Canine guard?

Latest answer — September 16, 2026

55 Across

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Clue explained

A retainer is a dental device that helps hold teeth in position; “canine” supplies the tooth-related wordplay, since a canine is also a tooth.

Clue type:
Pun or wordplay
A dental retainer shown near an illustration of a canine tooth.

NYT Crossword

This clue's Wednesday, September 16, 2026 appearance

Tap a square to reveal a letter.

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

Across

  1. 1Important info to have while you're waiting in a cellphone lot, for short
  2. 4Fall or fell
  3. 10Cause of a sudden change in interest, informally?
  4. 14Close
  5. 15Pho soup garnishes
  6. 16Conduit of neural signals
  7. 17Early models
  8. 19Relative of a gull
  9. 20"Ain't gonna happen"
  10. 21Big bang cause
  11. 22Chilling
  12. 24The remotest of remote jobs?
  13. 27Kid
  14. 28Supermodel Banks
  15. 29Break into loud cheers, as a crowd
  16. 31Answer to "Who's ready to go?"
  17. 33Broadcast
  18. 35Uno + due
  19. 36Mononymous Irish singer
  20. 37Animated film that was the highest-grossing movie of 1992
  21. 41"Impossible!"
  22. 43Hibernation spots
  23. 44Dip target, maybe
  24. 46Things entered in a sudoku grid: Abbr.
  25. 47Messy dorm room, figuratively
  26. 48Fruits often seen in still lifes
  27. 50Take back, for short
  28. 53City haze
  29. 55Canine guard?
  30. 57Dishwasher cycle
  31. 59"A form of madness," it's said
  32. 60Actress Pinkett Smith of "Girls Trip"
  33. 62Singer/songwriter Mitchell
  34. 63Fruits named after a mythical drink
  35. 66Noted cartoon dog
  36. 67Its first video, "Me at the zoo," has over 400 million views
  37. 68State whose outline can be made by connecting seven particular squares in this puzzle
  38. 69Valley
  39. 70Give a once-over
  40. 71Crafty

Down

  1. 1Channel with "2" and "U" spinoffs
  2. 2Pharynx setting
  3. 3Post-mortem
  4. 4General on a Chinese menu
  5. 5Decide one will
  6. 6Hester of "The Scarlet Letter"
  7. 7Grab-and-go breakfast option
  8. 8Guitar relative
  9. 9Gas brand seen in Edward Hopper's "Portrait of Orleans"
  10. 10Betting odds, e.g.
  11. 11Concern for a gymnastics judge
  12. 12Certain pickleball shot
  13. 13Greenwich Village's Stonewall, e.g.
  14. 18Groups of four
  15. 23Paper competing with the W.S.J.
  16. 25Debugger?
  17. 26Remedy for a missed exit
  18. 30Lowly worker
  19. 32Farm sound
  20. 34Ready to eat
  21. 36Small hound that doesn't bark
  22. 37What a premium subscription may help you avoid
  23. 38"Time to go!"
  24. 39Very soon
  25. 40By
  26. 42What "Coco" is a nickname for, for tennis's Coco Gauff
  27. 45Military hairstyles
  28. 48Family-friendly movie ratings
  29. 49The Sphinx, for one
  30. 51Classic comic strip that's the source for nine Emmys and two Tonys
  31. 52Folding a fitted sheet, it may seem
  32. 54Edible bulb
  33. 56Many Moroccans
  34. 58Mononymous Irish singer
  35. 61Grayish
  36. 62Profile pic format, in brief
  37. 64Dawn deity
  38. 65In medias ___

The answer to “Canine guard?” in the New York Times crossword is RETAINER — a 8-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on September 16, 2026, a Wednesday puzzle, at 55-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.

“Canine guard?” answer

RETAINER (8 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 RETAINER.

What does RETAINER mean?

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

(noun)

  • a thing that holds something in place
  • a fee paid in advance to someone, especially a barrister, in order to secure their services for use when required
  • a servant, especially one who has worked for a person or family for a long time

When else has “Canine guard?” 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.

September 16, 2026 (most recent) → RETAINER. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Canine guard?”?

The answer is RETAINER, a 8-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on September 16, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Canine guard?”?

8 letters: RETAINER.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on September 16, 2026 (a Wednesday puzzle), at 55-Across.

Can “Canine guard?” 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 September 16, 2026 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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