"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"

Latest answer — September 28, 2026

37 Across

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Clue explained

BANANA completes the familiar humorous saying “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana,” with ARROW supplied by 50-Down. The second “flies” means that fruit flies are fond of bananas, creating the pun.

Clue type:
Pun or wordplay
A banana with small fruit flies nearby.

NYT Crossword

This clue's Monday, September 28, 2026 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Widespread disorder
  2. 6Like the exteriors of armadillos
  3. 11Fall behind in payments
  4. 14Boxing locale
  5. 15Classic radio song
  6. 16Dessert with a crust
  7. 17Solid baseball hit
  8. 18Complete shocker
  9. 20Bicycle built for two
  10. 22Round Table title
  11. 23"___ time will tell"
  12. 24Prefix with physics or thermal
  13. 25Make into law
  14. 27Alternative to French fries
  15. 31Skill needed to solve sudoku
  16. 35Suffix with fail or forfeit
  17. 36Apple platform
  18. 37"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"
  19. 38With 41-Across, ball hit out of the park by the very first batter for either side ... or a hint to the starts of 18-, 27-, 46- and 60-Across
  20. 41See 38-Across
  21. 42Coconut Girl Scout cookies
  22. 43"La Cage ___ Folles"
  23. 44Frat member
  24. 45Liability's opposite
  25. 46Detonation region
  26. 49"___ I compare thee to a summer's day?": Shak.
  27. 51Before, poetically
  28. 52What's more
  29. 55Spoil
  30. 56Performs a stylish ballroom dance
  31. 60Tropical tree whose product is sometimes used as a meat substitute
  32. 63San Francisco ballplayer
  33. 64Actress de Armas
  34. 65"Take a look!"
  35. 66Helper for computer problems, informally
  36. 67Kylo ___ of "Star Wars"
  37. 68Stockholm native
  38. 69Pursue

Down

  1. 1"Stop!"
  2. 2Puccini's "O mio babbino caro," e.g.
  3. 3Kind of diagram with overlapping circles
  4. 4Antsy
  5. 5One's employment pursuit
  6. 6Bawl
  7. 7Places to hang clothes
  8. 8Forum overseers
  9. 9The Scales, zodiacally
  10. 10"Definitely!"
  11. 11Certain golf or tennis tournament
  12. 12Funny Ferrell or Rogers
  13. 13Slippery
  14. 19Scorcher
  15. 21Recurring thematic elements
  16. 26Happy as a ___
  17. 27City NE of Oklahoma City
  18. 28Fields
  19. 29The N.H.L. has 32
  20. 30Cartoon brawl sound effect
  21. 32Actress Greta of "Queen Christina"
  22. 33Store, as ashes
  23. 34Dugout, e.g.
  24. 37Complete series, maybe
  25. 39Gets by
  26. 40Solemn vow
  27. 41___ Guofeng, successor of Mao Zedong
  28. 43Like the score going into extra innings
  29. 46Top to accompany a skirt
  30. 47Like the fate of Ophelia
  31. 48Peak
  32. 50See 37-Across
  33. 52Cracked slightly, as a door
  34. 53Word following bike or memory
  35. 54Look at carefully
  36. 57"Shallow" singer Lady ___
  37. 58Burden
  38. 59Ailment that aptly rhymes with "eye"
  39. 61N.F.L. three-pointers: Abbr.
  40. 62Top to accompany shorts

The answer to “"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"” in the New York Times crossword is BANANA — a 6-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on September 28, 2026, a Monday puzzle, at 37-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.

“"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"” answer

BANANA (6 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 BANANA.

What does BANANA mean?

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

(noun)

  • a long curved fruit that grows in clusters and has soft pulpy flesh and yellow skin when ripe
  • the tropical and subtropical palmlike plant that bears bananas, having very large leaves but lacking a woody trunk

When else has “"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"” 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, 2026 (most recent) → BANANA. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"”?

The answer is BANANA, a 6-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on September 28, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"”?

6 letters: BANANA.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on September 28, 2026 (a Monday puzzle), at 37-Across.

Can “"Time flies like an [50-Down]; fruit flies like a ___"” 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, 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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