Gentle, comforting touches

The answer to “Gentle, comforting touches” in the New York Times Mini crossword is PATS — a 4-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Mini crossword on September 9, 2026 at 1-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.

“Gentle, comforting touches” answer

PATS (4 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 PATS.

What does PATS mean?

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

When else has “Gentle, comforting touches” appeared?

New York Times Mini 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 9, 2026 (most recent) → PATS. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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