___-cat

Crossword Answer — December 07, 2025

Answer

NYT Crossword

Sunday, December 07, 2025

By Kate Jensen

Tap a square to reveal a letter.

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

NYT Crossword Clues

Across

  1. 1Fancy dos
  2. 6"Count me out"
  3. 11Cantankerous captain of fiction
  4. 15Lab provisions?
  5. 19Bit of letter-shaped hardware
  6. 20Attended
  7. 21New York university based in Manhattan
  8. 22A "bear of very little brain"
  9. 23Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison?
  10. 25John James Audubon?
  11. 27Victorian-era prescription for melancholy
  12. 28They'll make it up to you
  13. 30Stumble or lurch
  14. 31Pittsburgh-to-Buffalo dir.
  15. 32Dictionary tag: Abbr.
  16. 34Summer camper's conveyance
  17. 36Emmy-winning actor Ray
  18. 38Samuel Morse?
  19. 43Sir Edmund Hillary?
  20. 46Lake that's home to the world's largest freshwater island
  21. 47Bit of cacao
  22. 49Come out on top
  23. 50Suffix with hypn-
  24. 51Trees commonly confused with birches
  25. 54Deposit that might gather interest?
  26. 55Cheeky
  27. 59Sir Isaac Newton?
  28. 62Cattle calls
  29. 63"Harper Valley ___" (1968 hit)
  30. 64TV tavern visited by Mayor Quimby
  31. 65Shoe covering
  32. 67It's often rapped but never spoken
  33. 68Like beds on lazy Saturdays
  34. 70Cuts (back)
  35. 71Outfit that may have a hood
  36. 73Kofi ___, former secretary general of the United Nations
  37. 74Like the Red Sea after a visit from Moses
  38. 76Rain on your wedding day, perhaps
  39. 77...
  40. 79Oui : non :: ja : ___
  41. 80Gregor Mendel?
  42. 83Hint
  43. 85Gives a thumbs up
  44. 86Basic tenet of improv
  45. 87Sister to Lex Luthor
  46. 88With love, musically
  47. 91A urinal, according to Duchamp
  48. 92Remedies
  49. 93Henry Ford?
  50. 98Orville and Wilbur Wright?
  51. 100Give a darn, again?
  52. 101Food and water, e.g.
  53. 103College located in Cedar Rapids
  54. 104"That sounds awful!"
  55. 105Noble title
  56. 108Bit of letter-shaped hardware
  57. 110Unexpected endings
  58. 115Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung?
  59. 118Galileo Galilei?
  60. 120Genesis
  61. 121Roof overhang
  62. 122Weirdly spooky
  63. 123Church staple
  64. 124"Vous ___ ici" (French map phrase)
  65. 125Part of a wooden bench
  66. 126"In other words," in other words
  67. 127Trips around the sun

