Old-timey dental anesthetic

Latest answer — May 05, 2026

10 Across

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NYT Midi Crossword

This clue's Tuesday, May 05, 2026 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Ultra-manly
  2. 6Airplane ___ (in-flight phone setting)
  3. 10Old-timey dental anesthetic
  4. 11Cooling lotion ingredient
  5. 12[Tap, tap] "Is this thing on?"
  6. 14"Let me think"
  7. 15Historic period
  8. 16Soup ingredient that is often removed before eating
  9. 20Make invalid, as a marriage
  10. 23Language suffix
  11. 24Hustlers in a billiards hall
  12. 27Workplace freebie
  13. 28Sign after Pisces
  14. 29Absolutely crush it, in slang
  15. 30Cook slowly, as tomatoes

Down

  1. 1See-through dress fabric
  2. 2Something about a million times smaller than a grain of sand
  3. 3Buddy
  4. 4Coop resident
  5. 5Trials and tribulations
  6. 6Taj ___
  7. 7Shout from a flamenco dancer
  8. 8One of the Seven Dwarfs
  9. 9Scared reaction to a spider
  10. 13"Summon" a new parent, maybe
  11. 16Like oversized luggage
  12. 17Spooky
  13. 18Slightly crooked, as a picture frame
  14. 19Spill the beans, with "up"
  15. 20Venmo and Splitwise
  16. 21Holiday tune
  17. 22Ephron who wrote "When Harry Met Sally ..."
  18. 25"Every dog ___ its day"
  19. 26What DALL-E, OpenAI's text-to-image tool, can create

The answer to “Old-timey dental anesthetic” in the New York Times Midi crossword is ETHER — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Midi crossword on May 5, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle, at 10-Across. 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.

“Old-timey dental anesthetic” answer

ETHER (5 letters)

Reveal the solution one letter at a time with the tiles above if you'd rather nudge yourself toward it than see the whole word at once. Just want it outright? The answer is ETHER.

Why the answer is ETHER

ETHER is the 5-letter solution that fits "Old-timey dental anesthetic" in the NYT Midi crossword on May 5, 2026 (10-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does ETHER mean?

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

(noun)

  • a pleasant-smelling colourless volatile liquid that is highly flammable. It is used as an anaesthetic and as a solvent or intermediate in industrial processes
  • the clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds
  • a very rarefied and highly elastic substance formerly believed to permeate all space, including the interstices between the particles of matter, and to be the medium whose vibrations constituted light and other electromagnetic radiation

When else has “Old-timey dental anesthetic” 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.

May 5, 2026 (most recent) → ETHER. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Old-timey dental anesthetic”?

The answer is ETHER, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Midi crossword on May 5, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Old-timey dental anesthetic”?

5 letters: ETHER.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times Midi crossword on May 5, 2026 (a Tuesday puzzle), at 10-Across.

Can “Old-timey dental anesthetic” 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 this day's NYT Midi answers?

The full grid for May 5, 2026 is on the NYT Midi answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

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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