Reef around a lagoon

The answer to “Reef around a lagoon” in the New York Times crossword is ATOLL — a 5-letter word. This clue ran in the New York Times crossword on March 23, 2026, a Monday puzzle, at 15-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.

“Reef around a lagoon” answer

ATOLL (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 ATOLL.

Why the answer is ATOLL

ATOLL is the 5-letter solution that fits "Reef around a lagoon" in the NYT Crossword crossword on March 23, 2026 (15-Across). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

When else has “Reef around a lagoon” 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 23, 2026 (this puzzle) → ATOLL. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.

More clues from the NYT Crossword on March 23, 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.

• Faddish 1980s plush toy → CAREBEAR
• Company behind the game Centipede → ATARI
• ___ Trend (magazine that chooses a Car of the Year annually) → MOTOR
• Worked at, as a trade → PLIED
• Profit's counterpart → LOSS
• Smell really bad → REEK
• "The ___ Game" (song that begins "Shirley Shirley bo-berley, bonana fanna fo-ferley" → NAME
• Popular character actor in both "The Godfather" and "Barney Miller" → ABEVIGODA

Want every clue in one place? The full New York Times answer list for March 23, 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 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.

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