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Thursday, August 20, 2026

XWordHint Crossword Answers August 20, 2026 | Expert Breakdown & Tips

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

Quick Navigation - Table of Contents

Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Challenging

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

Across Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Sound like heaven 4
2A 5. Game of observation for travel 6
3A 11. Ad free 3
4A 14. Brief in pants 4
5A 15. Correct thoroughly 6
6A 16. Bad feel 3
7A 17. Try to place connoisseurs? 11
8A 19. Cells in compound 3
9A 20. Checks with style 5
10A 21. To cop 3
11A 22. Competition, for starters 5
12A 24. York ___ 5
13A 26. Place recording 6
14A 27. Signals over game 5
15A 29. Maturity approaching 5
16A 31. Crows to relatives 6
17A 32. Free booze 3
18A 33. Confidentiality of letters? 4
19A 37. "Done well" 5
20A 38. Short for "info flight" 3
21A 39. Sponge bath 5
22A 40. Nothing doing 4
23A 41. Say "minus C" 3
24A 42. Set off 6
25A 43. Practice Japanese 5
26A 45. Equal roughly 5
27A 46. Into light 6
28A 49. Nags about noise? 5
29A 51. Land of Spot 5
30A 52. On-off signs 3
31A 53. Lines some over draw 5
32A 57. For repentance some feel 3
33A 58. Details insignificant contests 11
34A 61. Spending limits it 3
35A 62. Forum discussion, popular once 6
36A 63. Cut short 4
37A 64. Rock-___ 3
38A 65. Out with ate, ate, ate 6
39A 66. Website gift custom 4

Across Clues - Strategic Hints

1A: "1. Sound like heaven"

4 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2A: "5. Game of observation for travel"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an overland journey by hunters (especially in africa)
  • Similar words include: hunting expedition, campaign
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAFARI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3A: "11. Ad free"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protein manufactured exclusively by the prostate gland; psa is produced for the ejaculate where it liquifies the semen and allows sperm cells to swim freely; elevated levels of psa in blood serum are associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer
  • Similar words include: prostate specific antigen
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4A: "14. Brief in pants"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5A: "15. Correct thoroughly"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6A: "16. Bad feel"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that aromatic bulb used as seasoning
  • Similar words include: garlic, trouble, pain
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AIL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7A: "17. Try to place connoisseurs?"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8A: "19. Cells in compound"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (biochemistry) a long linear polymer of nucleotides found in the nucleus but mainly in the cytoplasm of a cell where it is associated with microsomes; it transmits genetic information from dna to the cytoplasm and controls certain chemical processes in the cell
  • Similar words include: ribonucleic acid
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RNA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9A: "20. Checks with style"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a cloth having a crisscross design
  • Similar words include: tartan
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PLAID

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10A: "21. To cop"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that have ownership or possession of
  • Similar words include: have, possess, ain
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OWN

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11A: "22. Competition, for starters"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12A: "24. York ___"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13A: "26. Place recording"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that workplace for the teaching or practice of an art
  • Similar words include: studio apartment
  • Opposite of: location
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STUDIO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14A: "27. Signals over game"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it
  • Similar words include: tusk, trump, automobile horn
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HORNS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15A: "29. Maturity approaching"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16A: "31. Crows to relatives"

6 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large black bird with a straight bill and long wedge-shaped tail
  • Similar words include: devour, prey, guttle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAVENS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17A: "32. Free booze"

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a reformer who opposes the use of intoxicating beverages
  • Similar words include: wry, prohibitionist, teetotal
  • Opposite of: wet, sweet
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18A: "33. Confidentiality of letters?"

