It's often rapped but never spoken

The answer to “It's often rapped but never spoken” in the New York Times crossword is GAVEL — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on December 7, 2025, a Sunday puzzle, at 67-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's often rapped but never spoken” answer

GAVEL (5 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 GAVEL.

Why the answer is GAVEL

GAVEL is the 5-letter solution that fits "It's often rapped but never spoken" in the NYT Crossword crossword on December 7, 2025 (67-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does GAVEL mean?

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

When else has “It's often rapped but never spoken” 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.

December 7, 2025 (most recent) → GAVEL. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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