Home/Archive/Aug 16, 2025

NYT Crossword — August 16, 2025

Saturday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 64 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 64 revealed

1B

2L

3O

4W

5D

6R

7Y

8B

9A

10R

11H

12U

13S

14H

15L

O

W

E

R

H

O

U

S

E

16A

N

T

E

17O

P

E

N

M

O

U

T

H

S

18S

W

A

Y

19B

E

S

T

A

D

V

I

C

E

20T

A

T

A

21C

R

E

E

22A

L

23L

E

V

E

N

24G

25A

26L

O

I

S

27M

R

L

O

N

E

L

Y

28O

C

E

L

O

29S

I

T

E

S

30R

E

B

31A

T

A

D

32H

E

X

E

R

33T

I

V

O

34T

I

S

35P

A

V

E

R

36M

I

N

E

D

37B

O

A

38R

D

I

E

S

39G

I

G

G

L

Y

40U

N

L

E

A

R

N

41A

R

C

H

42T

H

O

S

43T

H

44E

B

A

R

T

45M

46A

47N

48T

E

N

T

49R

O

S

E

T

O

F

A

M

E

50E

R

G

O

51A

U

S

T

E

N

I

T

E

S

52R

O

A

N

53P

R

E

S

S

S

T

A

R

T

Across

33 clues

1Beauty lounge, of a sort

15Mexico's Chamber of Deputies or France's National Assembly, for example

16Cash on hand?

17French kiss kissers

19Leading counsel?

21One of the First Nations

24Évariste ___, 19th-century French math prodigy for whom a differential theory is named

27Melancholy 1964 #1 hit for Bobby Vinton

28Sponge brand originally spelled with two hyphens

30N.B.A. stat: Abbr.

32Practitioner of black magic

33Kind of box for media watchers

34"___ the Damn Season" (Taylor Swift holiday song)

35Machine for a highway crew

36Like bismuth and bitcoin

37Swimwear that can be worn as shorts

39Full of snickers

40Try to break, as a bad habit

41Curve that's high and outside?

42Abbreviated first name found three times on the signed Declaration of Independence

431990 novelty dance inspired by a comics superhero

48Staple of an outdoor reception

49Became a marquee name, say

50Logical connective

51Lovers of "Emma" and "Persuasion"

53Way to begin gaming, say

Down

31 clues

1Appearance of the marine creature called "by-the-wind sailor"

3Hasn't settled up

4Foundered, as an investigation

5Nintendo title character with a head mirror

6Largest of the Dodecanese Islands

8"___ disagree"

9Barack Obama's final secretary of defense (2015-17)

10One who profits from eBay, say

13Where the 10th Amendment leaves many issues

14Call to whomever

23___ Alamitos, Calif.

24Dairy spread in a health food store

25Bond classification

26Tony-winning actress who provided the singing voice for the Disney princesses Jasmine and Mulan

27Is a social butterfly

29Like a typical flight from New York to London

32Shower drain protector

33Property of a wet suit or shapewear

35Smack in the middle of a crowd, in brief?

36Units for measuring bacteria and dust

39Hazards for high heels

41Provides job assistance?

44To be, to Brutus

46Part of A.S.L.: Abbr.

47Group of spies, say

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

Stats & info

Saturday, Aug 16, 2025

15×15

Grid size

64

Total entries

24/201

Black / letter cells

6.3

Avg entry length

10 ltrs

Longest entry

Hardest

Saturday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedAug 16, 2025

DaySaturday

ThemeThemeless

ConstructorByron Walden

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split33 across · 31 down

Longest entries

1ABeauty lounge, of a sort10 ltrs 15AMexico's Chamber of Deputies or France's National Assembly, for example10 ltrs 17AFrench kiss kissers10 ltrs 19ALeading counsel?10 ltrs 43A1990 novelty dance inspired by a comics superhero10 ltrs

Saturday is the hardest grid of the week, themeless and clued as obliquely as the editor allows. This grid has 24 black squares and averages 6.3 letters per entry.