What you might do if you don't know an answer

The answer to “What you might do if you don't know an answer” in the New York Times crossword is GUESS — a 5-letter word. This clue ran in the New York Times crossword on April 1, 2025, a Tuesday puzzle, at 42-Across. If it's the entry standing between you and a clean grid, that's the word you need — and below you'll find why it fits, plus links to the day's other clues if more than one square is giving you trouble.

“What you might do if you don't know an answer” answer

GUESS (5 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 GUESS.

Why the answer is GUESS

GUESS is the 5-letter solution that fits "What you might do if you don't know an answer" in the NYT Crossword crossword on April 1, 2025 (42-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

When else has “What you might do if you don't know an answer” 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 before, and what the answer was each time — handy if you landed here from a puzzle on another date.

April 1, 2025 (this puzzle) → GUESS. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.

More clues from the NYT Crossword crossword on April 1, 2025

Stuck elsewhere in the grid? Here are some of the crossing and nearby clues from the same puzzle — tap any for its answer and explanation.

• Big shot on the internet → INFLUENCER
• Recapitulate → SUMUP
• Droop → SAG
• Doctor Freud → SIGMUND
• ___ power → SOLAR
• Genetic material → DNA
• Like short plays, typically → ONEACT
• ___ factor (grossness measure) → ICK

Want every clue in one place? The full New York Times answer list for April 1, 2025 is on that day's grid page, and today's live NYT Crossword answers are always one tap from the today page.

About the NYT Crossword

The New York Times crossword, edited by Will Shortz, is the most famous daily puzzle in the United States. It runs a 15×15 grid Monday through Saturday and a larger 21×21 grid on Sunday, and its difficulty deliberately ramps through the week: Monday is the most approachable, Saturday the toughest, with Thursday often reserved for a trick or twist like rebus squares. This page covers a Tuesday puzzle. A straight-definition entry is the kind of solid mid-grid answer that anchors the trickier crossings around it. Because the NYT reuses short, crossing-friendly words regularly, seeing them once makes them easier to spot next time.

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