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NYT Crossword — August 27, 2025

Wednesday’s 14 × 16 puzzle, 78 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 78 revealed

1M

2A

3S

4T

5K

6P

7O

8P

9G

10M

11S

12U

H

U

H

13A

R

A

L

14I

R

O

N

15N

E

N

E

16T

O

T

E

17D

A

D

A

18I

M

UP/DOWN

F

19O

R

W

H

A

20T

E

V

E

R

21A

H

I

22Y

A

Y

M

E

23B

24U

25T

T

O

N

26UP/DOWN

27U

P

S

28A

S

H

E

29A

S

30A

M

I

31S

32P

33F

34D

E

I

S

35M

36I

M

P

S

37E

R

A

38A

R

C

39U

40N

D

O

41T

42O

P

I

C

43T

S

K

44S

P

E

N

45T

46H

A

Z

E

47S

I

R

48G

O

49B

B

L

E

UP/DOWN

50A

51D

52D

O

N

53F

E

E

54G

O

I

N

G

55UP/DOWN

56I

57N

F

L

A

58M

59E

60S

61A

W

A

Y

62K

N

E

E

63P

I

K

E

64I

N

N

S

65E

C

C

E

66A

N

E

W

67N

S

A

68Y

A

K

S

69L

I

D

S

Across

40 clues

1It might be rigged

5Genre for Blackpink or BTS

9N.B.A. or M.L.B. V.I.P.s

13___ Sea, shrinking body of water that was once the world's third-largest lake

14Rock's ___ Maiden

15Wildlife that may nest on Hawaiian golf courses

16Bag with handles

17Some absurdist art

18"Anything sounds good to me"

21Poke bowl fish

22"I'm so great!"

23Basic couturier offering

27Highs ... that could appear four more times in this puzzle

28Arthur who was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

31Letters on some moisturizer bottles

34Philosophy followed by Benjamin Franklin

37"Reputation" or "Midnights," for Taylor Swift

38It's how the story goes

41Talking point

43Expression of disapproval

46State of confusion

47Gary Oldman or Ian McKellen, e.g.

53Ticket seller's take

54Failing epically

62Foundation for a proposal?

63Diving position with bent hips and straight legs

64The Prancing Pony and the Admiral Benbow are fictional ones

65Latin "Behold!"

67Govt. group with cryptologists on staff

68Goes on and on and on ...

Down

38 clues

1S.F. transit option

2"I'm standing right here, you know!"

3One end of the day

4Sister goddesses who personify destiny

5Hurricane that's the subject of the 2006 documentary "When the Levees Broke"

6Vessel's front

7Statement in a courtroom

8Statement in a courtroom

9Contents of some boats

10Router hookup

14Creatives may jot them in a notebook

19"What have we here?!"

23Perennially struggling with

24Apt letters missing from "c_ _tom_ _ _"

25Like pea soup fog

26One aspect to consider in making a decision

27Who often brushes dirt off home plate

30Honor ___ thieves

33One orientation of a playing card during a magic trick

35Saying "hmm ...," perhaps

40Where to get some "Fresh Air"

42"Come on, help me out"

45Buttery confections

47Some computers and televisions

49"___ Canto" (Ann Patchett novel)

51Lows ... that could appear four more times in this puzzle

52Roman goddess of fertility

55One tool for scrolling on a computer

56Quechua speaker

57Prominent feature of an alpaca

59Scraped (out)

60Hides a tear, say

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

14×16

Grid size

78

Total entries

42/182

Black / letter cells

5.3

Avg entry length

20 ltrs

Longest entry

Medium

Wednesday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedAug 27, 2025

DayWednesday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorZhou Zhang

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split40 across · 38 down

Longest entries

18A"Anything sounds good to me"20 ltrs 54AFailing epically20 ltrs 23ABasic couturier offering13 ltrs 48ADevour13 ltrs 26DOne aspect to consider in making a decision11 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 42 black squares and averages 5.3 letters per entry.