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
- Across Clues Table (29 clues)
- Across Clues - Detailed Hints
- Down Clues Table (39 clues)
- Down Clues - Detailed Hints
- Expert Solving Strategies
- Today's Puzzle Statistics
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. "How telling" | 12 |
| 2A | 13. Rued remark? | 13 |
| 3A | 14. Question to one who's down | 14 |
| 4A | 15. There's a Black, White and Red one | 3 |
| 5A | 16. "Such a blast!" | 5 |
| 6A | 17. Buff bros | 5 |
| 7A | 18. Maintained, as a position | 4 |
| 8A | 20. Part of E.S.T.: Abbr. | 3 |
| 9A | 21. Downed | 3 |
| 10A | 22. They have sticking points in competition | 5 |
| 11A | 24. Some gaming centers, in brief | 3 |
| 12A | 25. "Darn it!" | 3 |
| 13A | 28. Arboreal symbol in Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" | 10 |
| 14A | 32. Fulfill ... or fill | 4 |
| 15A | 33. Give a very wide berth | 15 |
| 16A | 35. Heading in a wine list | 4 |
| 17A | 36. A significant accomplishment | 10 |
| 18A | 37. House and Howser: Abbr. | 3 |
| 19A | 38. ___-eared | 3 |
| 20A | 39. Figures in a speed trap? | 5 |
| 21A | 40. Something most people have memorized | 3 |
| 22A | 41. Iowa college | 3 |
| 23A | 44. Writer of "Esmé" and "The Open Window" | 4 |
| 24A | 45. Not a good way to run? | 5 |
| 25A | 48. Old Syrian political party whose name means "resurrection" | 5 |
| 26A | 50. X | 3 |
| 27A | 51. Flip remark? | 14 |
| 28A | 54. "Saturday Night Live" features that aren't live | 13 |
| 29A | 55. Term for an ambiguously worded news headline | 12 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. "How telling""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THATSAYSALOT
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2A: "13. Rued remark?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHATHAVEIDONE
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3A: "14. Question to one who's down"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHYTHELONGFACE
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4A: "15. There's a Black, White and Red one"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
- Similar words include: ocean
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SEA
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5A: "16. "Such a blast!""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOFUN
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6A: "17. Buff bros"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HEMEN
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7A: "18. Maintained, as a position"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,
- Similar words include: check, make, keep
- Opposite of: let go of, disagree
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HELD
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8A: "20. Part of E.S.T.: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a communicable infection transmitted by sexual intercourse or genital contact
- Similar words include: venereal disease, Doctor of Sacred Theology, Cupid's itch
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STD
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9A: "21. Downed"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment
- Similar words include: deplete, feed, eat
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATE
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10A: "22. They have sticking points in competition"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a fencing sword similar to a foil but with a heavier blade
- Similar words include: epee
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EPEES
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11A: "24. Some gaming centers, in brief"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a small digital computer based on a microprocessor and designed to be used by one person at a time
- Similar words include: personal computer, PC, microcomputer
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PCS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12A: "25. "Darn it!""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
- Similar words include: military man, world, adult male
- Opposite of: civilian, woman
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MAN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13A: "28. Arboreal symbol in Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: POPLARTREE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14A: "32. Fulfill ... or fill"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that fill to satisfaction
- Similar words include: fill, replete, satiate
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SATE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "33. Give a very wide berth"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVOIDATALLCOSTS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "35. Heading in a wine list"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
- Similar words include: loss, redness, bolshie
- Opposite of: gain
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: REDS
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17A: "36. A significant accomplishment"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NOMEANFEAT
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18A: "37. House and Howser: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DRS
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19A: "38. ___-eared"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that cut off from a whole
- Similar words include: dress, cut back, snip
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20A: "39. Figures in a speed trap?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a lawman concerned with narcotics violations
- Similar words include: narc, narcotics agent, nark
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NARCS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "40. Something most people have memorized"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a piece of jewelry that is pinned onto the wearer's garment
- Similar words include: peg, rowlock, oarlock
- Opposite of: unpin
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PIN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22A: "41. Iowa college"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COE
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23A: "44. Writer of "Esmé" and "The Open Window""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that british writer of short stories (1870-1916)
- Similar words include: rice beer, Munro, H. H. Munro
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAKI
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "45. Not a good way to run?"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that especially of a ship's lines etc
- Similar words include: fouled, foul
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AFOUL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "48. Old Syrian political party whose name means "resurrection""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAATH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26A: "50. X"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
- Similar words include: decade, ten-spot, 10
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27A: "51. Flip remark?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CALLITINTHEAIR
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28A: "54. "Saturday Night Live" features that aren't live"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DIGITALSHORTS
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29A: "55. Term for an ambiguously worded news headline"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CRASHBLOSSOM
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Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Your of yore | 3 |
| 2D | 2. They're tipped out of respect | 4 |
| 3D | 3. Alexandre Dumas's Count de la Fère | 5 |
| 4D | 4. It's a steal! | 5 |
| 5D | 5. Spanish blessing | 5 |
| 6D | 6. Big publisher of romance novels | 4 |
| 7D | 7. Hunger | 3 |
| 8D | 8. Aiming mechanisms on bows | 6 |
| 9D | 9. Plug amount | 5 |
| 10D | 10. Moldable soil | 4 |
| 11D | 11. At some time | 4 |
| 12D | 12. ___ idol | 4 |
| 13D | 13. Groups studied by cetologists | 9 |
| 14D | 14. Become inconsolable about | 8 |
| 15D | 15. "True West" playwright Sam | 7 |
| 16D | 19. Providers of chops and chips | 5 |
| 17D | 21. Line running roughly parallel to Interstate 95 | 5 |
| 18D | 23. Disconsolate | 3 |
| 19D | 24. "The King of Football" | 4 |
| 20D | 25. Cars with a trident logo | 9 |
| 21D | 26. Person playing forward | 8 |
| 22D | 27. Calls home, as a bird might | 7 |
| 23D | 29. Gabbed, gabbed, gabbed | 5 |
| 24D | 30. Car roof with removable panels | 4 |
| 25D | 31. Farm male | 3 |
| 26D | 32. Remote locations | 5 |
| 27D | 34. TV channel that has received a Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech | 3 |
| 28D | 38. Adam's first wife, in Jewish myth | 6 |
| 29D | 40. Hungarian sheepdogs | 5 |
| 30D | 41. Schoolyard retort | 5 |
| 31D | 42. Vows you may stand for | 5 |
| 32D | 43. Spirit of an era | 5 |
| 33D | 45. Down Under band with 10 multiplatinum albums | 4 |
| 34D | 46. All right | 4 |
| 35D | 47. ___ Tokarczuk, 2018 Literature Nobelist | 4 |
| 36D | 48. Unwanted bit of mail | 4 |
| 37D | 49. "Show me a ___ and I'll write you a tragedy": F. Scott Fitzgerald | 4 |
