XWordHint Times Crossword Complete Solution: July 09, 2025
Our expert breakdown helps you solve the July 09 XWordHint crossword while expanding your vocabulary. Learn answer strategies and discover word connections.
Across Clues and Answers (39)
Clue #1: 1. Top dog?
Word Help: Synonyms: cur, mutt, mongrel
Clue #2: 5. Top hat?
Word Help: Synonyms: palpebra, hat, lid
Clue #3: 8. Top gun?
Word Help: Synonyms: side_arm, shooting_iron, pistol
Clue #4: 14. Olympic event in which athletes wear masks
Word Help: Synonyms: epee
Clue #5: 15. Balmy time in Bordeaux
Clue #6: 16. Squids' kin
Word Help: Synonyms: devilfish, octopus
Clue #7: 17. Marilyn Monroe used eyeliner to darken the one on her cheek
Word Help: Synonyms: bulwark, groin, seawall
Clue #8: 18. Late actor Kilmer
Clue #9: 19. Be off the mark
Clue #10: 20. Number with 12 zeros in the U.S. but 18 zeros in other parts of the world
Clue #11: 23. Cotillion V.I.P.
Word Help: Synonyms: debutante, deb
Clue #12: 24. Top 10 song
Word Help: Synonyms: polish_off, make, smasher
Antonyms: miss
Antonyms: miss
Clue #13: 25. Auntie ___ (food court chain)
Word Help: Synonyms: Anne
Clue #14: 27. Who, What or I Don't Know, to Abbott and Costello
Clue #15: 31. Popular digital wallet service
Clue #16: 35. Non-Rx
Word Help: Synonyms: otc, over-the-counter
Clue #17: 36. Dance instruction
Word Help: Synonyms: mistreat, whole_tone, measure
Clue #18: 38. Jason of "How I Met Your Mother"
Clue #19: 39. One wearing a djellaba robe, typically
Word Help: Synonyms: Arabian, Arab
Clue #20: 41. Outer boundaries, as where this puzzle's theme answers are located
Word Help: Synonyms: inch, edge, adjoin
Clue #21: 44. Hospital fluids
Word Help: Synonyms: serum, blood_serum
Clue #22: 45. Pat ___, three-time N.B.A. Coach of the Year
Word Help: Synonyms: Riley, James_Whitcomb_Riley
Clue #23: 47. Bit of litter by a theater
Word Help: Synonyms: check_stub, stub, nub
Clue #24: 49. It may be picked by the picky
Word Help: Synonyms: nit
Clue #25: 50. Kind of Emmy
Word Help: Synonyms: day, daylight, daytime
Antonyms: night
Antonyms: night
Clue #26: 53. Last Supper guest
Word Help: Synonyms: Apostle, Apostelic_Father, apostle
Clue #27: 55. One end of a battery
Word Help: Synonyms: anode
Antonyms: cathode
Antonyms: cathode
Clue #28: 57. State animal of Utah
Word Help: Synonyms: wapiti, European_elk, Cervus_elaphus_canadensis
Clue #29: 58. Ryder Cup org.
Clue #30: 61. Famous misquote of a James Cagney line from the 1932 film "Taxi!"
Clue #31: 66. Beyond belief
Word Help: Synonyms: unsubstantial, artificial, insubstantial
Antonyms: natural, real
Antonyms: natural, real
Clue #32: 68. Hunk
Word Help: Synonyms: mariner, Jack, old_salt
Clue #33: 69. ___ land
Clue #34: 70. Repeated sounds in "Hey Jude"
Clue #35: 71. From ___ Z
Clue #36: 72. Many moons
Word Help: Synonyms: senesce, years, age
Antonyms: rejuvenate
Antonyms: rejuvenate
Clue #37: 73. Bottom feeder?
Word Help: Synonyms: till, bowl, gutter
Clue #38: 74. Bottom line?
Word Help: Synonyms: ray_of_light, beam, shaft
Clue #39: 75. Bottom dollar?
