Emergency option for a fighter pilot

Crossword Answer — April 05, 2026

Answer

NYT Crossword

Sunday, April 05, 2026

By Samuel A. Donaldson

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. 1They need fans to stay cool
  2. 6Philippine marinades
  3. 12Second first lady, after Martha
  4. 19Cheap cigar
  5. 20Philippine capital
  6. 21Contrition
  7. 22Prime-time time
  8. 23We're literally giving away our rental cars!
  9. 25Resembling bone
  10. 27Overnight option
  11. 28Pull some strings?
  12. 29Phony social media follower
  13. 30It hurts how much we're overcharging for this detergent!
  14. 34___ Constitution
  15. 37Winter measure
  16. 40"Nostalgia is a seductive ___": George W. Ball
  17. 41Spider's pouch
  18. 43Inappropriately appropriated
  19. 45Crush a test
  20. 48Muse depicted with a lyre
  21. 49Like raw footage
  22. 51Alexander ___, 1980s secretary of state
  23. 53Competition with clowns, maybe
  24. 55Showbiz "grand slam," familiarly
  25. 56Scrooge's shout
  26. 57Our planes don't have seats!
  27. 61Social worker?
  28. 62Undertake, as a journey
  29. 64College admissions fig.
  30. 65Whence St. Francis
  31. 67Quite spirited
  32. 68Bulletin board addition
  33. 71A chair might cover one
  34. 74Place to store magazines
  35. 76Broody genre
  36. 77First college in the modern era to boast a 15-0 football team
  37. 78Bump on the head, say?
  38. 80Our tech products fall apart easily!
  39. 84However, in texts
  40. 85Sportsbook figures
  41. 87Grinning Face With Sweat, for one
  42. 88Winnow
  43. 89Some exits in Exeter
  44. 91Japanese healing discipline
  45. 93Hägar the Horrible's dog
  46. 95Like a wrung-out mop
  47. 97Some commotion in a sheepfold
  48. 99Rep
  49. 101Most ridiculous
  50. 104Monopolist's portion
  51. 105Our cable channel is devoted to censorship!
  52. 109Dripping, say
  53. 110White's longtime co-host
  54. 111Many a book fair sponsor, for short
  55. 112[Look below for more info]
  56. 115Go ahead and shoplift one pair of our jeans!
  57. 121Bolts (down)
  58. 122Home country of the Center for Civil Liberties, jointly awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize
  59. 123Monkey's place, maybe
  60. 124Article of jewelry worn around the biceps
  61. 125Erudite
  62. 126Stylishly elegant
  63. 127Shoe leather for Elvis

