The ___ of the ball

Latest answer — July 10, 2026

25 Down

Think of a character often celebrated in enchanting fairy tales! 🌹

Scroll down for rest of crossword answers

NYT Midi Crossword

This clue's Friday, July 10, 2026 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Performer delivering punch lines
  2. 6"... or thereabouts"
  3. 9Genre of The Drifters and The Del-Vikings
  4. 11Sch. in the Big Apple
  5. 12With 19-Across, 2012 superhero movie starring Andrew Garfield
  6. 14Unevenly shaped stain
  7. 15Approx.
  8. 18Zodiac sign of someone born in early August
  9. 19See 12-Across
  10. 23Military rank derived from the Latin for "small head"
  11. 24Person with elitist tastes
  12. 26Palindromic principle
  13. 28Leg joint
  14. 30Missy Elliott's debut solo album, 1997
  15. 32Walk heavily
  16. 33Something a pep talk might boost
  17. 34Word in a phrase similar to "blah, blah, blah"
  18. 35India has 28 of them (plus eight union territories)

Down

  1. 1Summer hours in Kansas City, in brief
  2. 2"That sounds cool!"
  3. 3Three Stooges member with a bowl cut
  4. 4Aggrieved answer to "You asleep?"
  5. 5Done
  6. 6"Put a sock ___!" ("Pipe down!")
  7. 7Pair, as two devices
  8. 8Actor Grant of "Bridget Jones's Diary"
  9. 10More pastel-like
  10. 13Does a certain video call
  11. 15Key for exiting full-screen mode
  12. 16Pancake-turning tool
  13. 17Detergent pouch in a dangerous internet trend
  14. 20"Gracias" response
  15. 21Capital city of Turkey
  16. 22Like some diet-friendly yogurt
  17. 25The ___ of the ball
  18. 27Pepto-Bismol alternative
  19. 29Zora Neale Hurston's "Their ___ Were Watching God"
  20. 30Secret agent
  21. 31Weed

The answer to “The ___ of the ball” in the New York Times Midi crossword is BELLE — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Midi crossword on July 10, 2026, a Friday puzzle, at 25-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.

“The ___ of the ball” answer

BELLE (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 BELLE.

Why the answer is BELLE

Think of a character often celebrated in enchanting fairy tales! 🌹

What does BELLE mean?

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

(noun)

  • a beautiful girl or woman, especially the most beautiful at a particular event

When else has “The ___ of the ball” 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.

July 10, 2026 (most recent) → BELLE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “The ___ of the ball”?

The answer is BELLE, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Midi crossword on July 10, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “The ___ of the ball”?

5 letters: BELLE.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times Midi crossword on July 10, 2026 (a Friday puzzle), at 25-Down.

Can “The ___ of the ball” 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 July 10, 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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