Word Help: Synonyms: buck, sawhorse, Pearl_Buck
Across Clues and Answers (39)
Clue #1: 1. Side note?
Word Help: Synonyms: memo, memoranda, memorandum
Clue #2: 2. Agreed-___
Clue #3: 3. Prefix with communication
Clue #4: 4. Grow choppers
Word Help: Synonyms: teethe
Clue #5: 5. Get off the ground?
Word Help: Synonyms: levitate, hover
Clue #6: 6. Stressed type: Abbr.
Clue #7: 7. Singer Reese
Clue #8: 8. California college where the writer David Foster Wallace taught English
Clue #9: 9. Unfriendly quality
Word Help: Synonyms: coldness, chill, gelidity
Clue #10: 10. Ave. crossers
Clue #11: 11. Lowly sort
Word Help: Synonyms: anuran, toad_frog, batrachian
Clue #12: 12. Redheaded boy of 1960s TV
Clue #13: 13. Side arm?
Word Help: Synonyms: tree_branch, arm, limb
Clue #14: 21. Parts of eyeglass frames
Word Help: Synonyms: flange, rim, lip
Clue #15: 22. First magazine to feature Steve Jobs on its cover (October 1981)
Word Help: Synonyms: INC, Iraqi_National_Congress
Clue #16: 26. Elvis's "___ Not You"
Clue #17: 27. Side plank?
Word Help: Synonyms: card, dining_table, display_panel
Antonyms: get_off
Antonyms: get_off
Clue #18: 28. Parts of hearts
Word Help: Synonyms: atrium
Clue #19: 29. Like snakes
Word Help: Synonyms: scabrous, scaley, scaly
Clue #20: 30. Mustachioed "Simpsons" character
Clue #21: 32. 007, for one
Word Help: Synonyms: agent, broker, factor
Clue #22: 33. Jeopardy
Word Help: Synonyms: risk, jeopardize, threaten
Clue #23: 34. Side dish?
Word Help: Synonyms: crustal_plate, home, scale
Clue #24: 37. Family-friendly ratings
Clue #25: 40. Onetime alternative to VHS
Word Help: Synonyms: genus_Beta, Beta, beta
Clue #26: 42. Gate info
Word Help: Synonyms: Basque_Fatherland_and_Liberty, eta, Euskadi_ta_Askatasuna
Clue #27: 43. Comic book hero whose secret identity is Conner Kent
Clue #28: 46. Symbol of contrasting principles
Clue #29: 48. Get out of the starting gate fast
Word Help: Synonyms: make_off, abscond, smack
Antonyms: unbolt
Antonyms: unbolt
Clue #30: 51. Bread
Word Help: Synonyms: pelf, dinero, lettuce
Clue #31: 52. End of a professor's address
Clue #32: 54. 1970s space station
Word Help: Synonyms: Skylab
Clue #33: 56. "J. ___" (2011 Clint Eastwood biopic)
Word Help: Synonyms: Edgar
Clue #34: 58. Side kick?
Word Help: Synonyms: Irish_punt, bet_on, game
Clue #35: 59. Growl
Clue #36: 60. River under the Ponte Vecchio
Word Help: Synonyms: River_Arno, Arno, Arno_River
Clue #37: 62. Itty bit
Word Help: Synonyms: scintilla, smidgin, tittle
Clue #38: 63. Prego rival
Clue #39: 64. Guinness of "Star Wars"
Clue #40: 65. Side job?
