Area inside the free-throw line, in basketball slang

The answer to “Area inside the free-throw line, in basketball slang” in the New York Times crossword is PAINT — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on December 14, 2025, a Sunday puzzle, at 19-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.

“Area inside the free-throw line, in basketball slang” answer

PAINT (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 PAINT.

Why the answer is PAINT

PAINT is the 5-letter solution that fits "Area inside the free-throw line, in basketball slang" in the NYT Crossword crossword on December 14, 2025 (19-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does PAINT mean?

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

When else has “Area inside the free-throw line, in basketball slang” appeared?

New York Times 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.

December 14, 2025 (most recent) → PAINT. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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