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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

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
42 Down Clues
79 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 05, 2026 at 06:01 AM

Thursday, January 22, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers January 22, 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. Purchase of ice cream or cream ale 4
2A 5. Cognac label letters 4
3A 9. Escapade 5
4A 14. Goddess depicted with cow's horns 4
5A 15. "Hey, look who's here!" 4
6A 16. Film without much wardrobe, informally 5
7A 17. Watch sound 4
8A 18. Happens 11
9A 20. Left in 7
10A 22. Ingredient in a zombie 3
11A 23. Late ___ 3
12A 24. Anxious 5
13A 25. Francis Ford Coppola's alma mater, for short 4
14A 26. Org. that watches television 3
15A 27. Tackling the task at hand 11
16A 31. Dump 3
17A 32. Unceasingly 5
18A 33. Hotel room coolers, for short 3
19A 34. Band with the 2008 platinum single "Electric Feel" 4
20A 35. Cut (in) 4
21A 38. Flabbergasted feeling 3
22A 40. Prefix meaning "heavens," as the name of a planet suggests 5
23A 42. Low 3
24A 45. Result of missing the boat 15
25A 49. Activist who was Time's 1963 Man of the Year, familiarly 3
26A 50. Sweeping 4
27A 51. Seth of Apple TV's "Platonic" 5
28A 52. Furious feeling 3
29A 53. Rescue squad pro 3
30A 54. Country whose seven-letter name can be spelled using only one-point Scrabble tiles 7
31A 56. Striking through 7
32A 59. "___ what I'm talkin' 'bout!" 4
33A 60. Standard 5
34A 61. Lead-in to -drome 4
35A 62. Oversupply 4
36A 63. Full of energy 5
37A 64. ___ Mix 4
38A 65. Catch a glimpse of 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Purchase of ice cream or cream ale"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a british imperial capacity measure (liquid or dry) equal to 4 gills or 568.26 cubic centimeters
  • Similar words include: dry pint
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PINT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Cognac label letters"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "9. Escapade"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement
  • Similar words include: clown, caper, put-on
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Goddess depicted with cow's horns"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that egyptian goddess of fertility; daughter of geb; sister and wife of osiris
  • Similar words include: Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI, Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISIS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. "Hey, look who's here!""

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Film without much wardrobe, informally"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire
  • Similar words include: porn, erotica, smut
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PORNO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Watch sound"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a metallic tapping sound
  • Similar words include: ticktock, check, ticking
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TICK

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "18. Happens"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Left in"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that printing: cancel, as of a correction or deletion
  • Similar words include: stet
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STETTED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "22. Ingredient in a zombie"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that liquor distilled from fermented molasses
  • Similar words include: odd, funny, curious
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "23. Late ___"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services
  • Similar words include: tip, bung
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FEE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. Anxious"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that nervous and unable to relax
  • Similar words include: fretful, itchy, fidgety
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANTSY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "25. Francis Ford Coppola's alma mater, for short"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "26. Org. that watches television"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an independent government agency that regulates interstate and international communications by radio and television and wire and cable and satellite
  • Similar words include: Federal Communications Commission
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FCC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "27. Tackling the task at hand"

11 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Dump"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Unceasingly"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "33. Hotel room coolers, for short"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a radioactive element of the actinide series; found in uranium ores
  • Similar words include: alternating electric current, Ac, atomic number 89
  • Opposite of: direct current
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "34. Band with the 2008 platinum single "Electric Feel""

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "35. Cut (in)"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "38. Flabbergasted feeling"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Prefix meaning "heavens," as the name of a planet suggests"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "42. Low"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; ; - christina rossetti
  • Similar words include: sorry, deplorable, pitiful
  • Opposite of: glad
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "45. Result of missing the boat"

15 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "49. Activist who was Time's 1963 Man of the Year, familiarly"

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "50. Sweeping"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; - w.r.inge
  • Similar words include: immense, huge, Brobdingnagian
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: VAST

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "51. Seth of Apple TV's "Platonic""

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "52. Furious feeling"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance
  • Similar words include: wrath, anger, ira
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "53. Rescue squad pro"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "54. Country whose seven-letter name can be spelled using only one-point Scrabble tiles"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a republic in northeastern europe on the baltic sea
  • Similar words include: Republic of Estonia, Esthonia
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESTONIA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "56. Striking through"

7 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "59. "___ what I'm talkin' 'bout!""

