NYT Crossword Answers Today
By Steven Jopek
Across
- 1ApexACME
- 5Curry ingredientCUMIN
- 10Hay unitBALE
- 14Robert Frost creationPOEM
- 15Grilled, at a taqueriaASADA
- 16Mined metalsORES
- 17Criminals' sphereUNDERWORLD
- 19Have a hankering forWANT
- 20Floral Van Gogh subjectIRIS
- 21Latin godsDEI
- 22EnemyFOE
- 23End of the Greek alphabetOMEGA
- 25TsunamiTIDALWAVE
- 28Common motive in a murder caseREVENGE
- 42Clerical vestmentALB
- 44She, in PortugueseELA
- 47Zoomed pastRACEDBY
- 50Stop in the afterlifePURGATORY
- 54Fill in forACTAS
- 55FuryIRE
- 56Source of fleeceEWE
- 57Jazz great FitzgeraldELLA
- 58White part of an orangePITH
- 60Natural wonder in VenezuelaANGELFALLS
- 68Golfer ElsERNIE
- 69Letters on an invitationRSVP
Down
- 2TrickCON
- 4Leave the cocoonEMERGE
- 7Tuesday, in LyonMARDI
- 8Sat at a red lightIDLED
- 9Gymnast ComaneciNADIA
- 10Cousin of a curtsyBOW
- 11Yasir of the P.L.O.ARAFAT
- 12Chinese computer giantLENOVO
- 13Lauder of cosmeticsESTEE
- 23Philharmonic grp.ORCH
- 24Many a viral postMEME
- 27Caitlin Clark's leagueWNBA
- 29ApparelGARB
- 33Place for glossLIP
- 36"Auld ___ Syne"LANG
- 37"Three Sisters" sisterOLGA
- 38Like many horror flicksGORY
- 39Presentations with an 18-minute limitTEDTALKS
- 40Actor IdrisELBA
- 41Tampa Bay playersRAYS
- 45Financial center of SwitzerlandZURICH
- 48Baby bovineCALF
- 49Filled pastryECLAIR
- 50Plumbing conduitsPIPES
- 51Needle mischievouslyTEASE
- 52Renter's counterpartOWNER
- 53Daughter of King LearREGAN
- 59Non-sharerHOG
- 63Maple syrup baseSAP
Crossword clues, hints, and answers
Across
- 1. Apex — Answer: ACME. Hint: It's often used to describe the highest point or peak of something! 🏔️
- 5. Curry ingredient — Answer: CUMIN. Hint: This warm, earthy spice often seasons stews and rice dishes. 🌶️
- 10. Hay unit — Answer: BALE. Hint: Farmers stack this compact bundle of dried grass. 🌾
- 14. Robert Frost creation — Answer: POEM. Hint: Think of a literary work by the famed American poet. 📜
- 15. Grilled, at a taqueria — Answer: ASADA. Hint: At a taco shop, this usually describes meat cooked over flames. 🔥
- 16. Mined metals — Answer: ORES. Hint: These valuable substances are dug from mineral-rich rock. ⛏️
- 17. Criminals' sphere — Answer: UNDERWORLD. Hint: It’s the shadowy realm associated with organized crime. 🕶️
- 19. Have a hankering for — Answer: WANT. Hint: To strongly desire something is to do this. 💭
- 20. Floral Van Gogh subject — Answer: IRIS. Hint: This flower appears in one of the painter’s best-known still lifes. 🌼
- 21. Latin gods — Answer: DEI. Hint: Roman deities are called this in Latin. 🏛️
- 22. Enemy — Answer: FOE. Hint: A rival or adversary fits this description. ⚔️
- 23. End of the Greek alphabet — Answer: OMEGA. Hint: This final Greek letter also symbolizes ultimate completion. 🔤
- 25. Tsunami — Answer: TIDALWAVE. Hint: This devastating coastal surge can follow an undersea earthquake. 🌊
- 28. Common motive in a murder case — Answer: REVENGE. Hint: A desire to get even can be a grim motive. ⚖️
- 30. Follower of latch or catch — Answer: ONTO. Hint: This word follows both “latch” and “catch” in common phrasing. 🔗
- 31. Nashville honor, briefly — Answer: CMA. Hint: This music award group is associated with Nashville’s country scene. 🎵
- 32. Oft-torn knee part, in brief — Answer: ACL. Hint: This ligament is often discussed in sports injuries. 🦵
- 34. Confederate soldier, informally — Answer: REB. Hint: This casual Civil War-era term referred to a Confederate soldier. 🪖
- 35. Any foreseeable difficulty ... with a hint to 17-, 25-, 50- and 60-Across — Answer: HELLORHIGHWATER. Hint: This phrase describes a challenge one is determined to overcome. 💪
- 42. Clerical vestment — Answer: ALB. Hint: This simple white garment is worn by clergy during services. ⛪
- 43. Writer Edgar Allan ___ — Answer: POE. Hint: The famous American author of “The Raven” fits here. 📚
- 44. She, in Portuguese — Answer: ELA. Hint: This Portuguese pronoun refers to a female person. 🌸
- 45. Zing ___ (brand of Bloody Mary mix) — Answer: ZANG. Hint: This Bloody Mary mixer has a name suggesting lively flavor. 🍅
- 47. Zoomed past — Answer: RACEDBY. Hint: It describes speeding past someone or something. 💨
