Wild cards, at times

Editorially verified for the Oct 14, 2026

8 Down

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A hand of playing cards with several aces visible.

Clue explainedFact checked

In some card games, aces can be wild cards, meaning they may stand in for other cards or take on a special value. The rule depends on the game; an ace isn’t wild in every deck or every round.

Clue type:
Definition

NYT Crossword

This clue's Wednesday, October 14, 2026 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Hot stuff
  2. 6Target
  3. 10Worshiper's locale, at times
  4. 14Poe's middle name
  5. 15Lingerie material
  6. 16Glimpse
  7. 17Response to "Good morning, everybody!"
  8. 19Glazier's product
  9. 20Consumed
  10. 21Debunked "facts"
  11. 22Amish, Shakers and others
  12. 23Long (for)
  13. 24Former Mideast bigwig
  14. 25Response to "Let's get this meeting going"
  15. 30Wrap, as rope
  16. 32Word before or after butt
  17. 33Flesh and blood
  18. 34Tree with edible nuts
  19. 36"A conversation carried out by other means," per Peter Ustinov
  20. 37Give in
  21. 39Triumphant cry
  22. 40Prefix with -meter
  23. 42Chilean money
  24. 43Response to "Why is everyone ignoring me?"
  25. 48Small valley
  26. 49They may be subject to inflation
  27. 50Flora and fauna, collectively
  28. 52Sharp part of a kite
  29. 54Chicago sights, for short
  30. 57Apartment option
  31. 58Reaction to the unsuccessful "conversation" in this puzzle
  32. 60Off base?
  33. 61___ test
  34. 62Isolated
  35. 63Befuddled state
  36. 64Deep-six
  37. 65Source of strength and resilience

Down

  1. 1Bygone Mesoamerican civilization
  2. 2Oodles
  3. 3Affix, in a way
  4. 4Besmirch
  5. 5Low on red blood cells, perhaps
  6. 6It's in wheat, but not buckwheat
  7. 7Requirement for a juror
  8. 8Wild cards, at times
  9. 9Took the helm
  10. 10Look
  11. 11Dandy
  12. 12Label on an email folder
  13. 13Scratches (out)
  14. 18Talkative bird
  15. 22Like a good tree or a bad deal
  16. 23Three-season star of the New York Cosmos
  17. 24Word before green or after Red
  18. 25Literary title character who's mostly unseen
  19. 26Pronoun with two homophones
  20. 27Curse
  21. 28Mechanic's canfuls
  22. 29Edit menu command
  23. 30Shoot the breeze
  24. 31Locale of the Battleship Missouri Memorial
  25. 35Who "turned my whole world upside down," in a 1970s rock hit
  26. 36"Rugrats" dad
  27. 38Announcements in The Economist, for short
  28. 41"What a riot!," in brief
  29. 44Irk
  30. 45Something to hum
  31. 46Sikorsky of aviation fame
  32. 47Cuban drums
  33. 50Unexciting
  34. 51"American Gothic" setting
  35. 52First word of "Ode on a Grecian Urn"
  36. 53Way off
  37. 54Alma mater for George Orwell and Hugh Laurie
  38. 55Cue from a cuer
  39. 56Hearty dish
  40. 58Ball
  41. 59Hollywood's Roth or Wallach

The answer to “Wild cards, at times” in the New York Times crossword is ACES — a 4-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on October 14, 2026, a Wednesday puzzle, at 8-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.

“Wild cards, at times” answer

ACES (4 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 ACES.

What does ACES mean?

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

(noun)

  • a playing card with a single spot on it, ranked as the highest card in its suit in most card games
  • a person who excels at a particular sport or other activity
  • (in tennis and similar games) a service that an opponent is unable to return and thus wins a point

When else has “Wild cards, at times” 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.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Wild cards, at times”?

The answer is ACES, a 4-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on October 14, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Wild cards, at times”?

4 letters: ACES.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the New York Times crossword on October 14, 2026 (a Wednesday puzzle), at 8-Down.

Can “Wild cards, at times” 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 October 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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