"___, drink and be merry"

Editorially verified for the Sep 23, 2026

21 Down

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A festive table set with food and drinks

Clue explained

EAT completes the familiar phrase “Eat, drink and be merry,” an exhortation to enjoy life and its pleasures. The quotation marks indicate a phrase being recalled rather than a literal standalone command.

Clue type:
Phrase or idiom

NYT Midi Crossword

This clue's Wednesday, September 23, 2026 appearance

Tap a square to reveal a letter.

Or reveal one clue at a time with the Hint and Answer buttons below.

Across

  1. 1Request that might make you stick out your tongue
  2. 6"No ___, ands or buts!"
  3. 9Calmness under pressure
  4. 10Made it through a round of musical chairs, say
  5. 11Leader of the pack
  6. 13Salary bump
  7. 14One with well-groomed dogs?
  8. 18Tennis star Agassi
  9. 19"In Rainbows" rock band ... or a collective feature of the circled letters in 11- and 14-Across?
  10. 24$1,000,000, casually
  11. 25Taste quality of soy sauce and miso
  12. 26"My bad," in a text
  13. 27Tribal emblem

Down

  1. 1Where you might get into hot water?
  2. 2"You've got mail" co.
  3. 3Sharp bark
  4. 4Campfire residue
  5. 5"You'll probably think this is crazy, but ..."
  6. 6"Let me repeat ..."
  7. 7Test answer that has a 50/50 shot of being correct
  8. 8"Stainless" metal
  9. 12Chinese Communist Party leader Zedong
  10. 14Produces produce
  11. 15Currently broadcasting
  12. 16In a strange way
  13. 17Swim-bike-run race, for short
  14. 20Med. care option
  15. 21"___, drink and be merry"
  16. 22Inits. in some Black churches
  17. 23Faintly lit

The answer to “"___, drink and be merry"” in the New York Times Midi crossword is EAT — a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Midi crossword on September 23, 2026 at 21-Down. Below you'll find why that fill fits, every other answer we've recorded for this clue, and links into the puzzle it came from.

“"___, drink and be merry"” answer

EAT (3 letters)

Use the reveal tiles above to uncover the solution one letter at a time if you'd rather nudge yourself toward it than see the whole word at once. Prefer the full answer straight away? It's EAT.

What does EAT mean?

Reading the plain dictionary sense of EAT is often the fastest way to see why it answers this clue.

(verb)

  • put (food) into the mouth and chew and swallow it
  • perform fellatio or cunnilingus on (someone)

When else has “"___, drink and be merry"” appeared?

New York Times Midi reuses clues across dates, sometimes with a different answer depending on the grid. Here's where this exact clue has shown up, and what the answer was each time — handy when you're checking whether today's fill is the only one.

September 23, 2026 (most recent) → EAT. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “"___, drink and be merry"”?

The answer is EAT, a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Midi crossword on September 23, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “"___, drink and be merry"”?

3 letters: EAT.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times Midi crossword on September 23, 2026, at 21-Down.

Can “"___, drink and be merry"” have a different answer?

Yes — New York Times Midi sometimes reuses a clue with a different solution to fit the grid. The answers we've recorded for each date it appeared are listed above when available.

Where can I find the rest of today's NYT Midi answers?

Every clue and answer from that day's puzzle is linked above, and the full grid is on the NYT Midi answers page.

New York Times Midi Crossword is published by The New York Times; WordHint is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.

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