Down

  1. 1Solos at a party, say
  2. 2The duck in "Peter and the Wolf"
  3. 3Future birthplace of Captain Kirk
  4. 4Pest whose name is a homophone for what you might do when you see it
  5. 5Gone to great lengths
  6. 6___ Jima
  7. 7One of the Fab Four
  8. 8Jelly you wouldn't pair with peanut butter
  9. 9Arabic greeting and farewell
  10. 10Canned fuel used in making fondue
  11. 11Broadcast to squad cars, in brief
  12. 12Slim margin of victory
  13. 13One chain x one furlong
  14. 14Amelia ___, maid of children's literature
  15. 15Its showers bring flowers: Abbr.
  16. 16Grant a mortgage, say
  17. 17Where one's trip begins
  18. 18"Golly, that's cool!"
  19. 24Rock climber's handhold
  20. 26Russian crepes
  21. 29Starter, perhaps
  22. 33Is felt strongly
  23. 35Firmly establishes
  24. 37Crazy Horse and fellow tribespeople
  25. 38Bite down hard
  26. 39Musical tool popularized by T-Pain
  27. 40Personification of England, Scotland and Wales
  28. 41Sets of points, in math
  29. 42"Jeepers creepers!"
  30. 44Pied-à-___
  31. 45Michigan, in Chicago: Abbr.
  32. 48Word after you or wanna
  33. 51"And giving ___, up the chimney he rose"
  34. 52Nullify
  35. 53___-cat
  36. 56Like many Russian housing blocks
  37. 57Made more enticing
  38. 58French fashion inits.
  39. 60Oldest independent state in the Arab world
  40. 61Alter, as a T-shirt for a Phish concert, say
  41. 66Idealist
  42. 67Actress Rowlands
  43. 69She-shed's counterpart
  44. 70Like some nails found in a drugstore
  45. 72Geek (out)
  46. 73Drone or queen
  47. 75Want from
  48. 76Catherine of "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind"
  49. 78Uncouth
  50. 81Farm-share program, for short
  51. 82Hint
  52. 84Self-proclaimed "Rap God"
  53. 85___ chart
  54. 89Like many couples at theaters
  55. 90McFlurry flavor
  56. 92Something for canines to sink their canines into
  57. 93Toil
  58. 94Wish one could take back
  59. 95Arrival announcement
  60. 96___ Lannister, "Game of Thrones" queen
  61. 97Like professional publications
  62. 99Indian flatbread
  63. 102Trap
  64. 106Not just theoretical
  65. 107It runs hot
  66. 109Drab color for una casa
  67. 111Concerning
  68. 112Sonic the Hedgehog company
  69. 113Feodor I, for one
  70. 114Taxpayer IDs
  71. 116Morning times, in brief
  72. 117Encountered
  73. 119Kind of nurse or suit

Crossword clues, hints, and answers

Across

  1. 1. Fancy dos — Answer: COIFS. Hint: Think of stylish hairstyles for a special occasion! 💇‍♀️
  2. 6. "Count me out" — Answer: IPASS
  3. 11. Cantankerous captain of fiction — Answer: AHAB
  4. 15. Lab provisions? — Answer: ALPO
  5. 19. Bit of letter-shaped hardware — Answer: UBOLT
  6. 20. Attended — Answer: WASAT
  7. 21. New York university based in Manhattan — Answer: PACE
  8. 22. A "bear of very little brain" — Answer: POOH
  9. 23. Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison? — Answer: POWERCOUPLE
  10. 25. John James Audubon? — Answer: BIRDBRAIN
