First game of the season

Latest answer — April 20, 2025

38 Across

This opening contest kicks off a team's season. 🏟️

Scroll down for rest of crossword answers

NYT Crossword

This clue's Sunday, April 20, 2025 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Van Winkle of folklore
  2. 4Engages in playful fisticuffs
  3. 9Italian restaurant frequently seen in food courts
  4. 15Strip for breakfast
  5. 20Game with a Reverse card
  6. 21Impressive display
  7. 22Suggest
  8. 23"I might surprise you"
  9. 24"___ all good"
  10. 25Group that Tiger hires to install wall art?
  11. 28Out of shape
  12. 30Frets
  13. 31___-fisted
  14. 32Corduroy fabric feature
  15. 33Thinks out loud
  16. 35Train
  17. 38First game of the season
  18. 40It smells
  19. 41Send fan mail en masse to a Monty Python production?
  20. 44Begrudged
  21. 46Zippo
  22. 47Creeping Charlie, e.g.
  23. 48___ Ross House (Philadelphia landmark)
  24. 49Honcho
  25. 53Mob enforcer
  26. 55Dam near the Philae Temple of Isis
  27. 59Hands-on business
  28. 60Angry early president can be seen now in TV footage?
  29. 64Med. benefit option, in brief
  30. 65Divides
  31. 67Leggy shorebird
  32. 68Captain Jean-___ Picard
  33. 69Really stands out
  34. 70Go beyond the opponent's baseline, in tennis
  35. 73Sound-asleep sounds
  36. 76Objective
  37. 78Like Tommy in the Who's 1969 rock opera
  38. 79Common file extension
  39. 81Set off
  40. 83MGM founder Marcus
  41. 84Like, in slang
  42. 85Hotheaded liberal politico who's eager to hear?
  43. 89"You ___ me at hello"
  44. 92Ugly expression
  45. 94Laser therapy target
  46. 95Roasted or grilled, in Spanish
  47. 96Liver spot?
  48. 98Food for a woodpecker
  49. 100Drain
  50. 102Smitten person's declaration
  51. 104Pharmacist comes through for customers?
  52. 110Kind of column
  53. 111Hang around
  54. 112Plant that was a top-five girl's name in the 1970s
  55. 113Sign up for again
  56. 115Word on some Renaissance Faire signage
  57. 116Consideration for Cy Young Award voters, for short
  58. 118Mother of Perseus
  59. 120Recover from fainting
  60. 122Editor's strike?
  61. 127Young boxer, say
  62. 128Some Surrealist paintings
  63. 129What very punctual people arrive on
  64. 130Wildly silly
  65. 131Portfolio piece, for short
  66. 132C-suite figures
  67. 133Subject of a negotiation
  68. 134Territories
  69. 135Jellied fish in an English dish

Down

  1. 1Wreck
  2. 2Past the point of no return
  3. 3Email era?
  4. 4Welcomed at the door
  5. 5Stand against
  6. 6Certain queer identity, for short
  7. 7X-ray doses
  8. 8Way
  9. 9Make an appearance
  10. 10Analysis performed with electrodermal stimulation
  11. 11"... so?"
  12. 12Offensive linemen, for short
  13. 13Friend on "Friends"
  14. 14___ vez (again, in Spanish)
  15. 15Start of a tangent, in a text
  16. 16Makeup of some metallic bonds
  17. 17Title protagonist of an 1897 Edmond Rostand play
  18. 18Serving at a breakfast buffet
  19. 19More up-to-the-minute
  20. 26Unites
  21. 27Play for the camera, say
  22. 29Gives the (pink) slip
  23. 34Go on a spree
  24. 36Bud
  25. 37It's quite gripping
  26. 39Song of thanksgiving
  27. 40Globes
  28. 42___ apple
  29. 43Cops (to)
  30. 45Juvenile locust
  31. 50They hang around a lot
  32. 51One-eyed Norse god
  33. 52Ginkgo ___ (tree species)
  34. 54Frying need
  35. 56"Suh-weet! I love this sandwich cookie!"?
  36. 57Music boxes?
  37. 58Prominent feature of 17-Down
  38. 61One might start "Incidentally ..."
  39. 62"___ Nona" (children's book based on a folk tale)
  40. 63Eye: Prefix
  41. 66Pound sound
  42. 69Safety goggles, masks, etc., in brief
  43. 70They're short for a favorite
  44. 71Blood line
  45. 72Common salad add-in
  46. 74Big heads
  47. 75Long tale
  48. 77"Fear Factor" host Joe
  49. 80Public health org.
  50. 82Low point
  51. 85Peach or plum, botanically
  52. 86Come after
  53. 87Anne of classic comedy
  54. 88One trying to level up, often
  55. 90Thrill-seeker's pursuit
  56. 91It is done
  57. 93Like much tax law or ancient philosophy
  58. 97Nursery sight
  59. 99Got it wrong
  60. 101Little flap, maybe
  61. 103Support line?
  62. 104Weapon similar to a halberd
  63. 105Brain twister
  64. 106Cuban dance style
  65. 107"Drunken Sailor," e.g.
  66. 108Wrestler-turned-actor John
  67. 109RNA base
  68. 111Singer with the 2021 hit album "Solar Power"
  69. 114Hanker (for)
  70. 117"Dagnabbit!"
  71. 119Where the giant Enceladus is buried, in myth
  72. 121Gem sometimes confused with a moonstone
  73. 123Twisty curve
  74. 124Abbr. on a business card
  75. 125Rocky Mountain state: Abbr.
  76. 126Actor Somerhalder

The answer to “First game of the season” in the New York Times crossword is OPENER — a 6-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on April 20, 2025, a Sunday puzzle, at 38-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.

“First game of the season” answer

OPENER (6 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 OPENER.

Why the answer is OPENER

This opening contest kicks off a team's season. 🏟️

What does OPENER mean?

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

(noun)

  • a device for opening something, especially a container
  • the first in a series of events, games, or actions

When else has “First game of the season” 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.

April 20, 2025 (most recent) → OPENER. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “First game of the season”?

The answer is OPENER, a 6-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on April 20, 2025.

How many letters is the answer to “First game of the season”?

6 letters: OPENER.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on April 20, 2025 (a Sunday puzzle), at 38-Across.

Can “First game of the season” 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 April 20, 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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