NYT Crossword
Monday, December 15, 2025
By Jeff Jerome and Andrea Carla Michaels
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
Down
Crossword clues, hints, and answers
Across
- 1. ___ Nicholas — Answer: SAINT
- 6. Judge's seat, from the French — Answer: BANC
- 10. N.Y.C. airport — Answer: JFK
- 13. "Star Wars" droid, familiarly — Answer: ARTOO
- 14. Side's length squared, for a square — Answer: AREA
- 15. Thrilla in Manila boxer — Answer: ALI
- 16. Recharge one's batteries — Answer: RESTUP
- 18. Prepared to bathe — Answer: DISROBED
- 20. Cool ___ cucumber — Answer: ASA
- 21. "Balderdash!" — Answer: LIES
- 23. Filled in (for), for short — Answer: SUBBED
- 24. Schmoozed (with) — Answer: HOBNOBBED
- 27. Good, long bath — Answer: SOAK
- 28. Slight injury from tripping — Answer: STUBBEDTOE
- 30. Bridge support — Answer: TRUSS
- 32. Karl Marx's "___ Kapital" — Answer: DAS
- 33. Do one better than — Answer: TOP
- 36. President Hoover — Answer: HERBERT
- 39. "You take credit cards?" response — Answer: YESWEDO
- 42. Unconventional — Answer: ODD
- 43. Alternative to the pill, in brief — Answer: IUD
- 45. Dog-___ (like the pages in some books) — Answer: EARED
- 46. Foreign-language movie that you don't have to read subtitles for — Answer: DUBBEDFILM
- 50. Location for a goatee or soul patch — Answer: CHIN
- 52. Enchanted — Answer: BEDAZZLED
- 55. Big-beaked tropical bird — Answer: TOUCAN
- 57. One-named Brazilian soccer star — Answer: PELE
- 58. "If you ask me ...," to texters — Answer: IMO
- 59. Camp sleeping spots ... or a hint to this puzzle's circled letters — Answer: BUNKBEDS
- 61. Sci-fi writer Isaac — Answer: ASIMOV
- 63. Suitable, as a unit in a bldg.? — Answer: APT
- 64. Tales of yore — Answer: LORE
- 65. Join in marriage — Answer: UNITE
- 66. Lo-___ graphics — Answer: RES
- 67. One-named Grammy winner from Ireland — Answer: ENYA
- 68. ___ Cottontail — Answer: PETER
Down
- 1. Wife of Abraham, in the Bible — Answer: SARAH
- 2. "You ___ right!" — Answer: ARESO
- 3. "Ridiculous!" — Answer: ITSABSURD
- 4. "I'm kidding!!," in "Wayne's World" — Answer: NOT
- 5. Artist Henri de ___-Lautrec — Answer: TOULOUSE
- 6. One who's rotten from the start — Answer: BADSEED
- 7. Singer Grande, to fans — Answer: ARI
- 8. Loch ___ monster — Answer: NESS. Hint: Think of the legendary Scottish lake creature said to lurk in the deep. 🐉
- 9. Opera great Enrico — Answer: CARUSO
- 10. Sluglike "Star Wars" crime boss — Answer: JABBA
- 11. On ___ (looking great, in slang) — Answer: FLEEK
- 12. Colonial-era pirate captain — Answer: KIDD
- 17. Mr. ___ (Dr Pepper competitor) — Answer: PIBB
- 19. Orchestral woodwind — Answer: OBOE
- 22. Be on the wane — Answer: EBB
- 25. Crash-investigating org. — Answer: NTSB
- 26. Turning point in W.W. II — Answer: DDAY
- 29. When doubled, an African fly — Answer: TSE
- 30. But, briefly — Answer: THO
- 31. Like a ripe strawberry — Answer: RED
- 33. Re-election restriction — Answer: TERMLIMIT
- 34. Many a Wordsworth poem — Answer: ODE
- 35. Pea holder — Answer: POD
- 37. Part of a barbecue rack — Answer: RIB
- 38. Ernest in the Country Music Hall of Fame — Answer: TUBB
- 40. Suddenly stops working, as an engine — Answer: SEIZESUP
- 41. Gov. Tim ___, 2024 running mate — Answer: WALZ
- 44. Beyond the continental shelf, say — Answer: DEEPSEA
- 46. Comic actor Van Dyke — Answer: DICK
- 47. Lacking the capacity — Answer: UNABLE
- 48. Prez before 10-Across — Answer: DDE
- 49. "Deck the Halls" syllables — Answer: FALA
- 50. Two-door auto — Answer: COUPE
- 51. Outings for foxhounds — Answer: HUNTS
- 53. Show feelings onstage — Answer: EMOTE
- 54. Capital of Delaware — Answer: DOVER
- 55. Lift on the slopes — Answer: TBAR
- 56. Like bright signs on the Las Vegas Strip — Answer: NEON
- 60. Funny in a subtle way — Answer: DRY
- 62. Suffix with Benedict or elephant — Answer: INE
The answer to “Orchestral woodwind” in the New York Times crossword is OBOE — a 4-letter word. This clue ran in the New York Times crossword on December 15, 2025, a Monday puzzle, at 19-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.
“Orchestral woodwind” answer
OBOE (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 OBOE.
Why the answer is OBOE
OBOE is the 4-letter solution that fits "Orchestral woodwind" in the NYT Crossword crossword on December 15, 2025 (19-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.
When else has “Orchestral woodwind” 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 15, 2025 (this puzzle) → OBOE. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.
More clues from the NYT Crossword on December 15, 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.
- Prepared to bathe → DISROBED
- Filled in (for), for short → SUBBED
- Good, long bath → SOAK
- Slight injury from tripping → STUBBEDTOE
- Cool ___ cucumber → ASA
- "Balderdash!" → LIES
- Mr. ___ (Dr Pepper competitor) → PIBB
- Recharge one's batteries → RESTUP
Want every clue in one place? The full New York Times answer list for December 15, 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 Monday 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 “Orchestral woodwind”?
The answer is OBOE, a 4-letter word. It appeared in the New York Times crossword on December 15, 2025.
How many letters is the answer to “Orchestral woodwind”?
4 letters: OBOE.
Where did this clue appear?
In the New York Times crossword on December 15, 2025 (a Monday puzzle), at 19-Down.
Can “Orchestral woodwind” 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 15, 2025 is on the NYT Crossword answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.