NYT Crossword Clues & Answers - Jul 8

Today's NYT Crossword answers

Today's full solution appears above, organised into Across and Down exactly as the puzzle numbers them. If you only need one answer, each is listed separately so you can reveal the clue that's blocking you and keep solving the rest. The grid is confirmed and refreshed daily as soon as the Times publishes it, and — because the puzzle's difficulty climbs through the week — we keep the layout identical every day so you always know where to look.

About the New York Times Crossword

The NYT Crossword has run since 1942 and has been edited by Will Shortz since 1993, making it the benchmark against which every other American crossword is measured. The weekday puzzle is a 15×15 grid; Sundays expand to a 21×21 grid with a title and theme. It's known for clever, layered clues — misdirection, puns, and themed twists — and for its “crosswordese,” the small stock of vowel-heavy words (ETUI, OREO, ERA, ALOE) that recur because they fit tight grids. Solving it requires a Games subscription, which is why so many solvers search for the answers when a clue defeats them.

The Monday-to-Saturday difficulty curve

The single most important thing to know about the Times crossword is that it gets harder as the week goes on — the grid size stays the same, but the cluing grows trickier:

So if a Thursday clue seems to make no sense, that's by design — Thursdays often hide a trick, like multiple letters crammed into one square (a rebus). Knowing the day tells you how devious the clues are likely to be.

How to break a stubborn NYT clue

• Solve the crossings first. In a 15×15 grid, every hard answer is crossed by others; three or four crossing letters usually reveal it.
• Question the clue's angle. A question mark at the end of a clue signals a pun or play on words — read it less literally.
• Mind the tense and number. Plurals end in S, past-tense answers often end in ED — free letters once you spot them.
• Know the day. A baffling clue on a Monday is probably you overthinking; the same on a Saturday is probably genuine misdirection.
• Use the solver for one answer. Our crossword solver lets you enter the clue and your known letters to reveal a single answer without spoiling the rest of the grid.

Browse past NYT Crossword answers

Every previous New York Times puzzle is archived on this page by date, with its complete across and down solutions. It's the fastest way to check yesterday's grid, revisit a Sunday you didn't finish, or look up a clue that's been nagging you. The archive updates automatically each day — today's answers roll into it as the next puzzle publishes — so it stays complete without spoiling the current day. Use the date picker above to jump to any past puzzle.