  11. 27. Victorian-era prescription for melancholy — Answer: SEAAIR
  12. 28. They'll make it up to you — Answer: LIARS
  13. 30. Stumble or lurch — Answer: REEL
  14. 31. Pittsburgh-to-Buffalo dir. — Answer: NNE
  15. 32. Dictionary tag: Abbr. — Answer: VAR
  16. 34. Summer camper's conveyance — Answer: CANOE
  17. 36. Emmy-winning actor Ray — Answer: LIOTTA
  18. 38. Samuel Morse? — Answer: CABLEGUY
  19. 43. Sir Edmund Hillary? — Answer: MOUNTAINGOAT
  20. 46. Lake that's home to the world's largest freshwater island — Answer: HURON
  21. 47. Bit of cacao — Answer: NIB
  22. 49. Come out on top — Answer: PREVAIL
  23. 50. Suffix with hypn- — Answer: OTIC
  24. 51. Trees commonly confused with birches — Answer: ASPENS
  25. 54. Deposit that might gather interest? — Answer: ORE
  26. 55. Cheeky — Answer: SASSY
  27. 59. Sir Isaac Newton? — Answer: MOTIONDETECTOR
  28. 62. Cattle calls — Answer: LOWS
  29. 63. "Harper Valley ___" (1968 hit) — Answer: PTA
  30. 64. TV tavern visited by Mayor Quimby — Answer: MOES
  31. 65. Shoe covering — Answer: GAITER
  32. 67. It's often rapped but never spoken — Answer: GAVEL
  33. 68. Like beds on lazy Saturdays — Answer: UNMADE
  34. 70. Cuts (back) — Answer: PARES
  35. 71. Outfit that may have a hood — Answer: ONESIE
  36. 73. Kofi ___, former secretary general of the United Nations — Answer: ANNAN
  37. 74. Like the Red Sea after a visit from Moses — Answer: PARTED
  38. 76. Rain on your wedding day, perhaps — Answer: OMEN
  39. 77. ... — Answer: ETC
  40. 79. Oui : non :: ja : ___ — Answer: NEIN
  41. 80. Gregor Mendel? — Answer: SEEDYCHARACTER
  42. 83. Hint — Answer: TRACE
  43. 85. Gives a thumbs up — Answer: OKS
  44. 86. Basic tenet of improv — Answer: YESAND
  45. 87. Sister to Lex Luthor — Answer: LENA
  46. 88. With love, musically — Answer: AMOROSO
  47. 91. A urinal, according to Duchamp — Answer: ART
  48. 92. Remedies — Answer: CURES
  49. 93. Henry Ford? — Answer: DRIVINGFORCE
  50. 98. Orville and Wilbur Wright? — Answer: AIRHEADS
  51. 100. Give a darn, again? — Answer: REMEND
  52. 101. Food and water, e.g. — Answer: NEEDS
  53. 103. College located in Cedar Rapids — Answer: COE
  54. 104. "That sounds awful!" — Answer: UGH
  55. 105. Noble title — Answer: EARL
  56. 108. Bit of letter-shaped hardware — Answer: ORING
  57. 110. Unexpected endings — Answer: TWISTS
  58. 115. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung? — Answer: DREAMTEAM
  59. 118. Galileo Galilei? — Answer: STARWITNESS
  60. 120. Genesis — Answer: GERM
  61. 121. Roof overhang — Answer: EAVE. Hint: Think about the part of the house that extends beyond the walls to protect you from rain! 🌧️
  62. 122. Weirdly spooky — Answer: EERIE
  63. 123. Church staple — Answer: ORGAN
  64. 124. "Vous ___ ici" (French map phrase) — Answer: ETES
  65. 125. Part of a wooden bench — Answer: SLAT
  66. 126. "In other words," in other words — Answer: IDEST
  67. 127. Trips around the sun — Answer: YEARS

