Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer
Crossword Answer — May 17, 2025
NYT Crossword
Saturday, May 17, 2025
By Ryan Judge
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Or reveal one clue at a time with the Hint and Answer buttons below.
NYT Crossword Clues
Across
Down
Crossword clues, hints, and answers
Across
- 1. Much mail to Santa — Answer: LISTS
- 6. Rubbish destinations — Answer: BINS
- 10. Sultanate that controls the exclave of Madha — Answer: OMAN
- 14. Mescal source — Answer: AGAVE
- 15. Tip line? — Answer: ANYADVICE
- 17. Sitcom set in a corner store run by a Korean Canadian family (2016-21) — Answer: KIMSCONVENIENCE
- 19. Halloween vis-à-vis All Saints' Day — Answer: EVE
- 20. Hair color, e.g. — Answer: TRAIT
- 21. Cards' home — Answer: ARI
- 22. The sun, e.g., in about five billion years — Answer: REDGIANT
- 24. Humiliated (or honored), as on Nickelodeon — Answer: SLIMED
- 27. Like one preferring platonic relationships, informally — Answer: ARO
- 28. British singer ___ Parks — Answer: ARLO
- 30. Museum with works by Hockney, Turner and Millais — Answer: TATE
- 31. Going down, in a way — Answer: FLYINGSOUTH
- 35. Threw one's hat in the ring — Answer: RAN
- 36. Becomes uncomfortable, as underwear — Answer: RIDESUP
- 37. Frightful — Answer: GHASTLY
- 39. Type that's compatible with everyone, in brief — Answer: ONEG
- 40. First president of the S.C.L.C. — Answer: MLK
- 42. Neutral color — Answer: ASH
- 43. Work well together — Answer: GEL
- 44. "C'mon, dish it!" — Answer: SPILLTHETEA
- 49. Chicken nugget shape — Answer: DINO
- 51. Stands to practice hitting — Answer: TEES
- 52. Causes of some burns — Answer: RUGS
- 53. N.F.L. team whose name is a literary reference — Answer: RAVENS
- 55. Fills up — Answer: EATSALOT
- 57. Scale range — Answer: ONETOTEN
- 59. Blather — Answer: HOTAIR
- 60. "Bad Moon Rising" band, familiarly — Answer: CCR
- 61. Further — Answer: MORE
- 62. M.L.B. star Pete who holds the single-season record for homers by a rookie (53) — Answer: ALONSO
- 63. Map inset — Answer: KEY
- 64. End of a trail, perhaps — Answer: APEX
- 65. They're accepted at church — Answer: TENETS
Down
- 1. Athlete who shares his home venue with the Sparks — Answer: LAKER
- 2. "Enough!" — Answer: IGIVE
- 3. Prime choice — Answer: SAMEDAYDELIVERY
- 4. They're found in dens — Answer: TVS
- 5. Sports and Arts, e.g. — Answer: SECTIONS
- 6. Something to take in from a boat — Answer: BANANASPLIT
- 7. Outside the typical biological setting — Answer: INVITRO
- 8. Dostoyevsky's denial — Answer: NYET
- 9. Spanish word on a U.S. map — Answer: SAN
- 10. Having lost interest — Answer: OVERIT
- 11. Where you might refuel after refueling — Answer: MINIMART
- 12. Miami is in it, for short — Answer: ACC
- 13. French word that sounds like a vote — Answer: NEE
- 16. Turn (up) — Answer: DIAL
- 18. Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer — Answer: ORA
- 23. Composer Edvard — Answer: GRIEG
- 24. "Anyway, gonna move on now" — Answer: SOTHATSTHAT
- 25. Name-dropping abbreviation — Answer: ETAL
- 26. Not own — Answer: DENY
- 29. Schlep — Answer: LUG
- 31. End part of a violin bow — Answer: FROG
- 32. What might lead to a row at a party? — Answer: LINEDANCE
- 33. Forrest of film — Answer: GUMP
- 34. Miscellany — Answer: HASH
- 38. Chain whose name came from a Boston hotel whose sign was too expensive to remove — Answer: SHERATON
- 41. Part of a cold pack? — Answer: KLEENEX
- 44. Wine valley in the Bay Area — Answer: SONOMA
- 45. Green expanse — Answer: LEA
- 46. It was founded as the Medical College of Louisiana — Answer: TULANE
- 47. One with an "I" problem? — Answer: EGOIST
- 48. Team whose logo contains an "H" on top of a star — Answer: ASTROS
- 50. It's not gross — Answer: NET
- 53. Sway — Answer: ROCK
- 54. "Enough!" — Answer: STOP. Hint: Sometimes you just need to hit the brakes! 🛑
- 56. Base of a pump — Answer: SOLE
- 58. "Ended, ___ it begun" (Emily Dickinson poem) — Answer: ERE
The answer to “Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer” in the New York Times crossword is ORA — a 3-letter word. This clue ran in the New York Times crossword on May 17, 2025, a Saturday puzzle, at 18-Down. 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.
“Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer” answer
ORA (3 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 ORA.
Why the answer is ORA
ORA is the 3-letter solution that fits "Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer" in the NYT Crossword crossword on May 17, 2025 (18-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.
When else has “Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer” 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.
May 17, 2025 (this puzzle) → ORA. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.
More clues from the NYT Crossword crossword on May 17, 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.
- Sitcom set in a corner store run by a Korean Canadian family (2016-21) → KIMSCONVENIENCE
- Hair color, e.g. → TRAIT
- The sun, e.g., in about five billion years → REDGIANT
- Halloween vis-à-vis All Saints' Day → EVE
- Turn (up) → DIAL
- Tip line? → ANYADVICE
- Cards' home → ARI
- Mescal source → AGAVE
Want every clue in one place? The full New York Times answer list for May 17, 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 Saturday 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.
Frequently asked questions
What is the answer to “Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer”?
The answer is ORA, a 3-letter word. It appeared in the New York Times crossword on May 17, 2025.
How many letters is the answer to “Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer”?
3 letters: ORA.
Where did this clue appear?
In the New York Times crossword on May 17, 2025 (a Saturday puzzle), at 18-Down.
Can “Rita ___, "R.I.P." singer” 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 May 17, 2025 is on the NYT Crossword answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.