Word Help: Synonyms: undertaking, job, project
Clue #41: 67. French 101 word that sounds like a letter of the alphabet
Expert Solving Strategies
- Look for fill-in-the-blank clues first (they're often easiest)
- Watch for question marks indicating wordplay
- Check vowel patterns in partially solved words
Related Search Terms
NYT Crossword Help, Daily Puzzle Solutions, Crossword Answer Finder, July Crossword Answers
Monday, August 31, 2026
XWordHint Crossword Answers August 31, 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
- Across Clues Table (38 clues)
- Across Clues - Detailed Hints
- Down Clues Table (40 clues)
- Down Clues - Detailed Hints
- Expert Solving Strategies
- Today's Puzzle Statistics
Today's Puzzle Difficulty: Medium
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. Part of a dance | 4 |
| 2A | 5. Sch. with the Daily Bruin newspaper | 4 |
| 3A | 9. Slightly intoxicated | 5 |
| 4A | 14. Fancy | 4 |
| 5A | 15. Worms and such on hooks | 4 |
| 6A | 16. Be of the same mind | 5 |
| 7A | 17. Redding with two posthumous Grammys | 4 |
| 8A | 18. "Sesame Street" character who was once sung to sleep by Andrea Bocelli | 4 |
| 9A | 19. Ransacks | 5 |
| 10A | 20. One who regularly drops things | 13 |
| 11A | 23. The : English :: ___ : French | 3 |
| 12A | 24. Letter after sigma | 3 |
| 13A | 25. One dining on Friskies | 3 |
| 14A | 28. Role for Selena Gomez on "Only Murders in the Building" | 5 |
| 15A | 31. Umbrella-shaped sea creature | 9 |
| 16A | 34. Director DuVernay | 3 |
| 17A | 35. Pathetic | 3 |
| 18A | 36. Examine at length | 6 |
| 19A | 37. Took shots first, then paid for them later | 7 |
| 20A | 40. Clothing sizes for shorter women | 7 |
| 21A | 41. Ski in zigzags | 6 |
| 22A | 42. "Far out!" | 3 |
| 23A | 43. Tetra- minus one | 3 |
| 24A | 44. Newlyweds' getaway | 9 |
| 25A | 46. Owl sounds | 5 |
| 26A | 48. Actress de Armas | 3 |
| 27A | 49. 401(k) relative | 3 |
| 28A | 50. "Need an ark? I Noah guy," e.g. | 3 |
| 29A | 51. "Tell everyone!" ... or what to do with the starts of 20-, 31- and 44-Across? | 13 |
| 30A | 58. Inuit for "house" | 5 |
| 31A | 60. Italian hello | 4 |
| 32A | 61. Et ___ (and others: Lat.) | 4 |
| 33A | 62. Tennis locale | 5 |
| 34A | 63. Pre-Easter observance | 4 |
| 35A | 64. R-rated, maybe | 4 |
| 36A | 65. A cube has 12 of them | 5 |
| 37A | 66. Petrol brand | 4 |
| 38A | 67. Easter egg decorating supplies | 4 |
Across Clues - Strategic Hints
1A: "1. Part of a dance"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
- Similar words include: mistreat, stride, ill-treat
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: STEP
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2A: "5. Sch. with the Daily Bruin newspaper"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UCLA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3A: "9. Slightly intoxicated"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that slightly intoxicated
- Similar words include: tiddly, potty
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TIPSY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4A: "14. Fancy"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that elegant and sumptuous
- Similar words include: de luxe, deluxe
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LUXE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5A: "15. Worms and such on hooks"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that anything that serves as an enticement
- Similar words include: rag, tantalize, twit
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BAIT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6A: "16. Be of the same mind"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that be in accord; be in agreement
- Similar words include: match, consort, tally
- Opposite of: disagree
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AGREE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7A: "17. Redding with two posthumous Grammys"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that united states inventor who manufactured the first elevator with a safety device (1811-1861)
- Similar words include: genus Otis, Elisha Graves Otis
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OTIS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8A: "18. "Sesame Street" character who was once sung to sleep by Andrea Bocelli"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ELMO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9A: "19. Ransacks"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that goods or money obtained illegally
- Similar words include: cabbage, moolah, strip
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LOOTS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10A: "20. One who regularly drops things"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that someone who drops things (especially one who cannot catch a ball)
- Pattern: _____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BUTTERFINGERS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11A: "23. The : English :: ___ : French"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints)
- Similar words include: LE, lupus erythematosus
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12A: "24. Letter after sigma"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the 19th letter of the greek alphabet
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TAU
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13A: "25. One dining on Friskies"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and no ability to roar: domestic cats; wildcats
- Similar words include: kat, sick, khat
- Opposite of: keep down
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CAT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14A: "28. Role for Selena Gomez on "Only Murders in the Building""
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: MABEL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15A: "31. Umbrella-shaped sea creature"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that large siphonophore having a bladderlike float and stinging tentacles
- Similar words include: Portuguese man-of-war, man-of-war
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JELLYFISH
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16A: "34. Director DuVernay"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17A: "35. Pathetic"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; ; - christina rossetti
- Similar words include: deplorable, pitiful, lamentable
- Opposite of: glad
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAD
Remember this word for future puzzles!
