Key for a quick exit

Latest answer — September 28, 2025

85 Down

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NYT Crossword

This clue's Sunday, September 28, 2025 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Caveat ___ ("Buyer beware")
  2. 7Spice that's characteristic of Hungarian cooking
  3. 14Marvel Comics mutant who can freeze his own body
  4. 20Arizona county or Indigenous people
  5. 21Tries some water, say
  6. 22Like a win-win situation
  7. 23___ law, concept in computing technology
  8. 24Alternative to a nanny
  9. 25Fire starters
  10. 26Contents of a flagon
  11. 27Ole Miss athletes, to fans
  12. 29X
  13. 30___ Scott, who the Supreme Court said was not free to sue for his freedom
  14. 32Org. not getting many happy returns?
  15. 33Remove surgically, as tissue
  16. 35"They tell me ..."
  17. 37Beethoven symphony originally intended to honor Napoleon
  18. 39Class that might cause some high schoolers to blush
  19. 40Sprawling Indian metropolis
  20. 41Like some bridges
  21. 42"Let me check on that"
  22. 44Expiates, with "for"
  23. 46Man's name that's 49-Across plus a letter
  24. 49Woman's name that's the first three letters of 46-Across
  25. 50Rap battle participants
  26. 53Tampa Bay athlete, in brief
  27. 54Twists off course, as a ship
  28. 58Witch
  29. 59Exploited
  30. 60"Weekend Update" co-host Michael
  31. 61All over again
  32. 63___Guessr, hit online game whose players deduce locations from Google Street View images
  33. 64Where a hurricane forms
  34. 66Wish someone "Happy Birthday," perhaps
  35. 69At dawn, say
  36. 71Mammal with long whiskers
  37. 73Extra
  38. 74They stand for art
  39. 75Called
  40. 77___ Day, Billie Holiday's portrayer in "The United States vs. Billie Holiday"
  41. 78Celebrity chef Ina
  42. 79Demanding entertainer
  43. 80X
  44. 82He was né Clay
  45. 83Watchdog's warning
  46. 84Words of understanding
  47. 86Outback baby
  48. 87Familiar initialism coined by a U.S. Air Force captain
  49. 88Do-over at Wimbledon
  50. 89Kind of sauce at a sushi bar
  51. 90Sewer in American history
  52. 91"Weekend Update" show, for short
  53. 92Zipped
  54. 93Like some alcohol ... or places that prohibit alcohol
  55. 94Not present and not excused, for short
  56. 96Foreign policy grp.
  57. 97Brezhnev of the Soviet Union
  58. 99Cherokee and Cheyenne
  59. 101Relationship featuring casual intimacy ... or a hint to six pairs of intersecting answers in this puzzle
  60. 108Starbucks competitor
  61. 109Spot for an ornament
  62. 110Giants in California and New York
  63. 112"Beat it!"
  64. 115Actor Wilson of "The Office"
  65. 116Rye, e.g.
  66. 118"Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
  67. 119Like slow filers and fast drivers, at times
  68. 120Furniture retailer owned by Williams-Sonoma
  69. 121Lives (in)
  70. 122Iditarod transports
  71. 123Involves

Down

  1. 1Title heroine described as "handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition"
  2. 2Dough
  3. 3Fly-catching bird with a name derived from Greek
  4. 4Driveway goo
  5. 5As a whole
  6. 6Moves elsewhere
  7. 7Tenured profs, often
  8. 8Small battery ... or an org. that might help with a battery
  9. 9It's all in your head
  10. 10Mother of Joseph and Benjamin, in the Bible
  11. 11Book after Song of Solomon
  12. 12French cocktail made with crème de cassis
  13. 13Mirrored
  14. 14Reasoned conclusion
  15. 15Brewski
  16. 16Bulldog fan in Connecticut
  17. 17Santa ___
  18. 18Stellar
  19. 19Van ___ Avenue, thoroughfare in San Francisco
  20. 28Minds one's P's and Q's
  21. 31Contribute (to), as one's reputation
  22. 34Been asleep, say
  23. 35Texter's "Beats me"
  24. 36Small inlet
  25. 38Li'l
  26. 43One-named singer born in Nigeria
  27. 45Skier's conveyance
  28. 46Online site for D.I.Y.ers
  29. 47Time out, perhaps
  30. 48Info commonly shown on a board game box
  31. 50Clown around with food?
  32. 51City SE of Phoenix
  33. 52Purpose of some cameras
  34. 55Reaches a shared opinion about
  35. 56Holistic contentment
  36. 57Some beans or sauces
  37. 59"E pluribus ___"
  38. 62Sport
  39. 65Matrix
  40. 67Sun bloc?
  41. 68Pretty ___ picture
  42. 70Moving around
  43. 72Attack
  44. 74You can put a ring on it
  45. 76Back
  46. 78Came back, as hair
  47. 79Music's Fatboy Slim and David Guetta, informally
  48. 81Error message on a Blu-ray device
  49. 83Targeted (to)
  50. 85Key for a quick exit
  51. 92Boils with rage
  52. 95Liberal-leaning
  53. 97Chinese "nut" that's really a fruit
  54. 98Makes small in comparison
  55. 99Government debt obligations, familiarly
  56. 10040 winks
  57. 101___ fatale
  58. 102Gets 40 winks
  59. 103Letter-shaped train track piece
  60. 104"To ___ own self be true"
  61. 105Sharpened
  62. 106George of "Star Trek"
  63. 107Bad thing to discover in the pantry
  64. 108AA or JJ, e.g.
  65. 111Jazz singer Sylvia ___
  66. 113Come to
  67. 114"For sure"
  68. 116Org. that merged with the U.F.C. in 2023
  69. 117Kind of party

The answer to “Key for a quick exit” in the New York Times crossword is ESC — a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on September 28, 2025, a Sunday puzzle, at 85-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.

“Key for a quick exit” answer

ESC (3 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 ESC.

Why the answer is ESC

ESC is the 3-letter solution that fits "Key for a quick exit" in the NYT Crossword crossword on September 28, 2025 (85-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

When else has “Key for a quick exit” 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 28, 2025 (most recent) → ESC. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Key for a quick exit”?

The answer is ESC, a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on September 28, 2025.

How many letters is the answer to “Key for a quick exit”?

3 letters: ESC.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on September 28, 2025 (a Sunday puzzle), at 85-Down.

Can “Key for a quick exit” 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 28, 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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