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a digital tape recording of sound
  • Similar words include: digital audiotape, DAT
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DATS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "60. Standard"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure
  • Similar words include: common
  • Opposite of: unusual
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: USUAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "61. Lead-in to -drome"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "62. Oversupply"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the quality of being so overabundant that prices fall
  • Similar words include: satiate, overeat, scarf out
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GLUT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "63. Full of energy"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that marked by lively action
  • Similar words include: spirited, bouncing, bouncy
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PEPPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "64. ___ Mix"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sound made by a cat (or any sound resembling this)
  • Similar words include: miaul, miaow, mew
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MEOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "65. Catch a glimpse of"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that catch sight of
  • Similar words include: spot, spy, descry
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Tools requiring two people 7
2D 2. "Am I wrong about that?" 7
3D 3. "Please, I know better than that" 7
4D 4. "You know better than that" 6
5D 5. Sotto ___ 4
6D 6. Sporting flats, say 4
7D 7. Omega, in physics 3
8D 8. Approximately 84% of American women have at least one 10
9D 9. Early ancestor 6
10D 10. (The) OK 3
11D 11. With 42-Down, they tell you when to stop and go ... as seen in this puzzle's theme 7
12D 12. Bees, but not birds 7
13D 13. Trig ratio 5
14D 19. Kick butt, so to speak 4
15D 21. Like a run that sends the game into extra innings, say 5
16D 25. Buffet table item 3
17D 28. ___ de plume 3
18D 29. Increase one's intensity 10
19D 30. "Hard pass" 3
20D 34. Mal de ___ 3
21D 36. Channel with the longtime slogan "We Know Drama" 3
22D 37. Legal setting 5
23D 38. 37-Down order 7
24D 39. Roused 7
25D 41. Turn to mush, maybe 3
26D 42. See 11-Down 7
27D 43. Loved every second 7
28D 44. The New York Islanders in the early 1980s, e.g. 7
29D 46. Early pop music's ___ Brothers 6
30D 47. Honorific title 4
31D 48. Pestering type 6
32D 49. Minor snafu 5
33D 54. Mark's successor 4
34D 55. Put away 4
35D 57. Space between here and there 3
36D 58. French word between two surnames 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. Tools requiring two people"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large two-handed saw formerly used to cut logs into planks; one man stood above the log and the other in a pit below
  • Similar words include: pitsaw
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PITSAWS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. "Am I wrong about that?""

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. "Please, I know better than that""

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. "You know better than that""

6 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. Sotto ___"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Sporting flats, say"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that furnish with shoes
  • Similar words include: shoed, shoe, calced
  • Opposite of: unshod, discalced
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHOD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Omega, in physics"

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a unit of electrical resistance equal to the resistance between two points on a conductor when a potential difference of one volt between them produces a current of one ampere
  • Similar words include: Georg Simon Ohm
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OHM

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Approximately 84% of American women have at least one"

10 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Early ancestor"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. (The) OK"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sign of assent or salutation or command
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. With 42-Down, they tell you when to stop and go ... as seen in this puzzle's theme"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the aggregation of things (pedestrians or vehicles) coming and going in a particular locality during a specified period of time
  • Similar words include: dealings
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRAFFIC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Bees, but not birds"

7 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that small air-breathing arthropod
  • Similar words include: dirt ball, insect, worm
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INSECTS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. Trig ratio"

5 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that ratio of the hypotenuse to the opposite side of a right-angled triangle
  • Similar words include: cosecant
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COSEC

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "19. Kick butt, so to speak"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior
  • Similar words include: prescript, formula, harness
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RULE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "21. Like a run that sends the game into extra innings, say"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the act of tying or binding things together
  • Similar words include: draw, bind, connect
  • Opposite of: untie, disconnect
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TYING

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Buffet table item"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a large vase that usually has a pedestal or feet
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: URN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "28. ___ de plume"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "29. Increase one's intensity"

10 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "30. "Hard pass""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "34. Mal de ___"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that denoting a quantity consisting of 1,000 items or units
  • Similar words include: one thousand, thousand, m
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MER

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "36. Channel with the longtime slogan "We Know Drama""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "37. Legal setting"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
  • Similar words include: lawcourt, judicature, courtyard
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COURT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "38. 37-Down order"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "39. Roused"

7 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "41. Turn to mush, maybe"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
  • Similar words include: buncombe, guff, moulder
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "42. See 11-Down"

7 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
  • Similar words include: signal, point, signaling
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIGNALS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "43. Loved every second"

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "44. The New York Islanders in the early 1980s, e.g."

7 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family
  • Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DYNASTY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "46. Early pop music's ___ Brothers"

6 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "47. Honorific title"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that informal terms for a (young) woman
  • Similar words include: chick, ma'am, madam
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAME

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "48. Pestering type"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32D: "49. Minor snafu"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "54. Mark's successor"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the basic monetary unit of most members of the european union (introduced in 1999); in 2002 twelve european nations (germany, france, belgium, luxembourg, the netherlands, italy, spain, portugal, ireland, greece, austria, finland) adopted the euro as their basic unit of money and abandoned their traditional currencies
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EURO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "55. Put away"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that fill by packing tightly
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STOW

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "57. Space between here and there"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "58. French word between two surnames"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (meaning literally `born') used to indicate the maiden or family name of a married woman
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEE

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

38 Across Clues
36 Down Clues
74 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: January 22, 2026 at 04:32 AM