Strains to hear?

Latest answer — May 14, 2026

29 Down

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NYT Crossword

This clue's Thursday, May 14, 2026 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Cliff formed by a fault
  2. 6Avoided a tag, say
  3. 10Penultimate Greek letter
  4. 13"My fault entirely"
  5. 14Taste perception first identified in 1908
  6. 15Physics unit named for a physicist
  7. 16Feature that debuted on Page 1 of The New York Times in 1997
  8. 18Confucian "way"
  9. 19Prime breeding environment for mosquitoes
  10. 20Impression on some fancy sheets
  11. 22Puente of "The Mambo Kings"
  12. 23Traveled path
  13. 24At sea, say
  14. 27Powerful fireboat gear
  15. 30Rationalist's theology
  16. 31Decree
  17. 32Part of an analogy
  18. 33"___'s da breaks!"
  19. 34Lovestruck
  20. 37Flesh and blood
  21. 38Biblical locale guarded by a flaming sword
  22. 40Direction to bow, in music
  23. 41Squeezing (out)
  24. 43Gets bloated, say
  25. 45Pair for a pool
  26. 46Ruthless Athenian lawgiver
  27. 47Tidy up, in a way
  28. 48What collects in a puddle
  29. 49Things often getting free refills
  30. 54Simile segment
  31. 55Broadcasting giant with hundreds of stations
  32. 57___ Friday
  33. 58Origin of the words "sky" and "scrape"
  34. 59Heather genus that's also a woman's name
  35. 60Good periods
  36. 61Former small-sized G.M. cars
  37. 62Compound with a caret-shaped molecule, as depicted by this puzzle's circled letters

Down

  1. 1Anatomical containers
  2. 2Thicken
  3. 3Palindrome on an Italian restaurant menu
  4. 4September to April, in the oyster industry
  5. 5Alternatives to hourly wages
  6. 6Ecological concern
  7. 7Trellis piece
  8. 8"If u ask me"
  9. 9Gossip about, informally
  10. 10A peeling that's appealing?
  11. 11Prolifically posting about one's kids online, in a neologism
  12. 12Reassuring reply
  13. 14"That ... ain't it"
  14. 17Essence
  15. 21Certain tax-free bond, informally
  16. 23Velocity, e.g.
  17. 24Relatively unusual
  18. 25Had to have right away
  19. 26Races against the clock
  20. 27Travel by pick-up?
  21. 28"The Elder" or "The Younger" Roman
  22. 29Strains to hear?
  23. 31Hemlock relatives
  24. 35Hand, at a hacienda
  25. 36Group with a satellite truck
  26. 39Palindrome on an Indian restaurant menu
  27. 42Seven-stringed instrument that gave the guitar its name
  28. 44Ancient book of divination
  29. 45Member of a sluglike "Star Wars" species
  30. 47Presaging disaster
  31. 48Meaty pasta sauce
  32. 49Long lunch?
  33. 50Get ahead of
  34. 51Cut and paste, e.g.
  35. 52Force through a food mill
  36. 53Go way up
  37. 56Uprooting tool

The answer to “Strains to hear?” in the New York Times crossword is SONGS — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on May 14, 2026, a Thursday puzzle, at 29-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.

“Strains to hear?” answer

SONGS (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 SONGS.

Why the answer is SONGS

SONGS is the 5-letter solution that fits "Strains to hear?" in the NYT Crossword crossword on May 14, 2026 (29-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does SONGS mean?

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

(noun)

  • a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung
  • the musical phrases uttered by some birds, whales, and insects, typically forming a recognizable and repeated sequence and used chiefly for territorial defence or for attracting mates

When else has “Strains to hear?” 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.

May 14, 2026 (most recent) → SONGS. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Strains to hear?”?

The answer is SONGS, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on May 14, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Strains to hear?”?

5 letters: SONGS.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on May 14, 2026 (a Thursday puzzle), at 29-Down.

Can “Strains to hear?” 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 May 14, 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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