4 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19A: "37. "Done well""

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed
  • Similar words include: assassin, assassinator
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BRAVO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20A: "38. Short for "info flight""

3 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a terrorist organization organized in 1959 by student activists who were dissatisfied with the moderate nationalism of the traditional basque party; want to create an independent homeland in spain's western pyrenees
  • Similar words include: Euskadi ta Askatasuna, Basque Fatherland and Liberty, Basque Homeland and Freedom
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21A: "39. Sponge bath"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the dried fibrous part of the fruit of a plant of the genus luffa; used as a washing sponge or strainer
  • Similar words include: loofah, loufah sponge, luffa
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOFA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22A: "40. Nothing doing"

4 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling
  • Similar words include: stagnate, dead, groundless
  • Opposite of: run, work
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IDLE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23A: "41. Say "minus C""

3 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24A: "42. Set off"

6 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that bear the expenses of
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DEFRAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25A: "43. Practice Japanese"

5 letters Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26A: "45. Equal roughly"

5 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27A: "46. Into light"

6 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28A: "49. Nags about noise?"

5 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the characteristic sounds made by a horse
  • Similar words include: nicker, whinny, whicker
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NEIGH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29A: "51. Land of Spot"

5 letters Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small island
  • Similar words include: isle
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ISLET

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30A: "52. On-off signs"

3 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a state in south central united states
  • Similar words include: okeh, Oklahoma, Sooner State
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OKS

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31A: "53. Lines some over draw"

5 letters Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a just detectable amount
  • Similar words include: decipher, hint, hunt
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRACE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

32A: "57. For repentance some feel"

3 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that european strong-scented perennial herb with grey-green bitter-tasting leaves; an irritant similar to poison ivy
  • Similar words include: repent, regret, sorrow
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RUE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33A: "58. Details insignificant contests"

11 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34A: "61. Spending limits it"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a tight-fitting headdress
  • Similar words include: hood, detonator, capital
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35A: "62. Forum discussion, popular once"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36A: "63. Cut short"

4 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a small piece of anything (especially a piece that has been snipped off)
  • Similar words include: nip off, clip, snippet
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SNIP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37A: "64. Rock-___"

3 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object)
  • Similar words include: EL, altitude, elevation
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38A: "65. Out with ate, ate, ate"

6 letters Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that live like a pig, in squalor
  • Similar words include: farrow, devour, guttle
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIGGED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39A: "66. Website gift custom"

4 letters Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

Down Clues - Complete List

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. URL starter 4
2D 2. Asian sea currently undergoing replenishment efforts 4
3D 3. Civil rights icon Parks 4
4D 4. Shift the gears of, in a way ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues 12
5D 5. ID in some data breaches 3
6D 6. Elite H.S. class covering the Constitution 5
7D 7. Visionary ... or what you'll need to return to when solving this puzzle's Down clues 15
8D 8. Loads 4
9D 9. Babe in the Hundred Acre Wood 3
10D 10. One advocated for by the National Prison Project 6
11D 11. Whittled (down) 5
12D 12. Biblical mount 5
13D 13. It's worth remembering! 5
14D 18. "No idea" 6
15D 23. Distinctive expression ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues 12
16D 25. Feature of San Francisco's Lombard Street 3
17D 26. Mole, e.g. 3
18D 27. Firm 4
19D 28. Like many cricket fields 4
20D 30. Plan to contribute to, for short 3
21D 31. One of 1,909 for Willie Mays, for short 3
22D 34. "___ the Explorer" 4
23D 35. Some distance away 4
24D 36. Declare 3
25D 38. "Oh no! A mouse!" 3
26D 39. What the second number indicates in men's jeans sizes 6
27D 41. Univ. with an annual Mystery Hunt 3
28D 42. Eager response to "Wanna join?" 3
29D 44. Goes nuts for 6
30D 46. Around 5
31D 47. Garden-variety 5
32D 48. Wasn't paying attention 5
33D 50. Lauder of cosmetics 5
34D 52. Designer Cassini 4
35D 54. "I don't really care / If ya think I'm strange / I ___ gonna change": Joan Jett 4
36D 55. N.F.L. commentator Collinsworth 4
37D 56. Arthur Ashe Courage Award, e.g. 4
38D 59. Letter after chi 3
39D 60. The "S" of E.S.T.: Abbr. 3

Down Clues - Strategic Hints

1D: "1. URL starter"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a protocol (utilizing tcp) to transfer hypertext requests and information between servers and browsers
  • Similar words include: hypertext transfer protocol
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HTTP

Remember this word for future puzzles!

