By Thomas Joseph

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Crossword clues, hints, and answers

Across

  1. 1. Monopoly avenue — Answer: BALTIC. Hint: Think of the dark purple property paired with Mediterranean on the classic Monopoly board. 🎲
  2. 7. Burns and Berry — Answer: KENS. Hint: These two entertainers share the same first name. 🎬
  3. 11. Carry too far — Answer: OVERDO. Hint: Take something beyond a sensible limit, and you’ve gone too far with it. 🚧
  4. 12. In -- (aligned) — Answer: AROW. Hint: Think of the phrase for things lined up neatly. 📏
  5. 13. Map area — Answer: NATION. Hint: A single country is one of these on a world map. 🗺️
  6. 14. Arizona city — Answer: YUMA. Hint: Think of a sunny southwestern city near the Colorado River and the Mexican border 🏜️
  7. 15. Some change — Answer: DIMES. Hint: These small coins can add up to a dollar. 🪙
  8. 16. “The Kiss” sculptor — Answer: RODIN. Hint: Think of the French sculptor also famous for creating “The Thinker.” 🗿
  9. 17. Iditarod need — Answer: SLED. Hint: Think of the snow-ready conveyance mushers rely on for this famous race 🐾
  10. 18. Secant’s reciprocal — Answer: COSINE. Hint: Think of the trigonometric ratio that pairs with secant as its reciprocal. 📐
  11. 19. Diamond Head setting — Answer: OAHU. Hint: This famous volcanic landmark rises on a sunny Hawaiian island 🏝️
  12. 21. Souvenir shop buy — Answer: TEE. Hint: A wearable keepsake often printed with the name or image of a destination. 👕
  13. 22. Monopoly avenue — Answer: TENNESSEE. Hint: Think of the orange property nestled between St. James Place and New York Avenue 🎲
  14. 25. King, in Latin — Answer: REX. Hint: Think of the ancient Roman word for a monarch. 👑
  15. 26. Brussels-based org. — Answer: NATO. Hint: This military alliance is headquartered in Belgium and focuses on collective defense. 🛡️
  16. 27. Intensifies — Answer: AMPSUP. Hint: This means makes something stronger or more powerful. 💪
  17. 29. Viral concept — Answer: MEME. Hint: A catchy idea that spreads rapidly online, often through humor. 😂
  18. 33. Period of time — Answer: SPELL. Hint: Think of a stretch or interval of time, often described with a qualifying adjective. ⏳
  19. 34. Makes a lot — Answer: PAVES. Hint: It lays down asphalt or stones to create a smooth path. 🛣️
  20. 35. Make sound — Answer: CURE. Hint: Think of a verb meaning to restore someone to health. 🩺
  21. 36. Raft movers — Answer: POLERS. Hint: They propel floating logs by pushing long poles against the riverbed. 🛶
  22. 37. Commedia dell’-- — Answer: ARTE. Hint: Think of the Italian masked theater tradition known for improvisation and stock characters 🎭
  23. 38. Shrink in fear — Answer: CRINGE. Hint: What you might do when embarrassment or dread makes you draw inward 😬
  24. 39. Endure — Answer: LAST. Hint: Keep going through something difficult without giving up 💪
  25. 40. Monopoly avenue — Answer: STATES. Hint: Think of the regions commonly united under one famous national name. 🗺️

