It's not exactly fast food

Latest answer — August 09, 2026

54 Down

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Clue explained

MOLASSES is famously thick and slow-moving, so it is “not exactly fast food” in a humorous literal sense. The clue uses “fast” to contrast with its sluggishness, not to describe a restaurant category.

Clue type:
Pun or wordplay
Dark molasses being poured slowly from a jar.

NYT Crossword

This clue's Sunday, August 09, 2026 appearance

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

Across

  1. 1One bit
  2. 6Bad jobs
  3. 12Target of an annual vaccine
  4. 15x or y
  5. 19Swimmer's invitation
  6. 23One of two in Hawaii
  7. 24Father of the river gods, in Greek myth
  8. 25Overwhelm
  9. 26Jamaican folk song about dock work
  10. 27Ones who've made the team
  11. 28One at the U.S. mint?
  12. 29Long-handled tool
  13. 31What might pile up during a digital detox
  14. 35Show great fondness, in a way
  15. 36In the lead
  16. 38Cow
  17. 40Oscar winner Hathaway
  18. 41Foxlike
  19. 42Winter pellets
  20. 43___ forgiveness
  21. 44Say without saying
  22. 46Godsends
  23. 47Up to 150 years, for a tortoise
  24. 49The first "C" of Vietnam's H.C.M.C.
  25. 50Beaver's home
  26. 51Communicate through a disagreement
  27. 53Counterpart of 53-Down
  28. 54Display perfect timing, much like dancers
  29. 55Agcy. that protects the right to unionize
  30. 56Some Indian flatbreads
  31. 57First woman to play regularly in a major American men's pro baseball league
  32. 58Bond between Lazenby and Dalton
  33. 59"Let's do it"
  34. 60Setting for Ghassan Kanafani's "All That's Left to You" and Mourid Barghouti's "I Saw Ramallah"
  35. 61Like a lion's coat
  36. 62Reprimand that might be biting, ironically
  37. 64Group of partridges
  38. 65"www" string
  39. 66Honey boo-boo?
  40. 67Like the Taj Mahal and the Hagia Sophia, architecturally
  41. 68Up for the day
  42. 70Named names
  43. 71[Oh God ...]
  44. 72Nurse
  45. 75Many a spacious apartment
  46. 76Stand-up comic ___ Wang
  47. 78Where a band might go
  48. 79"Gimme!"
  49. 80Go undefeated
  50. 82Enterprise letters
  51. 83"Let's put a smile on your plate" chain
  52. 84Lover of Tristan
  53. 86Combine, as resources
  54. 88Nintendo villain with a "W" on his cap
  55. 90Bothersome recurrence
  56. 91Controversial business oversight
  57. 96Amusement park ride in which one's legs dangle high off the ground
  58. 97Lip
  59. 98"___ bodkins!" (bygone oath)
  60. 99Comes clean, with "up"
  61. 100Old Bulgarian rulers

Down

  1. 1Results of some peace talks
  2. 2"Wow!"
  3. 3Government act whose name comes from the Greek for "forgetfulness"
  4. 4Papal representative
  5. 5Michaels of "Saturday Night Live"
  6. 6Angry cat's "greeting"
  7. 7Nav. rank
  8. 8Retort of denial
  9. 9Offer emotional support (for)
  10. 10Time that's an artist's name backward
  11. 11Did the butterfly, e.g.
  12. 12Co. whose logo depicts the god Mercury holding flowers
  13. 13Dutch city with a namesake jar
  14. 14___ Major
  15. 15"Because I Got High" rapper
  16. 1612 letters?
  17. 17Magazine for entrepreneurs
  18. 18Good to go
  19. 20Branch with a stem?
  20. 21Number of letters?
  21. 22Ocular affliction
  22. 28Uintah and Ouray reservation people
  23. 30Surpassed
  24. 32Group in support of a queen
  25. 33Rushing around
  26. 34Last Beatles single before Paul McCartney's departure
  27. 37Reality TV icon ___ Leakes
  28. 38Edging, e.g.
  29. 39Title for Macbeth
  30. 42Parts of many combo meals
  31. 43Selling off, as stocks
  32. 45Big inits. in Dutch banking
  33. 46Foretelling of
  34. 47Bestowing extravagantly (on)
  35. 48Source of fragrant cones
  36. 50Destiny
  37. 51Something that might not be well received when someone asks "How do I look?"
  38. 52Was flaky?
  39. 53Counterpart of 53-Across
  40. 54It's not exactly fast food
  41. 56Almsgiving and pilgrimage, for two
  42. 57Bit of folklore
  43. 58Wonk
  44. 60Hammer parts
  45. 61Main ingredient in salsa verde
  46. 63Purple yam in Filipino desserts
  47. 64Sounds from pigeons
  48. 67Simple coffee brewing method
  49. 69Treeless tracts
  50. 71Pleasing rhythms
  51. 72Diamond component?
  52. 73Gene-activating substance
  53. 74Eyes, informally
  54. 77Danced at a luau
  55. 78Eddies
  56. 79Very complicated situation, so to speak
  57. 81___ People's Campaign (1968 S.C.L.C. movement)
  58. 83Self-congratulatory declaration
  59. 85One of the Five Pillars of Islam, referring to prayer
  60. 87"___ take arms against a sea of troubles": Hamlet
  61. 89Since
  62. 90Some fan-made literary works, informally
  63. 91Prefix with normative
  64. 92___ shoestring
  65. 93They're parked in parks
  66. 94Some OT enders
  67. 95Before, poetically

The answer to “It's not exactly fast food” in the New York Times crossword is MOLASSES — a 8-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on August 9, 2026, a Sunday puzzle, at 54-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.

“It's not exactly fast food” answer

MOLASSES (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 MOLASSES.

What does MOLASSES mean?

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

(noun)

  • thick, dark brown juice obtained from raw sugar during the refining process

When else has “It's not exactly fast food” 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 9, 2026 (most recent) → MOLASSES. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “It's not exactly fast food”?

The answer is MOLASSES, a 8-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on August 9, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “It's not exactly fast food”?

8 letters: MOLASSES.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on August 9, 2026 (a Sunday puzzle), at 54-Down.

Can “It's not exactly fast food” 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 9, 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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