2D: "2. Asian sea currently undergoing replenishment efforts"

4 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

3D: "3. Civil rights icon Parks"

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that large genus of erect or climbing prickly shrubs including roses
  • Similar words include: genus Rosa
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROSA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

4D: "4. Shift the gears of, in a way ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues"

12 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

5D: "5. ID in some data breaches"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

6D: "6. Elite H.S. class covering the Constitution"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

7D: "7. Visionary ... or what you'll need to return to when solving this puzzle's Down clues"

15 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

8D: "8. Loads"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the sun (or solar disc) which was the deity of a monotheistic cult under the pharaoh akhenaten
  • Similar words include: Aten
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATON

Remember this word for future puzzles!

9D: "9. Babe in the Hundred Acre Wood"

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

10D: "10. One advocated for by the National Prison Project"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that one of several resident of a dwelling (especially someone confined to a prison or hospital)
  • Similar words include: yard bird, yardbird, convict
  • Opposite of: outpatient
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: INMATE

Remember this word for future puzzles!

11D: "11. Whittled (down)"

5 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that decrease gradually or bit by bit
  • Similar words include: whittle, peel, trim
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PARED

Remember this word for future puzzles!

12D: "12. Biblical mount"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a mountain peak in the southern sinai peninsula (7,500 feet high); it is believed to be the peak on which moses received the ten commandments
  • Similar words include: Sinai Peninsula, Mount Sinai, Sinai Desert
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SINAI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

13D: "13. It's worth remembering!"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a siege and massacre at a mission in san antonio in 1836; mexican forces under santa anna besieged and massacred american rebels who were fighting to make texas independent of mexico
  • Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALAMO

Remember this word for future puzzles!

14D: "18. "No idea""

6 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

15D: "23. Distinctive expression ... or a hint to this puzzle's Across clues"

12 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

16D: "25. Feature of San Francisco's Lombard Street"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

17D: "26. Mole, e.g."

3 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors
  • Similar words include: descry, undercover agent, spot
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

18D: "27. Firm"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
  • Similar words include: knockout, heavy, difficult
  • Opposite of: soft, easy
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HARD

Remember this word for future puzzles!

19D: "28. Like many cricket fields"

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it
  • Similar words include: ovate, ellipse, prolate
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OVAL

Remember this word for future puzzles!

20D: "30. Plan to contribute to, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a militant organization of irish nationalists who used terrorism and guerilla warfare in an effort to drive british forces from northern ireland and achieve a united independent ireland
  • Similar words include: Provisional IRA, Irish Republican Army, wrath
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRA

Remember this word for future puzzles!

21D: "31. One of 1,909 for Willie Mays, for short"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a run that is the result of the batter's performance
  • Similar words include: run batted in
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RBI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

22D: "34. "___ the Explorer""

4 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

23D: "35. Some distance away"

4 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that (old-fashioned) at or from or to a great distance; far
  • Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFAR

Remember this word for future puzzles!

24D: "36. Declare"

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the chance to speak
  • Similar words include: pronounce, articulate, aver
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAY

Remember this word for future puzzles!

25D: "38. "Oh no! A mouse!""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

26D: "39. What the second number indicates in men's jeans sizes"

6 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
  • Similar words include: distance, duration
  • Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENGTH

Remember this word for future puzzles!

27D: "41. Univ. with an annual Mystery Hunt"

3 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that an engineering university in cambridge
  • Similar words include: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MIT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

28D: "42. Eager response to "Wanna join?""

3 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that the united states federal department charged with conservation and the development of natural resources; created in 1849
  • Similar words include: Interior, Interior Department, Department of the Interior
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DOI

Remember this word for future puzzles!

