Tearing up or breaking down

Latest answer — July 19, 2025

14 Across

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NYT Crossword

This clue's Saturday, July 19, 2025 appearance

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Across

  1. 1What R-rated photos may do
  2. 10Stream
  3. 14Tearing up or breaking down
  4. 15Madame's family member
  5. 16Graduate-level degree
  6. 18The leaders of Thailand and Malaysia, e.g., for short
  7. 19Subject of click fraud
  8. 20What has an eye on the TV
  9. 22Business ___
  10. 23"Get outta here!"
  11. 25Lead-in to "boy" or "girl"
  12. 28Gold, in Spanish
  13. 31Extemporaneous
  14. 35Canine breed named after an English river valley
  15. 36Vince Carter quote-turned-meme regarding his return for a 22nd N.B.A. season
  16. 37Warning to a troublemaker
  17. 38Case study org.?
  18. 39Fist bumps
  19. 40Surname shared by a Hollywood father and daughter
  20. 41___ Jayawardenepura Kotte (capital city in South Asia)
  21. 43Shell liquid
  22. 44Entertainment between innings at a baseball game
  23. 50"Moving to ___" (email phrase)
  24. 53Stygian blue or reddish-green
  25. 56Pantheon part
  26. 57Trans activist who founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project
  27. 58"Who ___?"
  28. 59Biblical tax collector

Down

  1. 1Sub
  2. 2Masjid leader
  3. 3Trash
  4. 4Addams Family member
  5. 5Apt letters for the blanks in _ _ B _ L
  6. 6Large-eyed primate
  7. 7Before long
  8. 8President whose middle name was Howard
  9. 9"Who ___?"
  10. 10Actions that, despite being legal, resulted in hundreds of arrests in 1961
  11. 11Observance that ends on Holy Thursday
  12. 12Sea creature with a saddle patch
  13. 13Ingredient in some brownies
  14. 15Suomi speaker
  15. 17Dispenser of cones
  16. 20Leader before the King?
  17. 21Barbecued Mongolian dish whose name sounds like a disapproving canine
  18. 23Tap
  19. 24People for whom a Great Lake is named
  20. 25Sportsperson, in Italian
  21. 26What something scattershot is all over
  22. 27Range of the Rockies
  23. 29Surname shared by a Hollywood father and son
  24. 30Lead-in to band or army
  25. 31Went
  26. 32Unauthorized cuts of existing movies
  27. 33Crispy Crinkles brand
  28. 34"___ chic!"
  29. 42Optimistic
  30. 43Davis who played Thelma in "Thelma & Louise"
  31. 44Intermediate size
  32. 45Iowa State's city
  33. 46Cast in a different light
  34. 47Disencumbers
  35. 48Assist, as a lifter?
  36. 49Chowder ingredient
  37. 50Unexciting
  38. 51Do some tech work
  39. 52Group working on a pilot ... or a group that includes a pilot
  40. 54Winter setting in K.C.
  41. 55Choose

The answer to “Tearing up or breaking down” in the New York Times crossword is EMOTIONAL — a 9-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on July 19, 2025, a Saturday puzzle, at 14-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.

“Tearing up or breaking down” answer

EMOTIONAL (9 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 EMOTIONAL.

Why the answer is EMOTIONAL

EMOTIONAL is the 9-letter solution that fits "Tearing up or breaking down" in the NYT Crossword crossword on July 19, 2025 (14-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

What does EMOTIONAL mean?

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

(adjective)

  • relating to a person's emotions

When else has “Tearing up or breaking down” 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.

July 19, 2025 (most recent) → EMOTIONAL. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Tearing up or breaking down”?

The answer is EMOTIONAL, a 9-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on July 19, 2025.

How many letters is the answer to “Tearing up or breaking down”?

9 letters: EMOTIONAL.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on July 19, 2025 (a Saturday puzzle), at 14-Across.

Can “Tearing up or breaking down” 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 July 19, 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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