18A: "36. Examine at length"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that examine or consider with attention and in detail
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PERUSE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
19A: "37. Took shots first, then paid for them later"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RANATAB
Remember this word for future puzzles!
20A: "40. Clothing sizes for shorter women"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a garment size for short or slender women
- Similar words include: petite
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PETITES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
21A: "41. Ski in zigzags"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a downhill race over a winding course defined by upright poles
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLALOM
Remember this word for future puzzles!
22A: "42. "Far out!""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a unit of absorbed ionizing radiation equal to 100 ergs per gram of irradiated material
- Similar words include: radian
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RAD
Remember this word for future puzzles!
23A: "43. Tetra- minus one"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TRI
Remember this word for future puzzles!
24A: "44. Newlyweds' getaway"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a holiday taken by a newly married couple
- Pattern: _________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HONEYMOON
Remember this word for future puzzles!
25A: "46. Owl sounds"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a loud raucous cry (as of an owl)
- Similar words include: tinker's dam, Bronx cheer, raspberry
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HOOTS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
26A: "48. Actress de Armas"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that mother of the ancient irish gods; sometimes identified with danu
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ANA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
27A: "49. 401(k) relative"
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: wrath, individual retirement account, Irish Republican Army
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IRA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
28A: "50. "Need an ark? I Noah guy," e.g."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a humorous play on words
- Similar words include: wordplay, punning, paronomasia
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PUN
Remember this word for future puzzles!
29A: "51. "Tell everyone!" ... or what to do with the starts of 20-, 31- and 44-Across?"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SPREADTHEWORD
Remember this word for future puzzles!
30A: "58. Inuit for "house""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an eskimo hut; usually built of blocks (of sod or snow) in the shape of a dome
- Similar words include: iglu
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IGLOO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
31A: "60. Italian hello"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an acknowledgment that can be used to say hello or goodbye (aloha is hawaiian and ciao is italian)
- Similar words include: aloha
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CIAO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
32A: "61. Et ___ (and others: Lat.)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ALIA
Remember this word for future puzzles!
33A: "62. Tennis locale"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an assembly (including one or more judges) to conduct judicial business
- Similar words include: tribunal, courtroom, motor lodge
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: COURT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
34A: "63. Pre-Easter observance"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a period of 40 weekdays from ash wednesday to holy saturday
- Similar words include: lend, bestow, add
- Opposite of: borrow
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LENT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
35A: "64. R-rated, maybe"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that full of zest or vigor
- Similar words include: robust, naughty, gamey
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RACY
Remember this word for future puzzles!