29D: "44. Goes nuts for"

6 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

30D: "46. Around"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

31D: "47. Garden-variety"

5 letters 💭 Category: Common Word

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!

32D: "48. Wasn't paying attention"

5 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that be able to accommodate for sleeping
  • Similar words include: sleep, log Z's, catch some Z's
  • Opposite of: wake
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLEPT

Remember this word for future puzzles!

33D: "50. Lauder of cosmetics"

5 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

34D: "52. Designer Cassini"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

35D: "54. "I don't really care / If ya think I'm strange / I ___ gonna change": Joan Jett"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

36D: "55. N.F.L. commentator Collinsworth"

4 letters 💭 Category: Proper Noun

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

37D: "56. Arthur Ashe Courage Award, e.g."

4 letters 💭 Category: General Knowledge

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

38D: "59. Letter after chi"

3 letters 💭 Category: Wordplay

Solving Hints:

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

Remember this word for future puzzles!

39D: "60. The "S" of E.S.T.: Abbr."

3 letters 💭 Category: Abbreviation

Solving Hints:

  • Think of something that a communicable infection transmitted by sexual intercourse or genital contact
  • Similar words include: venereal infection, dose, sexually transmitted disease
  • Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STD

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

39 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
78 Total Clues

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Last updated: August 20, 2026 at 04:04 AM

Saturday, September 27, 2025

January 18, 2020 NYT Clues Solutions | XWordHint

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Puzzle Overview & Difficulty Analysis

Date: Saturday, January 18, 2020

Difficulty Level: Moderate Wednesday Puzzle

Total Clues: 64 (32 Across, 32 Down)

Average Word Length: 5.9 letters

January 18, 2020 Saturday NYT - Complete Across Solutions

No. Clue Letters
1A 1. Careless 8
2A 9. Indicator of interest on Match.com 4
3A 13. Some naturally heated pools 9
4A 15. Home of about 10% of the world's oil reserves 4
5A 16. Winter carnival spectacles 10
6A 18. Lipstick shade 4
7A 19. Party person, briefly 3
8A 20. Do some showing off with one's bike 11
9A 22. Pair at the altar 4
10A 24. Self-described "bluesologist" ___ Scott-Heron 3
11A 25. Gets in deep? 6
12A 26. Green people 7
13A 28. ___ monster 4
14A 29. Attached, as a hook 6
15A 30. Preventing cyberclutter 8
16A 34. Like bygone days 5
17A 35. Relative of slate 9
18A 36. "That stings!" 3
19A 37. Opening for a Mughal masterwork 3
20A 38. Husbands one's resources 6
21A 39. Noel abroad 7
22A 42. Huffs 5
23A 43. Canadian hockey great Eric 7
24A 45. "Arbitrage" star, 2012 4
25A 46. Site of many pitches 11
26A 50. ___ jokes 3
27A 51. Dalmatian, for one 5
28A 52. Show some moves on the dance floor 8
29A 54. Shaded area 5
30A 55. Deerstalker feature 7
31A 56. Checkered things 5
32A 57. Got in a lather 6

Let's Solve the Across Clues Together!

Here are helpful hints to solve each clue. Remember, crossword puzzles are like word games - have fun with them!

Clue 1 Across: "1. Careless"

Quick Info: This answer has 8 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that marked by great carelessness
  • Words that mean the same thing: haphazard, slapdash, sloppy
  • The word looks like this: ________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SLIPSHOD

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 2 Across: "9. Indicator of interest on Match.com"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat)
  • Words that mean the same thing: nictitation, twinkling, winking
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: WINK

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 3 Across: "13. Some naturally heated pools"

Quick Info: This answer has 9 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: LAVALAKES

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 4 Across: "15. Home of about 10% of the world's oil reserves"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a theocratic islamic republic in the middle east in western asia; iran was the core of the ancient empire that was known as persia until 1935; rich in oil
  • Words that mean the same thing: Islamic Republic of Iran, Persia
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: IRAN