Down

  1. 1"This. Means. War!"
  2. 2Our soap is deadly!
  3. 3Serpentine shape in architecture
  4. 4Certain cosmetic surgery, familiarly
  5. 5High class?
  6. 6Big letters in bowling
  7. 7"Beavis and Butt-Head" spinoff
  8. 8Common soccer score
  9. 9Two-year periods
  10. 10Common soccer cheer
  11. 11With 44-Down, home of the U.S.'s most-visited municipal zoo
  12. 12___ rock (music genre)
  13. 13Nickname for Britain's King Edward VII
  14. 14Encroach (on)
  15. 15Horror movie staple
  16. 16Grande's perfume line
  17. 17Major research lab for astronauts, for short
  18. 18Actress Jamie ___ Curtis
  19. 19Highfalutin sorts
  20. 24Yank
  21. 26Creature with a signature whistle it can use to identify itself
  22. 31Accordion fold
  23. 32Iridescent shell material
  24. 33Dirt pie ingredients
  25. 34Our magazine hates everything and everyone!
  26. 35Squelched
  27. 36Michael ___, Steve Carell's role on "The Office"
  28. 38Sch. endearingly called "Wazzu"
  29. 39Animated TV series set in the 31st century
  30. 42LSAT alternative, for some law schools
  31. 44See 11-Down
  32. 46Lab label
  33. 47Afternoon socials
  34. 49It'll take you for a ride
  35. 50Mama's mama
  36. 52Natl. economic yardsticks
  37. 54Discounted
  38. 58Zero chance
  39. 59Something well-taken?
  40. 60Chartreuse or brandy, e.g.
  41. 63Mess up
  42. 66Part of a sch. year
  43. 68Orange cone, say
  44. 69"No cause for alarm!"?
  45. 70Land rover
  46. 72Home of Qatar Airways
  47. 73A long time, in Spain
  48. 75Tach stats
  49. 77Sax player Clarence
  50. 78"The Greek" in a 1964 film
  51. 79Optimal
  52. 81Emergency option for a fighter pilot
  53. 82High, wispy clouds
  54. 83Alice of TV's "Queen of the South"
  55. 86Manage moguls, say
  56. 90"___ expected"
  57. 92Like many legal phrases
  58. 94Fried Japanese fare
  59. 96Impersonates
  60. 981997 Demi Moore military drama
  61. 100Hampers
  62. 102Fixed rate
  63. 103Statistics tool used to find significant differences
  64. 106Not real
  65. 107___ out an existence
  66. 108They might be loaded or stolen
  67. 110Headliner
  68. 113Neutral tone
  69. 114April or May, e.g.
  70. 115Q3 starter: Abbr.
  71. 116Luau instrument, in brief
  72. 117Mme., across the Pyrenees
  73. 118"The Bachelor" network
  74. 119Actress Gadot
  75. 120Foxy

Crossword clues, hints, and answers

Across

  1. 1. They need fans to stay cool — Answer: IDOLS
  2. 6. Philippine marinades — Answer: ADOBOS
  3. 12. Second first lady, after Martha — Answer: ABIGAIL
  4. 19. Cheap cigar — Answer: STOGIE
  5. 20. Philippine capital — Answer: MANILA
  6. 21. Contrition — Answer: REMORSE
  7. 22. Prime-time time — Answer: NINEPM
  8. 23. We're literally giving away our rental cars! — Answer: FREEENTERPRISE
  9. 25. Resembling bone — Answer: OSTEOID
  10. 27. Overnight option — Answer: INN
