, e.g."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine
  • Similar words include: railcar, railway car, auto
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

40D: "58. Language of Vientiane"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a member of a buddhist people inhabiting the area of the mekong river in laos and thailand and speaking the lao language; related to the thais
  • Similar words include: Laotian
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LAO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

41D: "60. Smoke"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Expert Solving Strategies

Start Smart

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

Decode the Clues

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

Use Cross-References

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

Build Vocabulary

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

Today's Puzzle Stats

37 Across Clues
41 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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

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

Last updated: May 06, 2026 at 06:17 AM

Saturday, January 17, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers January 17, 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. Expressions of disbelief or exasperation 9
2A 10. What "margarita" means in Spanish 5
3A 15. Reputable, in a way 9
4A 16. What Anora and Vanya do in 2024's "Anora" 5
5A 17. Too late, say 9
6A 18. Advocate for the political mobilization of the proletariat 5
7A 19. People often manage with them, in brief 4
8A 20. You might say "Hmm" when something is this 3
9A 21. Toppings blended with ice cream 6
10A 22. Anti-troll measure 3
11A 23. Tchotchke 10
12A 25. Protection from drops 8
13A 26. With 27-Down, fateful time for a sorority pledge 3
14A 28. City in Illinois's "Little Egypt" region 5
15A 30. Demure 3
16A 31. Plant with psychoactive leaves 4
17A 32. Offload (on) 5
18A 33. Famous monogram found backward in the alphabet 3
19A 34. Tall and thin 5
20A 35. Revel (in) 4
21A 36. One of five in a typical big band 3
22A 37. Archetypes 5
23A 38. "All that really matters is if your rhymes was ___" (MF Doom lyric) 3
24A 39. Artificially unsophisticated 8
25A 41. Units for a high-resolution camera 10
26A 43. Interval 3
27A 46. Setups for some elaborate group pictures 6
28A 47. Subject to careful appraisal 3
29A 48. Lawyer's assignment 4
30A 49. Not budging 5
31A 50. Ones running along a road 9
32A 52. Bracket contents 5
33A 53. Where someone's height may be stretched? 9
34A 54. With 39-Down, pretentiously creative 5
35A 55. What antiperspirants can prevent 9

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Expressions of disbelief or exasperation"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "10. What "margarita" means in Spanish"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any of numerous composite plants having flower heads with well-developed ray flowers usually arranged in a single whorl
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAISY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "15. Reputable, in a way"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "16. What Anora and Vanya do in 2024's "Anora""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that run away secretly with one's beloved
  • Similar words include: run off
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELOPE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "17. Too late, say"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "18. Advocate for the political mobilization of the proletariat"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that russian founder of the bolsheviks and leader of the russian revolution and first head of the ussr (1870-1924)
  • Similar words include: Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov, Vladimir Lenin, Vladimir Ilich Lenin
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENIN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "19. People often manage with them, in brief"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a master's degree in business
  • Similar words include: Master in Business Administration, Master in Business, MBA
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MBAS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "20. You might say "Hmm" when something is this"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "21. Toppings blended with ice cream"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Anti-troll measure"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a decree that prohibits something
  • Similar words include: banning, cast out, blackball
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Tchotchke"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small inexpensive mass-produced article
  • Similar words include: whatnot, knickknackery, novelty
  • Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KNICKKNACK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "25. Protection from drops"

8 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a water-resistant coat
  • Similar words include: waterproof
  • Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAINCOAT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. With 27-Down, fateful time for a sorority pledge"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
  • Similar words include: dictation, play, entreat
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "28. City in Illinois's "Little Egypt" region"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a town at the southern tip of illinois at the confluence of the ohio and mississippi rivers
  • Similar words include: Al Qahira, Egyptian capital, capital of Egypt
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAIRO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "30. Demure"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way
  • Similar words include: overmodest, demure
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Plant with psychoactive leaves"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a south american shrub whose leaves are chewed by natives of the andes; a source of cocaine
  • Similar words include: Erythroxylon coca, Imogene Coca, coca plant
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COCA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Offload (on)"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that to force onto another
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FOIST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "33. Famous monogram found backward in the alphabet"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "34. Tall and thin"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that tall and thin and having long slender limbs
  • Similar words include: rangy, gangly, gangling
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LANKY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "35. Revel (in)"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that derive or receive pleasure from; get enjoyment from; take pleasure in
  • Similar words include: relish, enjoy, savor
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BASK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "36. One of five in a typical big band"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a belgian maker of musical instruments who invented the saxophone (1814-1894)
  • Similar words include: Adolphe Sax, saxophone
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAX

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "37. Archetypes"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the distinctive form in which a thing is made
  • Similar words include: work, shape, moulding
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MOLDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "38. "All that really matters is if your rhymes was ___" (MF Doom lyric)"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "39. Artificially unsophisticated"

8 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "41. Units for a high-resolution camera"

10 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "43. Interval"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a conspicuous disparity or difference as between two figures
  • Similar words include: col, disruption, breach
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Setups for some elaborate group pictures"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a person who rises (especially from bed)
  • Similar words include: riser pipeline, riser, riser pipe
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RISERS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "47. Subject to careful appraisal"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a doctor who practices veterinary medicine
  • Similar words include: veterinary surgeon, veterinarian, ex-serviceman
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "48. Lawyer's assignment"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an occurrence of something
  • Similar words include: eccentric, font, pillow slip
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CASE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "49. Not budging"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unable to move or resist motion
  • Similar words include: neutral, sluggish, torpid
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INERT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "50. Ones running along a road"

9 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that walk consisting of a paved area for pedestrians; usually beside a street or roadway
  • Similar words include: pavement, sidewalk
  • Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIDEWALKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "52. Bracket contents"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cooperative unit (especially in sports)
  • Similar words include: team, squad, team up
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEAMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "53. Where someone's height may be stretched?"