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 5 Across: "16. Winter carnival spectacles"

Quick Info: This answer has 10 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: __________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: ICEPALACES

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 6 Across: "18. Lipstick shade"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a painting of a naked human figure
  • Words that mean the same thing: naked, bare, nude painting
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: NUDE

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 7 Across: "19. Party person, briefly"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a easy clue about abbreviation.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: DEM

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 8 Across: "20. Do some showing off with one's bike"

Quick Info: This answer has 11 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: POPAWHEELIE

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 9 Across: "22. Pair at the altar"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that an artificial language that is a revision and simplification of esperanto
  • Words that mean the same thing: Ido
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: IDOS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 10 Across: "24. Self-described "bluesologist" ___ Scott-Heron"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a medium clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: GIL

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 11 Across: "25. Gets in deep?"

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that place in a grave or tomb
  • Words that mean the same thing: inhume, lay to rest, entomb
  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: INTERS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 12 Across: "26. Green people"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that someone who has entered a religious order but has not taken final vows
  • Words that mean the same thing: novice, novitiate, tiro
  • The word looks like this: _______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: NOVICES

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 13 Across: "28. ___ monster"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a river that rises in western new mexico and flows westward through southern arizona to become a tributary of the colorado river
  • Words that mean the same thing: Gila River
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: GILA

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 14 Across: "29. Attached, as a hook"

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: TIEDON

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 15 Across: "30. Preventing cyberclutter"

Quick Info: This answer has 8 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: ANTISPAM

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 16 Across: "34. Like bygone days"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: OLDEN

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 17 Across: "35. Relative of slate"

Quick Info: This answer has 9 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that bluish-grey sandstone used for paving and building
  • The word looks like this: _________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: BLUESTONE

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 18 Across: "36. "That stings!""

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a easy clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: YOW

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 19 Across: "37. Opening for a Mughal masterwork"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a medium clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: TAJ

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 20 Across: "38. Husbands one's resources"

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that an unbroken period of time during which you do something
  • Words that mean the same thing: stretch, least sandpiper, scant
  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: STINTS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 21 Across: "39. Noel abroad"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: NAVIDAD

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 22 Across: "42. Huffs"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a easy clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a state of agitated irritation
  • Words that mean the same thing: snit
  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SNITS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 23 Across: "43. Canadian hockey great Eric"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: LINDROS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 24 Across: "45. "Arbitrage" star, 2012"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about celebrity/entertainment.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: GERE

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 25 Across: "46. Site of many pitches"

Quick Info: This answer has 11 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: KICKSTARTER

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 26 Across: "50. ___ jokes"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a easy clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that an informal term for a father; probably derived from baby talk
  • Words that mean the same thing: pappa, dada, pop
  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: DAD

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 27 Across: "51. Dalmatian, for one"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a member of the slavic people living in croatia
  • Words that mean the same thing: Croatian
  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: CROAT

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 28 Across: "52. Show some moves on the dance floor"

Quick Info: This answer has 8 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: TEARITUP

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 29 Across: "54. Shaded area"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a region of complete shadow resulting from total obstruction of light
  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: UMBRA

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 30 Across: "55. Deerstalker feature"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that one of two flaps attached to a cap to keep the ears warm
  • Words that mean the same thing: earlap
  • The word looks like this: _______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: EARFLAP

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 31 Across: "56. Checkered things"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that the time that has elapsed
  • Words that mean the same thing: past times, past tense, yesteryear
  • The opposite would be: future
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: PASTS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 32 Across: "57. Got in a lather"

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that wash in suds
  • Words that mean the same thing: spume, froth, suds
  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SUDSED

    Great job if you got it right!