| 38D | 52. Something you owe | 3 |
| 39D | 53. Producer of notes | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Your of yore"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. They're tipped out of respect"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that headdress that protects the head from bad weather; has shaped crown and usually a brim
- Similar words include: chapeau, lid, hat
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HATS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. Alexandre Dumas's Count de la Fère"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an autonomous area in northeastern greece that is the site of several greek orthodox monasteries founded in the tenth century
- Similar words include: Mount Athos
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATHOS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. It's a steal!"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the act of taking something from someone unlawfully
- Similar words include: larceny, thieving, stealing
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THEFT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. Spanish blessing"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SALUD
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. Big publisher of romance novels"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a river in southwestern england rising in gloucestershire and flowing through bristol to empty into the estuary of the severn
- Similar words include: Upper Avon River, River Avon, Upper Avon
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVON
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7D: "7. Hunger"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a yearning for something or to do something
- Similar words include: yearn, hankering, pine
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YEN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Aiming mechanisms on bows"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an optical instrument for aiding the eye in aiming, as on a firearm or surveying instrument
- Similar words include: pile, good deal, wad
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SIGHTS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. Plug amount"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ADFEE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Moldable soil"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a rich soil consisting of a mixture of sand and clay and decaying organic materials
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOAM
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. At some time"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that on one occasion
- Similar words include: erst, one time, formerly
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONCE
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12D: "12. ___ idol"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a juvenile between the onset of puberty and maturity
- Similar words include: teenager, stripling, teenage
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TEEN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. Groups studied by cetologists"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WHALEPODS
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14D: "14. Become inconsolable about"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: WEEPOVER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15D: "15. "True West" playwright Sam"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that united states author of surrealistic allegorical plays (born in 1943)
- Similar words include: Alan Shepard, Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr., Sam Shepard
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SHEPARD
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "19. Providers of chops and chips"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a shop selling ready-to-eat food products
- Similar words include: food shop, delicatessen, deli
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DELIS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "21. Line running roughly parallel to Interstate 95"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACELA
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18D: "23. Disconsolate"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; ; - christina rossetti
- Similar words include: lamentable, pitiful, distressing
- Opposite of: glad
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAD
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19D: "24. "The King of Football""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PELE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20D: "25. Cars with a trident logo"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MASERATIS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21D: "26. Person playing forward"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that someone who attacks
- Similar words include: aggressor, assaulter, assailant
- Pattern: ________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATTACKER
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22D: "27. Calls home, as a bird might"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: NESTSIN
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23D: "29. Gabbed, gabbed, gabbed"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RANON
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24D: "30. Car roof with removable panels"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TTOP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25D: "31. Farm male"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on; an integrated circuit memory chip allows information to be stored or accessed in any order and all storage locations are equally accessible
- Similar words include: chock up, crash, tup
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAM
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26D: "32. Remote locations"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an upholstered seat for more than one person
- Similar words include: lounge, sofa, couch
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SOFAS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27D: "34. TV channel that has received a Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CNN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28D: "38. Adam's first wife, in Jewish myth"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that in ancient semitic folklore: a female demon who attacks children
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LILITH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29D: "40. Hungarian sheepdogs"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PULIS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30D: "41. Schoolyard retort"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CANSO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31D: "42. Vows you may stand for"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
- Similar words include: curse, expletive, swearword
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OATHS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32D: "43. Spirit of an era"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that (anthropology) the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ETHOS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33D: "45. Down Under band with 10 multiplatinum albums"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ACDC
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34D: "46. All right"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a traveling show; having sideshows and rides and games of skill etc.
- Similar words include: bonnie, carnival, comely
- Opposite of: foul, unfair
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FAIR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35D: "47. ___ Tokarczuk, 2018 Literature Nobelist"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLGA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36D: "48. Unwanted bit of mail"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a statute in draft before it becomes law
- Similar words include: placard, handbill, broadsheet
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BILL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37D: "49. "Show me a ___ and I'll write you a tragedy": F. Scott Fitzgerald"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength
- Similar words include: submarine sandwich, Hero of Alexandria, wedge
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HERO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
38D: "52. Something you owe"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the bill in a restaurant
- Similar words include: check, tabloid, lozenge
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAB
Remember this word for future puzzles!
39D: "53. Producer of notes"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of pressure: the pressure that will support a column of mercury 760 mm high at sea level and 0 degrees centigrade
- Similar words include: atmosphere, standard atmosphere, cash machine
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATM
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
29 Across Clues
39 Down Clues
68 Total Clues
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