36A: "65. A cube has 12 of them"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the boundary of a surface
- Similar words include: inch, butt, edge
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EDGES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
37A: "66. Petrol brand"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ESSO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
38A: "67. Easter egg decorating supplies"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair
- Similar words include: dyestuff, dye
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DYES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
Down Clues - Complete List
| No. | Clue | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1D | 1. Mess maker | 4 |
| 2D | 2. Attire for the Sugar Plum Fairy | 4 |
| 3D | 3. Off-ramp | 4 |
| 4D | 4. Pulverizing tool | 6 |
| 5D | 5. Alternatives to Lyfts | 5 |
| 6D | 6. Baby whale | 4 |
| 7D | 7. In finite supply | 7 |
| 8D | 8. Lacking a musical key | 6 |
| 9D | 9. A ___ as old as time | 4 |
| 10D | 10. Composer Stravinsky | 4 |
| 11D | 11. Ham on an antipasto platter | 10 |
| 12D | 12. Solidify | 3 |
| 13D | 13. "You called?" | 3 |
| 14D | 21. Sinuous swimmer | 3 |
| 15D | 22. Swallowed hard | 6 |
| 16D | 26. Aver | 6 |
| 17D | 27. Graduate student's project | 6 |
| 18D | 28. ___ P. Johnson (gay rights activist) | 6 |
| 19D | 29. Island of Arthurian legend | 6 |
| 20D | 30. Fruit-resembling mollusk | 10 |
| 21D | 31. The "one" of a one-two | 3 |
| 22D | 32. So far | 3 |
| 23D | 33. Part of the week that workers look forward to: Abbr. | 3 |
| 24D | 35. Lunch item that might be made with cold cuts, in slang | 6 |
| 25D | 38. Ginger ___ | 3 |
| 26D | 39. Cup-and-ball or yo-yo | 3 |
| 27D | 40. Deep-dish vessel | 3 |
| 28D | 42. Support staff for a rock band | 7 |
| 29D | 45. Soothsayer | 6 |
| 30D | 46. Tint | 3 |
| 31D | 47. "To victory!" | 6 |
| 32D | 50. Part of an Instagram post | 5 |
| 33D | 52. Skin opening | 4 |
| 34D | 53. Goes bad | 4 |
| 35D | 54. Gets bronzed at the beach | 4 |
| 36D | 55. Brand with "anti-aging" products | 4 |
| 37D | 56. Bibimbap base | 4 |
| 38D | 57. Pages on a desk calendar | 4 |
| 39D | 58. "Rocks" at a bar | 3 |
| 40D | 59. Lead-in to forbid or forsaken | 3 |
Down Clues - Strategic Hints
1D: "1. Mess maker"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a coarse obnoxious person
- Similar words include: pig, slovenly person, sloven
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SLOB
Remember this word for future puzzles!
2D: "2. Attire for the Sugar Plum Fairy"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that south african prelate and leader of the antiapartheid struggle (born in 1931)
- Similar words include: ballet skirt, Desmond Tutu
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TUTU
Remember this word for future puzzles!
3D: "3. Off-ramp"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an opening that permits escape or release
- Similar words include: snuff it, croak, cash in one's chips
- Opposite of: be born, enter
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EXIT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
4D: "4. Pulverizing tool"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that machine consisting of a heavy bar that moves vertically for pounding or crushing ores
- Similar words include: pounder, muller, stamp
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PESTLE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
5D: "5. Alternatives to Lyfts"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: UBERS
Remember this word for future puzzles!
6D: "6. Baby whale"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that young of domestic cattle
- Similar words include: sura, calfskin
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: CALF
Remember this word for future puzzles!
7D: "7. In finite supply"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that public transport consisting of a fast train or bus that makes only a few scheduled stops
- Similar words include: confine, restrain, express
- Opposite of: unlimited, local
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: LIMITED
Remember this word for future puzzles!
8D: "8. Lacking a musical key"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that characterized by avoidance of traditional western tonality
- Similar words include: unkeyed
- Opposite of: tonal
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ATONAL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
9D: "9. A ___ as old as time"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program
- Similar words include: narrative, narration, tarradiddle
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TALE
Remember this word for future puzzles!
10D: "10. Composer Stravinsky"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: IGOR
Remember this word for future puzzles!
11D: "11. Ham on an antipasto platter"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that italian salt-cured ham usually sliced paper thin
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PROSCIUTTO
Remember this word for future puzzles!
12D: "12. Solidify"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used
- Similar words include: curing, adjust, gear up
- Opposite of: rise
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SET
Remember this word for future puzzles!
13D: "13. "You called?""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an affirmative
- Opposite of: no
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YES
Remember this word for future puzzles!
