Breakout performer?

Latest answer — March 09, 2025

86 Across

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NYT Crossword

This clue's Sunday, March 09, 2025 appearance

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Across

  1. 1First lady McKinley
  2. 4Common saltwater baitfish
  3. 8Letters before Q
  4. 12Become crunchy in the oven
  5. 19Image of Mickey, maybe
  6. 20___ Nostra
  7. 21Lake that's largely fed by the Detroit River
  8. 22"Red telephone," historically
  9. 23Breakfast order request
  10. 25[London Herald, 4/16/1912]
  11. 27[The New York Times, 8/9/1974]
  12. 29"Scarface"
  13. 30Schedule
  14. 31Drives off
  15. 32"Catch ya later!"
  16. 33Wee one
  17. 34Frankincense or myrrh
  18. 36T-E-A-M doesn't have one, so they say
  19. 37Plantain lily, by another name
  20. 39[Chicago Daily Tribune, 11/3/1948]
  21. 47Company once called the California Perfume Company
  22. 48Wrap one's head around
  23. 49Popular Hawaiian dish
  24. 50Driest country in sub-Saharan Africa
  25. 54They're below par
  26. 56Choice words
  27. 57Footwear for a sharp dresser?
  28. 59"___ Mouse," Chick Corea jazz standard of 1972
  29. 60Toward the opposing goal, in hockey
  30. 62Geometry calculation: Abbr.
  31. 63"How ya doin'?"
  32. 64[Variety, 10/30/1929]
  33. 70___ Dhabi
  34. 73Alliance since 1948, in brief
  35. 74Golf's Slammin' Sammy
  36. 75Bouquet
  37. 79Seer cursed by Apollo so that her prophecies would not be believed
  38. 83Poorly
  39. 84Headwear that's stereotypically red
  40. 86Breakout performer?
  41. 87It's blowin' in the wind
  42. 89___ thruster (physics lab device)
  43. 90Corrin of "Nosferatu"
  44. 91[New York Daily News, 10/30/1975]
  45. 95"The rubber people," in Nahuatl
  46. 98"Biting" characteristic
  47. 99Big name in health care
  48. 100Trouble
  49. 101Fleet
  50. 104Where people typically go to the mat?
  51. 106Attempt to tear
  52. 111Fool around
  53. 113With 115-Across, [New York Post, 4/15/1983]
  54. 115See 113-Across
  55. 117"Jeez Louise!"
  56. 118Boils
  57. 119Latin "Look"
  58. 120Filmmaker Johnson
  59. 121Degree held by only one U.S. president (George W. Bush)
  60. 122Drink after a race, say
  61. 123Signaled
  62. 124Wraps up
  63. 125The Second vis-à-vis the First, say

Down

  1. 1Cher and Madonna, e.g.
  2. 2Old Scratch, with "the"
  3. 3Baby name whose popularity plummeted after 2015
  4. 4It might be chewed in a theater
  5. 5Frost
  6. 6Taxpayers
  7. 79 to 5, e.g.
  8. 8Release
  9. 9Beams
  10. 10Parts of comedy routines
  11. 11Serving at a Chinese restaurant
  12. 12Carolina Reaper, for one
  13. 13Good name for a geologist?
  14. 14"How sad"
  15. 15Lapse
  16. 16Some red or white wines
  17. 17Pull some strings?
  18. 18Old Spanish coin
  19. 24Waste away
  20. 26Bottom
  21. 28Actress Skye
  22. 32Payments made at a table
  23. 35Leg up
  24. 36Query
  25. 38"I'll get to work right now"
  26. 39Dollops
  27. 40___ Woods, best-selling author of 2023's "The Lost Bookshop"
  28. 41Threadbare
  29. 42Fund, as a college
  30. 43They're known to open with some jokes
  31. 44Longtime music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra
  32. 45The "U" of 60-Down
  33. 46"Damage" director Louis
  34. 51K-pop septet
  35. 52Short note?
  36. 53Creature in the final scene of "Cleopatra"
  37. 55Long-term deposit, in brief
  38. 56Go (for)
  39. 58Certain spot
  40. 60It once shared a land border with 16 countries
  41. 61Drawstring place
  42. 65Hardly the social butterfly
  43. 66Stowed
  44. 67___ soda
  45. 68Needlefish
  46. 69Monopolist's trait
  47. 70One-pointer in cribbage
  48. 71Some undergrad degs.
  49. 72Trojans' sch.
  50. 76"Jeez, I can't catch a break"
  51. 77Call from a crib
  52. 78Slightly
  53. 80Umpire's ruling
  54. 81Writings of dubious authenticity
  55. 82Eschew
  56. 84"Victory is mine!," in modern lingo
  57. 85Privy to
  58. 88Make a scene
  59. 89"My heavens!"
  60. 92They can support a nest egg
  61. 9348-oz. beer glass
  62. 94Service providers?
  63. 95Wise-appearing
  64. 96___ Tunes
  65. 97Like the cheese in a grilled cheese
  66. 102Protective tip on a lace
  67. 103Bel ___ cheese
  68. 104Informal goodbye
  69. 105Made some waves?
  70. 107Tech giant whose initials are its N.Y.S.E. symbol
  71. 108Some have meters
  72. 109Mexican marinade
  73. 110"The Seduction of Joe ___" (1979 Alan Alda film)
  74. 112Tolkien trilogy, for short
  75. 113Morehouse or Howard, in brief
  76. 114Whole bunch
  77. 116Instant

The answer to “Breakout performer?” in the New York Times crossword is ESCAPEE — a 7-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on March 9, 2025, a Sunday puzzle, at 86-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.

“Breakout performer?” answer

ESCAPEE (7 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 ESCAPEE.

Why the answer is ESCAPEE

ESCAPEE is the 7-letter solution that fits "Breakout performer?" in the NYT Crossword crossword on March 9, 2025 (86-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does ESCAPEE mean?

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

(noun)

  • a person who has escaped from somewhere, especially prison

When else has “Breakout performer?” 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.

March 9, 2025 (most recent) → ESCAPEE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Breakout performer?”?

The answer is ESCAPEE, a 7-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on March 9, 2025.

How many letters is the answer to “Breakout performer?”?

7 letters: ESCAPEE.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on March 9, 2025 (a Sunday puzzle), at 86-Across.

Can “Breakout performer?” have a different answer?

Yes — New York Times 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 Crossword answers?

The full grid for March 9, 2025 is on the NYT Crossword answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

New York Times 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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