It can be a pain in the neck

Latest answer — August 24, 2025

27 Across

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NYT Crossword

This clue's Sunday, August 24, 2025 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Swanky
  2. 5Bluffer's declaration
  3. 11Educational advertisement, for short
  4. 14Farm-related prefix
  5. 18Ding-dong ditch, e.g.
  6. 20Bitter Italian digestif
  7. 21Close of business?
  8. 22Spanish province WSW of Bilbao
  9. 23If HOSTESS & PETCO merged and became a medical supply company, they would sell ___
  10. 25Small fry?
  11. 27It can be a pain in the neck
  12. 28___ Lingus
  13. 29One of 200+ stations for NBC, e.g.
  14. 30Fitting
  15. 31If NEUTROGENA, BIC & VANS merged and opened a winery, they would sell ___
  16. 35Jane ___, longtime writer for The New Yorker
  17. 36Author Roald
  18. 37Cursor icon for clickable links
  19. 38Snack with a Mega Stuf variety
  20. 41Sit tight
  21. 44Tickle
  22. 48If IBM, DANNON & ACER merged and started a bakery, they would sell ___
  23. 52Sallie ___ (student loan program)
  24. 53King in a 1978 novelty hit
  25. 56Made sense
  26. 57Provides assistance
  27. 58Working on one's own well-being
  28. 60Russian "no"
  29. 61Las Vegas's W.N.B.A. team
  30. 62October birthstone
  31. 63Org. for Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko
  32. 64If POST & SCHICK merged and became a kitchenware company, they would sell ___
  33. 67If EPSON & CHASE merged and became an electronics accessories company, they would sell ___
  34. 69French filmmaker Jacques
  35. 70Some train depot figs.
  36. 71Gent from Kent
  37. 72Injudicious
  38. 73Debater's skill
  39. 75Golden arrow-shooting deity
  40. 76Lets breathe
  41. 79"___ Meninas" (Velázquez masterpiece)
  42. 80Big name in the ice cream aisle
  43. 81If FORD & WALGREENS merged and became a landscaping company, they would sell ___
  44. 83Like a bicycle or a horse
  45. 85Movie princess who wields a blaster pistol
  46. 86Winter Olympics setting in 1972, 1998, 2018 and 2022
  47. 87Actress Skye
  48. 90German article
  49. 92Atomic number of neodymium
  50. 95If GMC, PETSMART & LENOVO merged and became an auto parts company, they would sell ___
  51. 101West Coast airport code
  52. 104Like a column starting a row, perhaps
  53. 105Narrow inlet
  54. 106Buckwheat, for one
  55. 108Time-shares?
  56. 109If MERCK, MARS & AIG merged and became an art supplies company, they would sell ___
  57. 112Most Vermeer works
  58. 113Fair ___ (copyright doctrine)
  59. 114Verdi opera that becomes the name of a board game when an "H" is inserted
  60. 115Scorch
  61. 116Old-fashioned invitation enclosure, in brief
  62. 117Ayo Edebiri's character on "The Bear," familiarly
  63. 118Analyzed grammatically
  64. 119Element of many signs

Down

  1. 1Corkscrews and such
  2. 2In the #1 position
  3. 3Inner tube?
  4. 4Billboard chart listings
  5. 5Hypotheticals
  6. 6Suggestion, casually
  7. 7Cheering loudly
  8. 8Like a "wet" signature
  9. 9Be furious
  10. 10Visitors from afar, in brief
  11. 11Hazard for the unwary
  12. 12Hot mess
  13. 13When Ophelia dies in "Hamlet"
  14. 142015 Kendrick Lamar anthem that won two Grammys
  15. 15Ace the test
  16. 16Cheer for
  17. 17Mean
  18. 19Spanish girl
  19. 24Skin-care brand with the slogan "Face Anything"
  20. 26___ Lilly and Company
  21. 29Tapped, as a cigarette
  22. 32Jazz style
  23. 33"___, Oh ___" (Thomas Moore poem)
  24. 34Magicians' flourishes
  25. 35What a fixer-upper might become, pessimistically
  26. 38South American tuber
  27. 39Relieved (of)
  28. 40Supplementary data and suggestions for further reading, maybe
  29. 42Rival of the Dodgers and Rockies, informally
  30. 43Great Lakes natives
  31. 45Precursor to a clarifying remark
  32. 46Fancy shopping mall
  33. 47Playboy's founder, in brief
  34. 49Fruit drinks
  35. 50Complained under one's breath
  36. 51Ones making margin calls, for short?
  37. 53Purchases that come with metal plates
  38. 54Craving
  39. 55Bags with black and green varieties
  40. 58Lend, as money
  41. 59Celebration for seniors
  42. 61"Highway to Hell" band
  43. 62"Aha, got it!"
  44. 64Key near Fn
  45. 65Response to a routine delivery?
  46. 661986 rock autobiography
  47. 67Be on the hunt
  48. 68Baker v. ___ (landmark voting rights case)
  49. 71Fratty type
  50. 74Kimono sash
  51. 75Novelist Ferrante
  52. 76From the top
  53. 77Sea urchin, on a sushi menu
  54. 78Govt. agency whose busiest days usually precede major holidays
  55. 81Some gymnastics moves
  56. 82Go up
  57. 83"R" in a car
  58. 84Puzzled
  59. 87Cool places to live?
  60. 88Singer Rodrigo
  61. 89Awards partially bestowed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
  62. 91List of mistakes
  63. 93Pibb ___ (soft drink)
  64. 94Ruling Romanovs, e.g.
  65. 96Bend in a pipe
  66. 97Santa ___
  67. 98"Clumsy me!"
  68. 99University of Memphis athlete
  69. 100Sends off
  70. 101Spectacle
  71. 102Hit 1996 movie billed as a "homespun murder story"
  72. 103"Love & Death" actress Elizabeth
  73. 107Pelt
  74. 109Janitorial implement
  75. 110The Guardians, on sports tickers
  76. 111Hip

The answer to “It can be a pain in the neck” in the New York Times crossword is TONSIL — a 6-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on August 24, 2025, a Sunday puzzle, at 27-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.

“It can be a pain in the neck” answer

TONSIL (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 TONSIL.

Why the answer is TONSIL

TONSIL is the 6-letter solution that fits "It can be a pain in the neck" in the NYT Crossword crossword on August 24, 2025 (27-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does TONSIL mean?

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

(noun)

  • either of two small masses of lymphoid tissue in the throat, one on each side of the root of the tongue

When else has “It can be a pain in the neck” 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.

August 24, 2025 (most recent) → TONSIL. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “It can be a pain in the neck”?

The answer is TONSIL, a 6-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on August 24, 2025.

How many letters is the answer to “It can be a pain in the neck”?

6 letters: TONSIL.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on August 24, 2025 (a Sunday puzzle), at 27-Across.

Can “It can be a pain in the neck” 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 August 24, 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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