14D: "21. Sinuous swimmer"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in europe and america; large eels are usually smoked or pickled
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: EEL
Remember this word for future puzzles!
15D: "22. Swallowed hard"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught
- Similar words include: swig, quaff, gulp
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GULPED
Remember this word for future puzzles!
16D: "26. Aver"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that state categorically
- Similar words include: verify, asseverate, maintain
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ASSERT
Remember this word for future puzzles!
17D: "27. Graduate student's project"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an unproved statement put forward as a premise in an argument
- Similar words include: dissertation
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: THESIS
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18D: "28. ___ P. Johnson (gay rights activist)"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
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Answer: MARSHA
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19D: "29. Island of Arthurian legend"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: AVALON
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20D: "30. Fruit-resembling mollusk"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: __________
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: BANANASLUG
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21D: "31. The "one" of a one-two"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)
- Similar words include: stab, thrust, thrusting
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: JAB
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22D: "32. So far"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that up to the present time
- Similar words include: nonetheless, as yet, thus far
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: YET
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23D: "33. Part of the week that workers look forward to: Abbr."
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the sixth day of the week; the fifth working day
- Similar words include: Friday
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: FRI
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24D: "35. Lunch item that might be made with cold cuts, in slang"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: SAMMIE
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25D: "38. Ginger ___"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a general name for beer made with a top fermenting yeast; in some of the united states an ale is (by law) a brew of more than 4% alcohol by volume
- Pattern: ___
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Answer: ALE
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26D: "39. Cup-and-ball or yo-yo"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an artifact designed to be played with
- Similar words include: miniature, fiddle, play
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TOY
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27D: "40. Deep-dish vessel"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that cooking utensil consisting of a wide metal vessel
- Similar words include: pan off, tear apart, pan out
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PAN
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28D: "42. Support staff for a rock band"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: _______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROADIES
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29D: "45. Soothsayer"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that an authoritative person who divines the future
- Similar words include: prophet, vaticinator, seer
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ORACLE
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30D: "46. Tint"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength
- Similar words include: imbue, chromaticity
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: HUE
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31D: "47. "To victory!""
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that forward in time or order or degree
- Similar words include: forth, forrader, ahead
- Pattern: ______
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ONWARD
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32D: "50. Part of an Instagram post"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide; recorded by a camera on light-sensitive material
- Similar words include: pic, picture, photograph
- Pattern: _____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PHOTO
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33D: "52. Skin opening"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that any tiny hole admitting passage of a liquid (fluid or gas)
- Similar words include: stomate, rivet, centre
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: PORE
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34D: "53. Goes bad"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a state of decay usually accompanied by an offensive odor
- Similar words include: molder, bunk, rotting
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ROTS
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35D: "54. Gets bronzed at the beach"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that a browning of the skin resulting from exposure to the rays of the sun
- Similar words include: tangent, suntan, tan
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: TANS
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36D: "55. Brand with "anti-aging" products"
Solving Hints:
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: OLAY
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37D: "56. Bibimbap base"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished
- Similar words include: Elmer Leopold Rice, Sir Tim Rice, Elmer Reizenstein
- Pattern: ____
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: RICE
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38D: "57. Pages on a desk calendar"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the time during which someone's life continues
- Similar words include: twenty-four hour period, mean solar day, daylight
- Opposite of: night
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: DAYS
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39D: "58. "Rocks" at a bar"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that water frozen in the solid state
- Similar words include: crank, methamphetamine hydrochloride, chicken feed
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: ICE
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40D: "59. Lead-in to forbid or forsaken"
Solving Hints:
- Think of something that the supernatural being conceived as the perfect and omnipotent and omniscient originator and ruler of the universe; the object of worship in monotheistic religions
- Similar words include: divinity, idol, Supreme Being
- Pattern: ___
Click to reveal answer (spoiler alert!)
Answer: GOD
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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
40 Down Clues
78 Total Clues
More NYT Crossword Help
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