Down Clues Decoded - Saturday NYT Crossword January 18, 2020

No. Clue Letters
1D 1. Reached feetfirst 8
2D 2. Part of a fancy place setting 9
3D 3. Post-breakup declaration 10
4D 4. It's not hard to swallow 3
5D 5. Sharp rebuff 4
6D 6. Chlorine, for one 7
7D 7. So-called "African unicorns" 6
8D 8. Stick-on 5
9D 9. Leisure activity for which you need glasses 11
10D 10. "Winner winner chicken dinner!" 5
11D 11. Things can only get better from here 5
12D 12. Mini/midi midpoint 5
13D 14. Baste, e.g. 3
14D 17. Majority of 15-Across 7
15D 21. Joins up 7
16D 23. Pieces of chalk? 11
17D 27. Flimflammer 3
18D 28. Old World grazer 3
19D 30. R&B/soul singer with the 1981 hit album "Breakin' Away" 9
20D 31. Settled a debt, informally 8
21D 32. Contraption that might have honey and borax 7
22D 33. Tinkered (with) 6
23D 35. "Emergency calls" may save you from them 8
24D 37. Shade 4
25D 40. Things that get overlooked? 6
26D 41. Senile sort 6
27D 44. Lord's workers 5
28D 46. Single-serve coffee holder 4
29D 47. ___ Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans 4
30D 48. Cookout discards 4
31D 49. Tick off 4
32D 53. Shade 3

Now Let's Solve the Down Clues!

Down clues go from top to bottom. Use the letters from your across answers to help!

Clue 1 Down: "1. Reached feetfirst"

Quick Info: This answer has 8 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SLIDINTO

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 2 Down: "2. Part of a fancy place setting"

Quick Info: This answer has 9 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: LACEDOILY

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 3 Down: "3. Post-breakup declaration"

Quick Info: This answer has 10 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: __________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: IVEMOVEDON

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 4 Down: "4. It's not hard to swallow"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a medium clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that worthless or oversimplified ideas
  • Words that mean the same thing: spoon food, nipple, mamilla
  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: PAP

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 5 Down: "5. Sharp rebuff"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a blow from a flat object (as an open hand)
  • Words that mean the same thing: smacking, smack, bolt
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SLAP

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 6 Down: "6. Chlorine, for one"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that any of five related nonmetallic elements (fluorine or chlorine or bromine or iodine or astatine) that are all monovalent and readily form negative ions
  • The word looks like this: _______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: HALOGEN

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 7 Down: "7. So-called "African unicorns""

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that similar to the giraffe but smaller with much shorter neck and stripe on the legs
  • Words that mean the same thing: Okapia johnstoni, okapi
  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: OKAPIS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 8 Down: "8. Stick-on"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a easy clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that either a design that is fixed to some surface or a paper bearing the design which is to be transferred to the surface
  • Words that mean the same thing: decalcomania
  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: DECAL

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 9 Down: "9. Leisure activity for which you need glasses"

Quick Info: This answer has 11 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: WINETASTING

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 10 Down: "10. "Winner winner chicken dinner!""

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: IRULE

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 11 Down: "11. Things can only get better from here"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that an extreme state of adversity; the lowest point of anything
  • Words that mean the same thing: low-water mark
  • The opposite would be: zenith
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: NADIR

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 12 Down: "12. Mini/midi midpoint"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
  • Words that mean the same thing: knee joint, knee, articulatio genus
  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: KNEES

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 13 Down: "14. Baste, e.g."

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a easy clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that fasten by sewing; do needlework
  • Words that mean the same thing: tailor-make, sew together, stitch
  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SEW

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 14 Down: "17. Majority of 15-Across"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a member of the branch of islam that regards ali as the legitimate successor to mohammed and rejects the first three caliphs
  • Words that mean the same thing: Shiite, Shi'ite, Shi'ite Muslim
  • The word looks like this: _______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SHIITES

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 15 Down: "21. Joins up"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that join the military
  • Words that mean the same thing: engage, muster in, draft
  • The opposite would be: discharge
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: ENLISTS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 16 Down: "23. Pieces of chalk?"

