Home/Archive/Apr 8, 2026

NYT Crossword — April 8, 2026

Wednesday’s 16 × 15 puzzle, 79 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 79 revealed

1A

2L

3A

4S

5N

6O

7A

8L

9P

10O

11I

12N

13T

14L

15R

E

D

E

E

M

16G

U

A

C

17D

A

R

E

18C

O

D

A

S

I

19L

E

N

C

E

20A

V

I

D

21A

N

O

N

22S

O

N

A

T

A

23T

H

I

N

G

24D

I

N

25P

S

A

T

26N

O

O

G

I

E

27E

D

S

28A

I

M

29R

30A

S

P

31A

T

S

32C

R

O

33L

A

S

34K

35A

T

Y

36S

T

A

N

37Z

A

C

H

38A

N

C

E

39S

E

R

B

40I

D

K

41R

O

E

42S

O

W

43O

44R

G

S

45B

I

T

46R

47A

48J

49O

L

E

50O

L

E

51L

A

S

S

52A

K

A

53F

O

R

Z

A

M

54O

55M

E

N

T

56I

D

I

G

57T

A

R

O

58A

R

I

A

K

I

59D

D

I

N

G

60I

C

A

N

61R

A

M

S

62D

I

L

A

T

E

63E

T

T

E

64K

L

E

E

65E

M

I

N

O

R

Across

41 clues

1"I'm afraid not," quaintly

7Food brand for Fido

11Like major-city airports, typically: Abbr.

16Avocado dip, informally

18Audience's reverent response to a symphony finale?

20Keenly interested

21Shakespearean "soon"

22That certain je ne sais quoi in Beethoven's "Moonlight"?

25Measure of college readiness, for short

26Knuckled rub to the scalp

27Publishing house workers: Abbr.

29Wood-shaping hand tool

31Tagging symbols

33Vegas opener?

36Opportunity for a choral understudy?

39Belgrade native

40"Beats me," in a text

41Caviar, essentially

42Miss Piggy, for one

45Extended comedic riff

46Hindi for "rule"

49Chant heard at the start of "Hot Hot Hot"

51Girl in Glasgow

52Alias initialism

53When to play a note with sudden strong emphasis?

56"Groovy, man"

57Popular flavor of bubble tea

58"What's Opera, Doc?," e.g.?

60Volunteer's offer

62Respond, as a pupil might

63Ending with kitchen

65Key of Brahms's Symphony No. 4

Down

38 clues

1Covered passageway

2Meteor in a November shower

3Enhancing accessories

4Actor Astin of the "Lord of the Rings" films

5Original Super Mario Bros. console

7Author's representative

8Moon over Managua

10What Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa are both believed to have

11The Gem State

12Find one's way

13Dublin college founded in 1592

14Apartment planter sites, perhaps

19Good gardening soil

23Traditional samurai hairstyles

25Graph of y = ax^2 + bx + c, for example

29Frame for a game of pool

30Forehead marking at the start of Lent

32Convention bldg., in a mailing address

33Dudes, in British English

35Big name in hardware stores

36Underground scurrier

37Half of a darting motion

38Jean-Bertrand ___, 1990s Haitian leader

39One-man band, for example

42Sentimental sort

45Make ___ (earn vast sums)

46Unit of angular measurement

48Rolling Stones frontman

50Absorber of UV light

54Word with cavity or contraceptive

55One acting rather quiet?

56Savory South Asian rice cake

59Lower, as lights

Click a clue for its own page with the answer and a short explanation.

Stats & info

Wednesday, Apr 8, 2026

16×15

Grid size

79

Total entries

40/200

Black / letter cells

5.1

Avg entry length

12 ltrs

Longest entry

Medium

Wednesday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedApr 8, 2026

DayWednesday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorPhilippe Monfiston

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split41 across · 38 down

Longest entries

36AOpportunity for a choral understudy?12 ltrs 18AAudience's reverent response to a symphony finale?11 ltrs 22AThat certain je ne sais quoi in Beethoven's "Moonlight"?11 ltrs 53AWhen to play a note with sudden strong emphasis?11 ltrs 58A"What's Opera, Doc?," e.g.?11 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 40 black squares and averages 5.1 letters per entry.