Down

  1. 1. Solos at a party, say — Answer: CUPS
  2. 2. The duck in "Peter and the Wolf" — Answer: OBOE
  3. 3. Future birthplace of Captain Kirk — Answer: IOWA
  4. 4. Pest whose name is a homophone for what you might do when you see it — Answer: FLEA
  5. 5. Gone to great lengths — Answer: STRIVEN
  6. 6. ___ Jima — Answer: IWO
  7. 7. One of the Fab Four — Answer: PAUL
  8. 8. Jelly you wouldn't pair with peanut butter — Answer: ASPIC
  9. 9. Arabic greeting and farewell — Answer: SALAAM
  10. 10. Canned fuel used in making fondue — Answer: STERNO
  11. 11. Broadcast to squad cars, in brief — Answer: APB
  12. 12. Slim margin of victory — Answer: HAIR
  13. 13. One chain x one furlong — Answer: ACRE
  14. 14. Amelia ___, maid of children's literature — Answer: BEDELIA
  15. 15. Its showers bring flowers: Abbr. — Answer: APR
  16. 16. Grant a mortgage, say — Answer: LOANTO
  17. 17. Where one's trip begins — Answer: POINTA
  18. 18. "Golly, that's cool!" — Answer: OHNEAT
  19. 24. Rock climber's handhold — Answer: CRAG
  20. 26. Russian crepes — Answer: BLINIS
  21. 29. Starter, perhaps — Answer: SOUP
  22. 33. Is felt strongly — Answer: RUNSDEEP
  23. 35. Firmly establishes — Answer: ENROOTS
  24. 37. Crazy Horse and fellow tribespeople — Answer: OGLALAS
  25. 38. Bite down hard — Answer: CHOMP
  26. 39. Musical tool popularized by T-Pain — Answer: AUTOTUNER
  27. 40. Personification of England, Scotland and Wales — Answer: BRITANNIA
  28. 41. Sets of points, in math — Answer: LOCI
  29. 42. "Jeepers creepers!" — Answer: YIPES
  30. 44. Pied-à-___ — Answer: TERRE
  31. 45. Michigan, in Chicago: Abbr. — Answer: AVE
  32. 48. Word after you or wanna — Answer: BET
  33. 51. "And giving ___, up the chimney he rose" — Answer: ANOD
  34. 52. Nullify — Answer: NEGATE
  35. 53. ___-cat — Answer: SCAREDY
  36. 56. Like many Russian housing blocks — Answer: SOVIETERA
  37. 57. Made more enticing — Answer: SWEETENED
  38. 58. French fashion inits. — Answer: YSL
  39. 60. Oldest independent state in the Arab world — Answer: OMAN
  40. 61. Alter, as a T-shirt for a Phish concert, say — Answer: TIEDYE
  41. 66. Idealist — Answer: ROMANTIC
  42. 67. Actress Rowlands — Answer: GENA
  43. 69. She-shed's counterpart — Answer: MANCAVE
  44. 70. Like some nails found in a drugstore — Answer: PRESSON
  45. 72. Geek (out) — Answer: NERD
  46. 73. Drone or queen — Answer: ANT
  47. 75. Want from — Answer: ASKOF
  48. 76. Catherine of "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind" — Answer: OHARA
  49. 78. Uncouth — Answer: CRASS
  50. 81. Farm-share program, for short — Answer: CSA
  51. 82. Hint — Answer: CLUE
  52. 84. Self-proclaimed "Rap God" — Answer: EMINEM
  53. 85. ___ chart — Answer: ORG
  54. 89. Like many couples at theaters — Answer: ONDATES
  55. 90. McFlurry flavor — Answer: OREO
  56. 92. Something for canines to sink their canines into — Answer: CHEWTOY
  57. 93. Toil — Answer: DRUDGE
  58. 94. Wish one could take back — Answer: REGRET
  59. 95. Arrival announcement — Answer: IMHERE
  60. 96. ___ Lannister, "Game of Thrones" queen — Answer: CERSEI
  61. 97. Like professional publications — Answer: EDITED
  62. 99. Indian flatbread — Answer: ROTI. Hint: This versatile staple is often served with curries and is perfect for scooping! 🍞
  63. 102. Trap — Answer: SNARE
  64. 106. Not just theoretical — Answer: REAL
  65. 107. It runs hot — Answer: LAVA
  66. 109. Drab color for una casa — Answer: GRIS
  67. 111. Concerning — Answer: INRE
  68. 112. Sonic the Hedgehog company — Answer: SEGA. Hint: This gaming giant is known for its blue, speedy character! 🎮
  69. 113. Feodor I, for one — Answer: TSAR
  70. 114. Taxpayer IDs — Answer: SSNS
  71. 116. Morning times, in brief — Answer: AMS
  72. 117. Encountered — Answer: MET
  73. 119. Kind of nurse or suit — Answer: WET

The answer to “___-cat” in the New York Times crossword is SCAREDY — a 7-letter word. This clue ran in the New York Times crossword on December 7, 2025, a Sunday puzzle, at 53-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.

“___-cat” answer

SCAREDY (7 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 SCAREDY.

Why the answer is SCAREDY

SCAREDY is the 7-letter solution that fits "___-cat" in the NYT Crossword crossword on December 7, 2025 (53-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

When else has “___-cat” 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.

December 7, 2025 (this puzzle) → SCAREDY. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.

More clues from the NYT Crossword crossword on December 7, 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.

Want every clue in one place? The full New York Times answer list for December 7, 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 Sunday 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 “___-cat”?

The answer is SCAREDY, a 7-letter word. It appeared in the New York Times crossword on December 7, 2025.

How many letters is the answer to “___-cat”?

7 letters: SCAREDY.

Where did this clue appear?

In the New York Times crossword on December 7, 2025 (a Sunday puzzle), at 53-Down.

Can “___-cat” 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 December 7, 2025 is on the NYT Crossword answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

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