Quick Info: This answer has 11 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ___________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SIDEWALKART

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 17 Down: "27. Flimflammer"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a easy clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that an argument opposed to a proposal
  • Words that mean the same thing: memorize, yardbird, hornswoggle
  • The opposite would be: pro
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: CON

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 18 Down: "28. Old World grazer"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a easy clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that large african antelope having a head with horns like an ox and a long tufted tail
  • Words that mean the same thing: wildebeest
  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: GNU

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 19 Down: "30. R&B/soul singer with the 1981 hit album "Breakin' Away""

Quick Info: This answer has 9 letters. It's a expert clue about celebrity/entertainment.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: ALJARREAU

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 20 Down: "31. Settled a debt, informally"

Quick Info: This answer has 8 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: PONIEDUP

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 21 Down: "32. Contraption that might have honey and borax"

Quick Info: This answer has 7 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: _______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: ANTTRAP

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 22 Down: "33. Tinkered (with)"

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that eat in a mess hall
  • Words that mean the same thing: mess up, mess
  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: MESSED

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 23 Down: "35. "Emergency calls" may save you from them"

Quick Info: This answer has 8 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ________
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: BADDATES

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 24 Down: "37. Shade"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a easy clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color
  • Words that mean the same thing: tone, tinge, touch
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: TINT

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 25 Down: "40. Things that get overlooked?"

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a expert clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that the visual percept of a region
  • Words that mean the same thing: scene, aspect, view
  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: VISTAS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 26 Down: "41. Senile sort"

Quick Info: This answer has 6 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that an oldster in his dotage; someone whose age has impaired his intellect
  • The word looks like this: ______
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: DOTARD

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 27 Down: "44. Lord's workers"

Quick Info: This answer has 5 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that (middle ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord
  • Words that mean the same thing: villein, serf, helot
  • The word looks like this: _____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: SERFS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 28 Down: "46. Single-serve coffee holder"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: KCUP

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 29 Down: "47. ___ Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a hard clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: IRMA

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 30 Down: "48. Cookout discards"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that nut of any of several trees of the genus corylus
  • Words that mean the same thing: black-backed gull, hazelnut, Larus marinus
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: COBS

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 31 Down: "49. Tick off"

Quick Info: This answer has 4 letters. It's a medium clue about general knowledge.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations
  • Words that mean the same thing: annoy, chafe, get to
  • The word looks like this: ____
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: RILE

    Great job if you got it right!

Clue 32 Down: "53. Shade"

Quick Info: This answer has 3 letters. It's a easy clue about short answer.

Here's how to solve it:

  • This could be something that a slight amount or degree of difference
  • Words that mean the same thing: shade
  • The word looks like this: ___
  • Still stuck? Remember to use the crossing words to help you!
  • Ready for the answer? Click here!

    The answer is: TAD

    Great job if you got it right!

Category Breakdown

Category Number of Clues Percentage
General Knowledge 52 81.2%
Short Answer 9 14.1%
Celebrity/Entertainment 2 3.1%
Abbreviation 1 1.6%

Complete Puzzle Statistics

Metric Value
Across Clues 32
Down Clues 32
Total Clues 64
Average Answer Length 5.9 letters
Shortest Answer 3 letters
Longest Answer 11 letters

Fun Tips to Solve Crossword Puzzles!

  • Start with short words first - they're usually easier!
  • Look for clues with blanks to fill in - these are like fill-in-the-blank questions at school
  • When letters cross, they must be the same in both words - this helps you check if you're right!
  • Today is Saturday, and these puzzles are usually moderate level
  • Most clues today are about general knowledge
  • The average word today has about 5 letters
  • Remember: It's okay to take breaks and come back later with fresh eyes!
  • Ask someone for help if you need it - crosswords are more fun with friends!

Explore more crossword solutions and helpful guides to improve your solving skills:

Disclaimer: Crossword clues are property of The New York Times. This educational content is designed to help puzzle enthusiasts improve their solving skills.

Last Updated: September 27, 2025 at 03:37 PM