- 50. Stop in the afterlife — Answer: PURGATORY. Hint: In theological lore, this is a place of purification between life and heaven. ✨
- 54. Fill in for — Answer: ACTAS. Hint: To do this is to step into another person’s role. 🔄
- 55. Fury — Answer: IRE. Hint: A fiery burst of intense anger 🔥
- 56. Source of fleece — Answer: EWE. Hint: Look to this female sheep for woolly fleece. 🐑
- 57. Jazz great Fitzgerald — Answer: ELLA. Hint: This legendary singer was nicknamed the First Lady of Song. 🎶
- 58. White part of an orange — Answer: PITH. Hint: This spongy citrus layer lies between the peel and juicy segments. 🍊
- 60. Natural wonder in Venezuela — Answer: ANGELFALLS. Hint: Venezuela is home to this spectacular waterfall, the world’s highest uninterrupted drop. 🌊
- 64. Sound in a cavernous empty room — Answer: ECHO. Hint: This sound repeats after bouncing off distant surfaces. 🔊
- 65. Arctic creatures with flippers — Answer: SEALS. Hint: These marine mammals swim with flippers and rest on icy shores. 🦭
- 66. International retailer with a three-syllable name — Answer: IKEA. Hint: This Swedish home-goods giant is known for flat-packed furniture. 🛋️
- 67. Dance whose name is also a hairstyle — Answer: SHAG. Hint: This lively dance shares its name with a tousled haircut. 💃
- 68. Golfer Els — Answer: ERNIE. Hint: This golfer shares a first name with a beloved Sesame Street character. ⛳
- 69. Letters on an invitation — Answer: RSVP. Hint: These invitation initials politely ask guests to reply. 💌
Down
- 1. Storekeeper on "The Simpsons" — Answer: APU. Hint: The Kwik-E-Mart clerk is one of Springfield’s familiar faces. 🛒
- 2. Trick — Answer: CON. Hint: A dishonest scheme designed to fool someone is this. 🎩
- 3. Like the period known as the Middle Ages — Answer: MEDIEVAL. Hint: This adjective fits castles, knights, and the era between antiquity and modern times. 🏰
- 4. Leave the cocoon — Answer: EMERGE. Hint: A butterfly does this when it leaves its chrysalis. 🦋
- 5. Sparrows : cheeps :: crows : ___ — Answer: CAWS. Hint: Crows produce this harsh, recognizable call. 🐦
- 6. Grp. that entertains troops — Answer: USO. Hint: This organization brings entertainment and cheer to service members 🎭
- 7. Tuesday, in Lyon — Answer: MARDI. Hint: A French word for the second day of the week 🇫🇷
- 8. Sat at a red light — Answer: IDLED. Hint: A car does this while waiting for traffic to move 🚗
- 9. Gymnast Comaneci — Answer: NADIA. Hint: This Romanian Olympic star became famous for perfect scores 🤸
- 10. Cousin of a curtsy — Answer: BOW. Hint: A polite gesture made by bending at the waist 🎩
- 11. Yasir of the P.L.O. — Answer: ARAFAT. Hint: This Palestinian leader chaired the P.L.O. for decades 🕊️
- 12. Chinese computer giant — Answer: LENOVO. Hint: This global computer maker is known for laptops and ThinkPad devices 💻
- 13. Lauder of cosmetics — Answer: ESTEE. Hint: This beauty mogul is known for her iconic skincare and makeup line! 💄
- 18. "Knives Out" director Johnson — Answer: RIAN. Hint: This filmmaker also helmed "Looper" and "Glass Onion" 🎬
- 23. Philharmonic grp. — Answer: ORCH. Hint: This short form labels a symphony’s instrumental ensemble 🎻
- 24. Many a viral post — Answer: MEME. Hint: An image or joke shared widely online often earns this label 😂
- 25. Word after Georgia, Virginia or low — Answer: TECH. Hint: It follows several place names and can refer to technology 🏫
- 26. Big name in movie theaters — Answer: LOEW. Hint: A pioneering theater-chain name associated with cinema history 🍿
- 27. Caitlin Clark's league — Answer: WNBA. Hint: This professional women’s basketball league features top American talent 🏀
- 29. Apparel — Answer: GARB. Hint: A slightly old-fashioned word for clothing 👕
- 33. Place for gloss — Answer: LIP. Hint: Gloss is commonly applied here 💄
- 34. Actress Perlman of "Cheers" — Answer: RHEA. Hint: She played the sharp-tongued Carla on the classic sitcom 📺
- 36. "Auld ___ Syne" — Answer: LANG. Hint: A Scottish term meaning “long ago” fills the New Year’s refrain 🎶
- 37. "Three Sisters" sister — Answer: OLGA. Hint: This is the eldest of Chekhov’s three titular siblings 🎭
- 38. Like many horror flicks — Answer: GORY. Hint: These movies may feature plenty of blood and gruesome scenes 🩸