  11. 28. Pull some strings? — Answer: UNTIE
  12. 29. Phony social media follower — Answer: BOT
  13. 30. It hurts how much we're overcharging for this detergent! — Answer: NOPAINNOGAIN
  14. 34. ___ Constitution — Answer: USS
  15. 37. Winter measure — Answer: SNOWFALL
  16. 40. "Nostalgia is a seductive ___": George W. Ball — Answer: LIAR
  17. 41. Spider's pouch — Answer: EGGSAC
  18. 43. Inappropriately appropriated — Answer: USURPED
  19. 45. Crush a test — Answer: ACEIT
  20. 48. Muse depicted with a lyre — Answer: ERATO
  21. 49. Like raw footage — Answer: UNCUT
  22. 51. Alexander ___, 1980s secretary of state — Answer: HAIG
  23. 53. Competition with clowns, maybe — Answer: RODEO
  24. 55. Showbiz "grand slam," familiarly — Answer: EGOT
  25. 56. Scrooge's shout — Answer: BAH
  26. 57. Our planes don't have seats! — Answer: UNITEDWESTAND
  27. 61. Social worker? — Answer: ANT
  28. 62. Undertake, as a journey — Answer: ENTERON
  29. 64. College admissions fig. — Answer: GPA
  30. 65. Whence St. Francis — Answer: ASSISI
  31. 67. Quite spirited — Answer: RAHRAH
  32. 68. Bulletin board addition — Answer: POSTING
  33. 71. A chair might cover one — Answer: AGENDA
  34. 74. Place to store magazines — Answer: ARMORY
  35. 76. Broody genre — Answer: EMO
  36. 77. First college in the modern era to boast a 15-0 football team — Answer: CLEMSON
  37. 78. Bump on the head, say? — Answer: ZIT
  38. 80. Our tech products fall apart easily! — Answer: APPLECRUMBLES
  39. 84. However, in texts — Answer: THO
  40. 85. Sportsbook figures — Answer: ODDS
  41. 87. Grinning Face With Sweat, for one — Answer: EMOJI
  42. 88. Winnow — Answer: PARE
  43. 89. Some exits in Exeter — Answer: TATAS
  44. 91. Japanese healing discipline — Answer: REIKI
  45. 93. Hägar the Horrible's dog — Answer: SNERT
  46. 95. Like a wrung-out mop — Answer: DAMPISH
  47. 97. Some commotion in a sheepfold — Answer: BAAING
  48. 99. Rep — Answer: CRED
  49. 101. Most ridiculous — Answer: GOOFIEST
  50. 104. Monopolist's portion — Answer: ALL
  51. 105. Our cable channel is devoted to censorship! — Answer: LIFETIMEBANS
  52. 109. Dripping, say — Answer: WET
  53. 110. White's longtime co-host — Answer: SAJAK
  54. 111. Many a book fair sponsor, for short — Answer: PTA
  55. 112. [Look below for more info] — Answer: SEENOTE
  56. 115. Go ahead and shoplift one pair of our jeans! — Answer: JUSTTAKEAGUESS
  57. 121. Bolts (down) — Answer: SCARFS
  58. 122. Home country of the Center for Civil Liberties, jointly awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize — Answer: UKRAINE
  59. 123. Monkey's place, maybe — Answer: BARREL
  60. 124. Article of jewelry worn around the biceps — Answer: ARMLET
  61. 125. Erudite — Answer: LEARNED
  62. 126. Stylishly elegant — Answer: CLASSY
  63. 127. Shoe leather for Elvis — Answer: SUEDE

