Things that might make your hair curl?

Latest answer — September 20, 2026

3 Down

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Clue explained

Genes can influence physical traits, including the texture and curl pattern of someone’s hair. The question mark signals the playful interpretation of “make your hair curl” as inherited biology rather than a hair-styling tool.

Clue type:
Pun or wordplay
An educational illustration connecting DNA and genes with inherited curly hair

NYT Mini Crossword

This clue's Sunday, September 20, 2026 appearance

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

Across

  1. 1Running joke
  2. 4Shade of brown that becomes a shade of gold if you change its first letter to an "A"
  3. 6State that shares the same first and last letters with MOOSE, appropriately
  4. 7Joined teams (with)
  5. 8"___ Misérables"

Down

  1. 1App with an envelope logo
  2. 2Withstand
  3. 3Things that might make your hair curl?
  4. 4Sounds of hesitation
  5. 5Vibrant color for a sugar maple in autumn

The answer to “Things that might make your hair curl?” in the New York Times Mini crossword is GENES — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Mini crossword on September 20, 2026 at 3-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.

“Things that might make your hair curl?” answer

GENES (5 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 GENES.

What does GENES mean?

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

(noun)

  • (in informal use) a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring

When else has “Things that might make your hair curl?” 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 20, 2026 (most recent) → GENES. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Things that might make your hair curl?”?

The answer is GENES, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times Mini crossword on September 20, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Things that might make your hair curl?”?

5 letters: GENES.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times Mini crossword on September 20, 2026, at 3-Down.

Can “Things that might make your hair curl?” have a different answer?

Yes — New York Times Mini 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 Mini answers?

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

New York Times Mini 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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