Down

  1. 1. Some investments — Answer: BONDS. Hint: These lend money to an issuer in exchange for interest payments. 💰
  2. 2. Benefit — Answer: AVAIL. Hint: Make sure to take full advantage of every opportunity that comes your way! 🌟
  3. 3. Door holder’s words — Answer: LETME. Hint: What someone might say while politely keeping the door open for you 🚪
  4. 4. Checked for fit — Answer: TRIEDON. Hint: You might do this with shoes before deciding whether to buy them. 👟
  5. 5. Altar exchange — Answer: IDOS. Hint: Think of the brief mutual promises spoken at a wedding altar 💍
  6. 6. Take in — Answer: CON. Hint: Think of a word meaning either deceive someone or absorb information. 🧠
  7. 7. Decks — Answer: KAYOS. Hint: Think of a verb meaning floors someone in a fight. 🥊
  8. 8. Learned — Answer: ERUDITE. Hint: Think of a person whose knowledge sounds especially scholarly. 📚
  9. 9. Oscar hopeful — Answer: NOMINEE. Hint: This is the person in the running to take home the golden statuette 🏆
  10. 10. River of song — Answer: SWANEE. Hint: Think of the river immortalized in a nostalgic Stephen Foster song. 🎵
  11. 16. Drive from bed — Answer: ROUST. Hint: This verb means to force someone to get up and out of bed. 🛏️
  12. 18. Tightfisted — Answer: CHEAP. Hint: Unwilling to spend money, even when it might be justified 💰
  13. 20. Make void — Answer: ANNUL. Hint: Think of a formal way to cancel something, such as a contract or ruling. ⚖️
  14. 22. Fried veggie dish — Answer: TEMPURA. Hint: Think of vegetables dipped in a light, crispy Japanese-style batter and fried to perfection. 🥦
  15. 23. Pros — Answer: EXPERTS. Hint: People with deep knowledge and skill in a field might be called these. 🧠
  16. 24. Kenya neighbor — Answer: SOMALIA. Hint: Think of the country directly east of Kenya along the Indian Ocean. 🗺️
  17. 25. Scoundrel — Answer: RASCAL. Hint: A mischievous rogue who’s always up to no good 😈
  18. 28. Wintry weather — Answer: SLEET. Hint: A chilly mix of rain and ice that can make winter commutes slippery. ❄️
  19. 30. News item — Answer: EVENT. Hint: A happening that might make the headlines. 📰
  20. 31. Come together — Answer: MERGE. Hint: Join forces or combine into one whole. 🤝
  21. 32. Slalom curves — Answer: ESSES. Hint: Picture the winding bends a skier makes while weaving between the gates. ⛷️
  22. 34. Cruise stop — Answer: PORT. Hint: A ship may pause here to let travelers come ashore. ⚓
  23. 36. CPU settings — Answer: PCS. Hint: Think of the computers whose settings you might adjust 🖥️

Recent Thomas Joseph Answers

The last 7 days of solutions

Looking for today's Thomas Joseph Crossword answers? Every across and down solution for today's puzzle — dated August 8, 2026 — is at the top of this page, updated the moment the new grid goes live. The Thomas Joseph Crossword is King Features' compact daily: an 11×13 grid of about 50 clues that runs Monday through Saturday in newspapers and free online, pitched at the same steady difficulty every day rather than ramping through the week. It's a quick, clean solve, which is exactly why one dated reference can be the only thing between you and a finished grid. Every clue-by-clue answer is listed below, so you can check just that one.

Full Thomas Joseph Crossword answer list for today

Every clue from today's grid next to its solution — the same answers as the board above, in one plain list you can scan without tapping.

Across

#ClueAnswer
1Monopoly avenueBALTIC
7Burns and BerryKENS
11Carry too farOVERDO
12In -- (aligned)AROW
13Map areaNATION
14Arizona cityYUMA
15Some changeDIMES
16“The Kiss” sculptorRODIN
17Iditarod needSLED
18Secant’s reciprocalCOSINE
19Diamond Head settingOAHU
21Souvenir shop buyTEE
22Monopoly avenueTENNESSEE
25King, in LatinREX
26Brussels-based org.NATO
27IntensifiesAMPSUP
29Viral conceptMEME
33Period of timeSPELL
34Makes a lotPAVES
35Make soundCURE
36Raft moversPOLERS
37Commedia dell’--ARTE
38Shrink in fearCRINGE
39EndureLAST
40Monopoly avenueSTATES

Down

#ClueAnswer
1Some investmentsBONDS
2BenefitAVAIL
3Door holder’s wordsLETME
4Checked for fitTRIEDON
5Altar exchangeIDOS
6Take inCON
7DecksKAYOS
8LearnedERUDITE
9Oscar hopefulNOMINEE
10River of songSWANEE
16Drive from bedROUST
18TightfistedCHEAP
20Make voidANNUL
22Fried veggie dishTEMPURA
23ProsEXPERTS
24Kenya neighborSOMALIA
25ScoundrelRASCAL
28Wintry weatherSLEET
30News itemEVENT
31Come togetherMERGE
32Slalom curvesESSES
34Cruise stopPORT
36CPU settingsPCS

Today's Thomas Joseph Crossword answers

The current solution appears above, laid out clue by clue — every Across answer followed by every Down answer, in the order the grid numbers them. A Thomas Joseph puzzle is only 11 squares across and 13 down, so the whole answer key fits on one screen: rather than reading it end to end, scan to the entry that stopped you and leave the rest of your grid alone. A new puzzle publishes every day except Sunday, and this page updates as soon as King Features releases it.

What is the Thomas Joseph Crossword?