Down

  1. 1. "This. Means. War!" — Answer: ITISON
  2. 2. Our soap is deadly! — Answer: DONTTOUCHTHATDIAL
  3. 3. Serpentine shape in architecture — Answer: OGEE
  4. 4. Certain cosmetic surgery, familiarly — Answer: LIPO
  5. 5. High class? — Answer: SEMINAR
  6. 6. Big letters in bowling — Answer: AMF
  7. 7. "Beavis and Butt-Head" spinoff — Answer: DARIA
  8. 8. Common soccer score — Answer: ONENIL
  9. 9. Two-year periods — Answer: BIENNIA
  10. 10. Common soccer cheer — Answer: OLE
  11. 11. With 44-Down, home of the U.S.'s most-visited municipal zoo — Answer: SAN
  12. 12. ___ rock (music genre) — Answer: ARENA
  13. 13. Nickname for Britain's King Edward VII — Answer: BERTIE
  14. 14. Encroach (on) — Answer: IMPINGE
  15. 15. Horror movie staple — Answer: GORE
  16. 16. Grande's perfume line — Answer: ARI
  17. 17. Major research lab for astronauts, for short — Answer: ISS
  18. 18. Actress Jamie ___ Curtis — Answer: LEE
  19. 19. Highfalutin sorts — Answer: SNOBS
  20. 24. Yank — Answer: TUG
  21. 26. Creature with a signature whistle it can use to identify itself — Answer: DOLPHIN
  22. 31. Accordion fold — Answer: PLEAT
  23. 32. Iridescent shell material — Answer: NACRE
  24. 33. Dirt pie ingredients — Answer: OREOS. Hint: Think of a cookie that makes dessert extra sweet! 🍪
  25. 34. Our magazine hates everything and everyone! — Answer: USAGAINSTTHEWORLD
  26. 35. Squelched — Answer: SATON
  27. 36. Michael ___, Steve Carell's role on "The Office" — Answer: SCOTT
  28. 38. Sch. endearingly called "Wazzu" — Answer: WSU
  29. 39. Animated TV series set in the 31st century — Answer: FUTURAMA
  30. 42. LSAT alternative, for some law schools — Answer: GRE
  31. 44. See 11-Down — Answer: DIEGO
  32. 46. Lab label — Answer: IDTAG
  33. 47. Afternoon socials — Answer: TEAS
  34. 49. It'll take you for a ride — Answer: UBER
  35. 50. Mama's mama — Answer: NANA
  36. 52. Natl. economic yardsticks — Answer: GDPS
  37. 54. Discounted — Answer: ONSALE
  38. 58. Zero chance — Answer: NOHOPE
  39. 59. Something well-taken? — Answer: WATER
  40. 60. Chartreuse or brandy, e.g. — Answer: DIGESTIF
  41. 63. Mess up — Answer: ERR
  42. 66. Part of a sch. year — Answer: SEM
  43. 68. Orange cone, say — Answer: PYLON
  44. 69. "No cause for alarm!"? — Answer: IMUP
  45. 70. Land rover — Answer: NOMAD
  46. 72. Home of Qatar Airways — Answer: DOHA
  47. 73. A long time, in Spain — Answer: ANOS
  48. 75. Tach stats — Answer: RPMS
  49. 77. Sax player Clarence — Answer: CLEMONS
  50. 78. "The Greek" in a 1964 film — Answer: ZORBA
  51. 79. Optimal — Answer: IDEAL
  52. 81. Emergency option for a fighter pilot — Answer: EJECT
  53. 82. High, wispy clouds — Answer: CIRRI
  54. 83. Alice of TV's "Queen of the South" — Answer: BRAGA
  55. 86. Manage moguls, say — Answer: SKI
  56. 90. "___ expected" — Answer: ASI
  57. 92. Like many legal phrases — Answer: INLATIN
  58. 94. Fried Japanese fare — Answer: TEMPURA
  59. 96. Impersonates — Answer: POSESAS
  60. 98. 1997 Demi Moore military drama — Answer: GIJANE
  61. 100. Hampers — Answer: DETERS
  62. 102. Fixed rate — Answer: SETFEE
  63. 103. Statistics tool used to find significant differences — Answer: TTEST
  64. 106. Not real — Answer: FAKED
  65. 107. ___ out an existence — Answer: EKE
  66. 108. They might be loaded or stolen — Answer: BASES
  67. 110. Headliner — Answer: STAR
  68. 113. Neutral tone — Answer: ECRU
  69. 114. April or May, e.g. — Answer: NAME
  70. 115. Q3 starter: Abbr. — Answer: JUL
  71. 116. Luau instrument, in brief — Answer: UKE
  72. 117. Mme., across the Pyrenees — Answer: SRA
  73. 118. "The Bachelor" network — Answer: ABC
  74. 119. Actress Gadot — Answer: GAL
  75. 120. Foxy — Answer: SLY

The answer to “Emergency option for a fighter pilot” in the New York Times crossword is EJECT — a 5-letter word. This clue ran in the New York Times crossword on April 5, 2026, a Sunday puzzle, at 81-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.

“Emergency option for a fighter pilot” answer

EJECT (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 EJECT.

Why the answer is EJECT

EJECT is the 5-letter solution that fits "Emergency option for a fighter pilot" in the NYT Crossword crossword on April 5, 2026 (81-Down). Use the letter tiles above if you'd rather reveal it one letter at a time.

When else has “Emergency option for a fighter pilot” 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.

April 5, 2026 (this puzzle) → EJECT. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.

More clues from the NYT Crossword crossword on April 5, 2026

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Want every clue in one place? The full New York Times answer list for April 5, 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 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 “Emergency option for a fighter pilot”?

The answer is EJECT, a 5-letter word. It appeared in the New York Times crossword on April 5, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Emergency option for a fighter pilot”?

5 letters: EJECT.

Where did this clue appear?

In the New York Times crossword on April 5, 2026 (a Sunday puzzle), at 81-Down.

Can “Emergency option for a fighter pilot” 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 April 5, 2026 is on the NYT Crossword answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

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