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NYT Crossword — August 5, 2026

Wednesday’s 15 × 14 puzzle, 72 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 72 revealed
1C
2H
3A
4R
5T
6T
7O
8P
9P
10E
11R
12L
E
A
D
I
N
13G
14N
O
W
H
E
R
E
15A
R
I
Z
O
N
A
16I
C
E
D
T
E
A
17P
A
G
E
18R
19A
N
K
S
20C
21A
R
D
22C
23A
24S
25E
26H
27E
A
D
28M
29A
30S
31S
A
G
E
S
32C
A
R
B
O
33N
34S
T
O
R
A
G
E
35W
E
S
T
E
R
N
36S
A
H
A
R
A
37I
N
T
E
R
N
E
38T
39B
O
T
S
40G
O
E
S
41B
42U
S
T
43F
44I
45R
S
T
46M
47A
48T
49E
50B
51O
52O
53L
E
A
N
54A
55L
56G
E
B
R
A
57I
N
D
I
A
N
A
58H
O
O
S
I
E
R
59C
O
U
N
T
S
60N
O
S
E
S

Across

28 clues
1With 6-Across, #1 hit
6–
12With 14-Across, ultimately fruitless
14–
15With 16-Across, beverage sold in pastel-colored cans
16–
17With 18-Across, measures of search engine optimization
18–
20With 22-Across, pocket ID holder
22–
26With 28-Across, temple services?
28–
32With 34-Across, sequestration of a greenhouse gas
34–
35With 36-Across, sparsely populated African land
36–
37With 39-Across, web crawlers, e.g.
39–
40With 41-Across, loses all one's dough
41–
43With 46-Across, Starbuck vis-à-vis Captain Ahab
46–
50With 54-Across, math that underpins computer logic
54–
57With 58-Across, member of the last undefeated N.C.A.A. Division I men's basketball team (1976)
58–
59With 60-Across, tallies attendees
60–

Down

44 clues
1Michael of "Barbie"
2Alexander who served under Reagan, Nixon and Ford
3Axlike tool depicted in hieroglyphs
4City on Guanabara Bay, familiarly
5Paramount ancestor, in brief
6Apt rhyme of "clock"
7Isn't settled up
8High degree
9Word with project or peeve
10Before, in a hymnbook
11Stephen of "V for Vendetta"
12One of 25 in a track 10K
13Actress Teri
14Writer Anaïs whose name is hidden in this clue
19Capt.'s superior
20Pole tossed in a Scottish game
21Beautify
22Stone figure?
23Petri dish gels
24Company that debuted Sonic the Hedgehog
25Legal termination?
26Proverbial waste maker
27Some Deco works
29"Well, I have to save my ___" (Shrek line)
30Total guesses
31"Ooh-la-la!"
32Our "-zoic"
33Florence-to-Venice dir.
35Part of a George Washington costume (though he rarely wore one)
38Cable channel with many reruns
42Site of the 2002 and 2034 Winter Olympics
43Big success
44Actors McKellen and McShane
45Messenger ___
46Imbroglio
47Rose's lover of 1920s Broadway
48Número de Caballeros in a 1944 film
49Something that may be lent or bent
50Pen letters?
51Musical Yoko
52Sch. in Norfolk, Va.
53"Hamilton" star ___-Manuel Miranda
55Apt name for a groundskeeper?
56Word that becomes its own synonym when "p" is added to the end

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Aug 5, 2026
15×14
Grid size
72
Total entries
48/162
Black / letter cells
4.5
Avg entry length
8 ltrs
Longest entry
Medium
Wednesday difficulty
PuzzleThe Crossword
PublishedAug 5, 2026
DayWednesday
ThemeUntitled
ConstructorDaniel Bodily
EditorWill Shortz
Clue split28 across · 44 down
Longest entries
28A–8 ltrs37AWith 39-Across, web crawlers, e.g.8 ltrs12AWith 14-Across, ultimately fruitless7 ltrs14A–7 ltrs15AWith 16-Across, beverage sold in pastel-colored cans7 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 48 black squares and averages 4.5 letters per entry.