- 39. Presentations with an 18-minute limit — Answer: TEDTALKS. Hint: These famous conference presentations are capped at 18 minutes 🎤
- 40. Actor Idris — Answer: ELBA. Hint: This British actor is known for his roles in both film and TV, often seen as a leading man! 🎬
- 41. Tampa Bay players — Answer: RAYS. Hint: These baseball players share their name with beams of sunlight ⚾
- 45. Financial center of Switzerland — Answer: ZURICH. Hint: Look to Switzerland’s largest city and banking hub 🏦
- 46. Franklin who sang "Chain of Fools" — Answer: ARETHA. Hint: She was the legendary Queen of Soul 🎤
- 48. Baby bovine — Answer: CALF. Hint: This young farm animal grows up to join the herd 🐄
- 49. Filled pastry — Answer: ECLAIR. Hint: This elegant pastry is usually filled with cream and topped with icing 🍰
- 50. Plumbing conduits — Answer: PIPES. Hint: These carry water through walls and beneath sinks 🔧
- 51. Needle mischievously — Answer: TEASE. Hint: To do this is to poke fun in a playful way 😄
- 52. Renter's counterpart — Answer: OWNER. Hint: This person holds the property title 🏠
- 53. Daughter of King Lear — Answer: REGAN. Hint: She is one of Lear’s three daughters in Shakespeare’s tragedy 📖
- 57. Coder's counterpart to "if" — Answer: ELSE. Hint: This programming keyword handles the alternative condition 💻
- 59. Non-sharer — Answer: HOG. Hint: Someone who keeps everything instead of dividing it is one 🐷
- 61. One of football's Mannings — Answer: ELI. Hint: This Manning quarterback won two Super Bowls 🏈
- 62. "The Magicians" novelist Grossman — Answer: LEV. Hint: He wrote the fantasy trilogy about Brakebills 📚
- 63. Maple syrup base — Answer: SAP. Hint: This sweet tree liquid is boiled down into pancake topping 🍁
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Recent NYT Crossword Answers
The last 7 days of solutions
Looking for today's NYT Crossword answers? The complete solution to the daily New York Times puzzle — dated August 24, 2026 — is at the top of this page, updated the moment the new grid is released. The Times crossword is the most famous puzzle in the world and, later in the week, one of the hardest, so getting wedged in a corner is part of the experience. Whether you want to confirm a finished grid, unlock a single square, or see the whole solution, every across and down answer is listed below.
Full NYT Crossword answer list for today
Every clue from today's grid next to its solution — the same answers as the board above, in one plain list you can scan without tapping.
Across
Down
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:
| Day | Difficulty | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Easiest | Straightforward, direct clues |
| Tuesday | Easy | A little more wordplay |
| Wednesday | Medium | Themes get more inventive |
| Thursday | Tricky | Rebus puzzles and gimmicks appear |
| Friday | Hard | Themeless, wide-open grids |
| Saturday | Hardest | The toughest cluing of the week |
| Sunday | Medium–hard | Large 21×21 themed puzzle |
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.
Browse more puzzles on the crossword solver, or use it to crack any clue from any publication.
Frequently asked questions
What are today's NYT Crossword answers?
The full Across and Down solution for today's puzzle (August 24, 2026) is listed at the top of this page, updated as soon as the Times releases it.
What time does the NYT Crossword come out?
The daily puzzle is released at 10 p.m. Eastern the night before on weekdays (7 p.m. Pacific) and 6 p.m. Eastern before weekends. We post the answers as soon as it goes live.
Why is the NYT Crossword harder later in the week?
By design: Monday is the easiest and Saturday the hardest, with cluing growing trickier each day. The Sunday puzzle is larger (21×21) and themed, at a medium-hard level.
How do I reveal just one answer?
Each answer is listed separately here, or use the crossword solver to reveal a single clue's answer from your known letters — without seeing the rest of the grid.
Where can I find past NYT Crossword answers?
Every previous puzzle is in the archive on this page, listed by date with full solutions, updated automatically each day.