Not fooled by

Latest answer — September 22, 2026

51 Down

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Clue explained

If you are ONTO someone, you are not fooled by that person and have recognized what they are doing. The phrase “onto you” supplies the idiomatic sense.

Clue type:
Phrase or idiom
A detective recognizing that someone is trying to deceive them.

USA Today Crossword

This clue's Tuesday, September 22, 2026 appearance

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Or reveal one clue at a time with the Hint and Answer buttons below.

Across

  1. 1Hair on a lid
  2. 5Flattering poems
  3. 9Roast battle hosts
  4. 12Not bottled
  5. 14Perpetual roamer
  6. 16Tuna often used in tataki
  7. 17"It's not over 'til it's over"
  8. 20Throw in
  9. 21"The ___ is history!"
  10. 22Diving apparatuses
  11. 23Garland that can be made in "wili" and "kui" styles
  12. 24Be real
  13. 26One of two allowed before a layup
  14. 27Utterly defeat
  15. 29Stats for inbound flights
  16. 31There are 109.361 in 100 meters, for short
  17. 33Red fruit in fanqie chao dan
  18. 36Array at a rock concert
  19. 38Enjoy a smashburger
  20. 39Chickpea penne, e.g.
  21. 42Things checked by bouncers
  22. 43Sing it with me!
  23. 44"You're getting closer"
  24. 45"In case it's of interest . . ." for short
  25. 46Does some stitching
  26. 48U.S. spy org.
  27. 49Bounce-back effect
  28. 52Response to a relatable meme
  29. 54Root crop in amala
  30. 57UFO crew
  31. 59The ___ (Chi-Town paper)
  32. 60"Dude . . ."
  33. 61Treat a lens like an audience
  34. 64Calligrapher's tool
  35. 65President who shared a meal with Anthony Bourdain
  36. 66Overlong sentence
  37. 67Sophomores, in two years (Abbr.)
  38. 68Cherry discard
  39. 69Cuts grass

Down

  1. 1Ride-or-die
  2. 2One end of a battery
  3. 3People hired to play in recording sessions
  4. 4"Yeah, you WISH!"
  5. 5Newborn's garment
  6. 6"I'm in no mood for your attitude!"
  7. 7CPR expert
  8. 8Tools in lumberyards
  9. 9"I haven't made up my mind"
  10. 10Romantic outing that doesn't cost a fortune
  11. 11Is on the bottom?
  12. 13Raised children
  13. 15Rx prescribers
  14. 18Really annoy
  15. 19Pecan or pistachio
  16. 25Domesticated
  17. 28Angkor ___ (Cambodian temple)
  18. 30Gush forth
  19. 32One of five on the Chinese flag
  20. 33"At last! The weekend!"
  21. 34Dog in a 1957 Disney film
  22. 35Demanding burden
  23. 37It's used to separate words
  24. 40Service charge
  25. 41R&B singer Lennox
  26. 47Small mountain flower?
  27. 50"What's up?"
  28. 51Not fooled by
  29. 53___ drop (dramatic exit)
  30. 55One in a keyboard quartet?
  31. 56Rhyme and synonym for "groans"
  32. 57Programs such as Boycat and Buycott
  33. 58Has a bawl
  34. 62Bit of body art created by Whang-od, for short
  35. 63Tight-lipped

The answer to “Not fooled by” in the USA Today crossword is ONTO — a 4-letter word. It most recently appeared in the USA Today crossword on September 22, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle, at 51-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.

“Not fooled by” answer

ONTO (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 ONTO.

What does ONTO mean?

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

(adposition)

  • expressing the relationship of a set to its image under a mapping when every element of the image set has an inverse image in the first set

When else has “Not fooled by” appeared?

USA Today 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 22, 2026 (most recent) → ONTO. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Not fooled by”?

The answer is ONTO, a 4-letter word. It most recently appeared in the USA Today crossword on September 22, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Not fooled by”?

4 letters: ONTO.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the USA Today crossword on September 22, 2026 (a Tuesday puzzle), at 51-Down.

Can “Not fooled by” have a different answer?

Yes — USA Today 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 USA Today answers?

The full grid for September 22, 2026 is on the USA Today answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

USA Today Crossword is published by USA Today; WordHint is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.

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