The Thomas Joseph Crossword is King Features Syndicate's compact daily puzzle. It runs Monday through Saturday — there is no Sunday edition — in newspapers that carry King Features, and it's free to play online at games.washingtonpost.com and arkadium.com, with no subscription. The grid is an unusual 11×13 — taller than it is wide, sized to drop into a single newspaper column — and carries about 50 clues, a third fewer than a standard 15×15 daily. Puzzles are untitled and unthemed: it's a straight vocabulary crossword rather than a wordplay showcase.

Who is Thomas Joseph?

Nobody — and that surprises a lot of solvers. “Thomas Joseph” is a King Features pen name stitched together from two first names: Joseph LaFauci, the Boston constructor who wrote the syndicate's daily 11×13 crossword from the 1970s onward, and Thomas Sheehan, his editor. LaFauci made his living building crosswords for more than thirty years, published in the New York Times some seventy times between the 1950s and 1970s, and at its peak his King Features puzzle ran in close to 400 newspapers. He worked without a dictionary, starting at 1-Across and 1-Down and building outward. LaFauci died in 1997, but King Features kept the byline, and the puzzle still follows the plain-spoken house style he set.

How the Thomas Joseph Crossword compares

It's the smallest of the classic newspaper dailies, and the closest comparison is its King Features stablemate:

Thomas JosephEugene ShefferNYT daily
Grid size11×1313×1315×15 (21×21 Sunday)
Clues~50~65~76
How oftenMon–SatMon–SatEvery day
DifficultySteady, easy endSteady, moderateRamps Monday to Saturday
CostFree onlineFree onlineGames subscription

Want more from the same syndicate? The Eugene Sheffer Crossword is the slightly larger daily, and the Premier Crossword is the Sunday-size one.

Tips for solving the Thomas Joseph Crossword

  • Don't wait for a theme. There isn't one. Every clue stands on its own, so there's no long entry to crack that unlocks the rest — just work the crossings.
  • Start with the down answers. The grid is taller than it is wide, so the downs run longer than the acrosses and give you more letters per entry solved.
  • Think older, not newer. The fill leans classic — mid-century film, standards, and geography turn up far more often than current pop culture.
  • The day of the week means nothing. Unlike the NYT, there's no difficulty ramp here. A Saturday grid is pitched exactly like a Monday one, so a hard clue is just a hard clue.
  • Use the solver for one entry. Our crossword solver reveals a single clue's answer from the letters you already have, without spoiling the rest of the grid.

Browse past Thomas Joseph Crossword answers

Every day we've covered is archived on this page by date, with full across and down solutions — useful for a puzzle you set aside or a back issue you picked up late. There's no Sunday edition, so the archive steps from Saturday straight to Monday, and it updates automatically as each new grid is syndicated. Stuck on a single clue, our crossword solver will reveal just that answer.

Browse more puzzles on the crossword solver, or use it to crack any clue from any publication.

Frequently asked questions

What are today's Thomas Joseph Crossword answers?

The full Across and Down solution for today's puzzle (August 8, 2026) is listed at the top of this page, updated as soon as King Features releases the new grid.

When does a new Thomas Joseph Crossword come out?

A new grid publishes every day except Sunday — Monday through Saturday, at the midnight Eastern date flip. Our answers go up as soon as the puzzle is out.

Who is Thomas Joseph?

Thomas Joseph is a King Features pen name rather than a living constructor. It combines the first names of Joseph LaFauci, the Boston constructor who wrote the syndicate's daily 11×13 crossword from the 1970s until his death in 1997, and his editor Thomas Sheehan. King Features has kept the byline on the puzzle ever since.

How big is the Thomas Joseph Crossword?

It's an 11×13 grid — 11 squares across, 13 down — with roughly 50 clues. That's smaller than a standard 15×15 daily, which is why it fits a single newspaper column and why most solvers finish it in under ten minutes.

Is the Thomas Joseph Crossword hard?

It sits at the easier end of the American dailies. Clues are mostly straight definitions, the fill is short, and there's no Monday-to-Saturday difficulty ramp. Where it does bite is the older reference — the vocabulary leans classic rather than current.

Is the Thomas Joseph Crossword free to play?

Yes — it's free with no subscription at games.washingtonpost.com and arkadium.com, and it runs in newspapers that carry King Features. Our answers and clues are free too.

Where can I find past Thomas Joseph Crossword answers?

Every day we've covered is in the archive on this page, listed by date with the full solution, and it updates automatically each morning.