NYT Crossword
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
By John Guzzetta
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. Clause separator — Answer: COMMA
- 6. Channel showing committee hearings — Answer: CSPAN
- 11. Request — Answer: ASK
- 14. Winning, for the moment — Answer: AHEAD
- 15. "Don Giovanni" genre — Answer: OPERA
- 16. Container for sardines — Answer: TIN
- 17. In 1968, Spencer Silver at 3M Corporation was attempting to develop a superstrong adhesive ... — Answer: POSTITNOTES
- 19. Musician Yoko — Answer: ONO. Hint: She was John Lennon’s avant-garde artist and musical collaborator 🎶
- 20. One in a hundred — Answer: SENATOR
- 21. Alternative to fries, maybe — Answer: SLAW
- 22. ___-color pasta — Answer: TRI
- 24. In 1928, Alexander Fleming at St. Mary's Hospital in London found mold in his cultures of staphylococcus bacteria ... — Answer: PENICILLIN
- 27. Vulgar — Answer: COARSE
- 30. Answer to the riddle ending "How many are going to St. Ives?" — Answer: ONE
- 31. "Olympia" painter — Answer: MANET
- 32. Ran out, as time — Answer: ELAPSED
- 36. In 1945, Percy Spencer at the Raytheon Manufacturing Company noticed the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted close to a magnetron ... — Answer: MICROWAVEOVEN
- 39. Language in which "computer" is made up of the characters for "electric" and "brain" — Answer: CHINESE
- 40. Take one's foot off the gas — Answer: LETUP
- 42. Kwik-E-Mart proprietor on "The Simpsons" — Answer: APU
- 43. Attacks — Answer: BESETS
- 44. In 1943, James Wright at General Electric was attempting to develop synthetic rubber for the war effort ... — Answer: SILLYPUTTY
- 50. Inits. on a police forensic van — Answer: CSI
- 51. Racetrack shape — Answer: OVAL
- 52. Like Mercury among all the planets vis-à-vis the sun — Answer: NEAREST
- 55. One to build on — Answer: LOT
- 56. Happy chance, as illustrated by the four invention stories at 17-, 24-, 36- and 44-Across — Answer: SERENDIPITY
- 60. Singer Garfunkel — Answer: ART
- 61. Update, as the Constitution — Answer: AMEND
- 62. Vaudeville show — Answer: REVUE
- 63. Deli bread option — Answer: RYE
- 64. ___-turvy — Answer: TOPSY. Hint: When things are all mixed up, they might be this way! 🤪
- 65. Paradises — Answer: EDENS. Hint: Think of the lush biblical gardens often imagined as perfect havens. 🌿
Down
- 1. Upper limit — Answer: CAP
- 2. "Well, that's a surprise!" — Answer: OHO
- 3. Marked by a religious zeal — Answer: MESSIANIC
- 4. Join — Answer: MATE
- 5. Tennis score after deuce — Answer: ADIN
- 6. Old French tale — Answer: CONTE
- 7. With whom the dish ran away in "Hey Diddle Diddle" — Answer: SPOON
- 8. ___ dish — Answer: PETRI
- 9. Exist — Answer: ARE. Hint: A basic verb describing presence or being alive. 🌱
- 10. Rapper Lil ___ X — Answer: NAS
- 11. Part of Micronesia — Answer: ATOLL
- 12. Mount associated with Moses — Answer: SINAI
- 13. Recognized — Answer: KNOWN
- 18. Wrap for an athlete's injury — Answer: TAPE
- 21. Things a vest lacks — Answer: SLEEVES
- 22. Channel for old westerns — Answer: TCM
- 23. Wander — Answer: ROAM. Hint: Think of how a curious animal might explore its surroundings! 🦊
- 25. Deal (with) — Answer: COPE
- 26. Shoe part — Answer: INSOLE
- 28. Community center for games and activities — Answer: RECHALL
- 29. Having streaks — Answer: STRIPY
- 32. Producer of milk for Roquefort cheese — Answer: EWE
- 33. "___ Culturistas" (popular podcast) — Answer: LAS
- 34. Street sign abbr. — Answer: AVE
- 35. Clue examiner — Answer: DETECTIVE
- 37. "Movin' ___" ("The Jeffersons" theme song) — Answer: ONUP
- 38. McAuliffe's one-word reply to a German commander's demand of surrender — Answer: NUTS
- 41. Tire inflation meas. — Answer: PSI
- 43. Polar explorer Richard — Answer: BYRD
- 44. Certain renewable energy — Answer: SOLAR
- 45. Shade of off-white — Answer: IVORY
- 46. Milky coffee drink — Answer: LATTE
- 47. General Assembly participant, for short — Answer: UNREP
- 48. Many first-time smartphone owners — Answer: TEENS
- 49. Jessica who won an Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy" — Answer: TANDY
- 53. Ireland, to the Irish — Answer: EIRE. Hint: Think of the Gaelic name locals use for their homeland. 🇮🇪
- 54. Hightailed it — Answer: SPED
- 56. Exam for college applicants — Answer: SAT
- 57. Angsty — Answer: EMO
- 58. Large cask — Answer: TUN
- 59. "For sure!" — Answer: YES
The answer to “Polar explorer Richard” in the New York Times crossword is BYRD — a 4-letter word. This clue ran in the New York Times crossword on March 11, 2026, a Wednesday puzzle, at 43-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.
“Polar explorer Richard” answer
BYRD (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 BYRD.
Why the answer is BYRD
BYRD is the 4-letter solution that fits "Polar explorer Richard" in the NYT Crossword crossword on March 11, 2026 (43-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.
When else has “Polar explorer Richard” 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.
March 11, 2026 (this puzzle) → BYRD. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.
More clues from the NYT Crossword on March 11, 2026
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.
- Attacks → BESETS
- In 1943, James Wright at General Electric was attempting to develop synthetic rubber for the war effort ... → SILLYPUTTY
- Like Mercury among all the planets vis-à-vis the sun → NEAREST
- Happy chance, as illustrated by the four invention stories at 17-, 24-, 36- and 44-Across → SERENDIPITY
- Kwik-E-Mart proprietor on "The Simpsons" → APU
- Certain renewable energy → SOLAR
- Tire inflation meas. → PSI
- Shade of off-white → IVORY
Want every clue in one place? The full New York Times answer list for March 11, 2026 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 Wednesday 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 “Polar explorer Richard”?
The answer is BYRD, a 4-letter word. It appeared in the New York Times crossword on March 11, 2026.
How many letters is the answer to “Polar explorer Richard”?
4 letters: BYRD.
Where did this clue appear?
In the New York Times crossword on March 11, 2026 (a Wednesday puzzle), at 43-Down.
Can “Polar explorer Richard” 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 March 11, 2026 is on the NYT Crossword answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.