9 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "54. With 39-Down, pretentiously creative"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "55. What antiperspirants can prevent"

9 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Crude thing to drop, familiarly 5
2D 2. Westernmost territory of the Netherlands 5
3D 3. Board game with resources 5
4D 4. Grandson of Eve 4
5D 5. Many an attachment 3
6D 6. ___ Carlos Jobim, father of the bossa nova 7
7D 7. Made, as an easy basketball shot 6
8D 8. Longest number writable in standard Roman numerals 15
9D 9. Spy 3
10D 10. Use a roller on, as a jacket 6
11D 11. Digital assistant 5
12D 12. In which opposites attract 9
13D 13. Flashy taekwondo moves 9
14D 14. Cravings 4
15D 21. "All right," folksily 4
16D 23. Super Mario ___ 4
17D 24. Eccentric 4
18D 25. Cybersecurity assessment 4
19D 27. See 26-Across 3
20D 28. Worker who's the subject of the song "Sixteen Tons" 9
21D 29. Cabin choice 9
22D 31. Baby rhino 4
23D 32. Part of the D.O.J. 3
24D 33. So-called "Valley Isle" 4
25D 34. Writer Lowry 4
26D 36. Good marks? 4
27D 37. Egg cream alternatives 7
28D 39. See 54-Across 6
29D 40. Quaint contraction 6
30D 42. Gentlemen, jocularly 5
31D 43. Korean barbecue rib dish 5
32D 44. Greet hospitably at the door 5
33D 45. Dough at a taquerΓ­a 5
34D 46. Servant in "The Handmaid's Tale" 4
35D 48. Beloved, in Italian 4
36D 50. Product with the additive zinc dithiophosphate 3
37D 51. Like the weather in much of Equatorial Guinea 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Crude thing to drop, familiarly"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Westernmost territory of the Netherlands"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a popular island resort in the netherlands antilles
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ARUBA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Board game with resources"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Grandson of Eve"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Many an attachment"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. ___ Carlos Jobim, father of the bossa nova"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Made, as an easy basketball shot"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Longest number writable in standard Roman numerals"

15 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Spy"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the seat within a bishop's diocese where his cathedral is located
  • Similar words include: go steady, realize, catch
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. Use a roller on, as a jacket"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Digital assistant"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. In which opposites attract"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Flashy taekwondo moves"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "14. Cravings"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a yearning for something or to do something
  • Similar words include: pine, languish, ache
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. "All right," folksily"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "23. Super Mario ___"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "24. Eccentric"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that someone regarded as eccentric or crazy and standing out from a group
  • Similar words include: odd fish, odd fellow, queer duck
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: KOOK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "25. Cybersecurity assessment"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune
  • Similar words include: gamble, lay on the line, peril
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RISK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "27. See 26-Across"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that time for earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
  • Similar words include: sidereal day, twenty-four hour period, Clarence Day
  • Opposite of: night
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "28. Worker who's the subject of the song "Sixteen Tons""

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "29. Cabin choice"

9 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "31. Baby rhino"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that young of domestic cattle
  • Similar words include: sura, calfskin
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CALF

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "32. Part of the D.O.J."

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a federal law enforcement agency that is the principal investigative arm of the department of justice
  • Similar words include: Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FBI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "33. So-called "Valley Isle""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the second largest of the hawaiian islands
  • Similar words include: Maui Island
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAUI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "34. Writer Lowry"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "36. Good marks?"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant
  • Similar words include: sap, play out, blackjack
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAPS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "37. Egg cream alternatives"

7 letters πŸ’­ Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a milkshake made with malt powder
  • Similar words include: malted, malted milk, malt
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MALTEDS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "39. See 54-Across"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "40. Quaint contraction"

6 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "42. Gentlemen, jocularly"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that anything that provides inspiration for later work
  • Similar words include: source, microbe, germ
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GERMS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "43. Korean barbecue rib dish"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "44. Greet hospitably at the door"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "45. Dough at a taquerΓ­a"

5 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "46. Servant in "The Handmaid's Tale""

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "48. Beloved, in Italian"

4 letters πŸ’­ Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "50. Product with the additive zinc dithiophosphate"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that standard temperature and pressure
  • Similar words include: s.t.p.
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "51. Like the weather in much of Equatorial Guinea"

3 letters πŸ’­ Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that wetness caused by water
  • Similar words include: blind drunk, loaded, crocked
  • Opposite of: dry
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WET

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

35 Across Clues
37 Down Clues
72 Total Clues

More NYT Crossword Help

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Last updated: January 17, 2026 at 04:06 AM