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NYT Crossword — December 8, 2025

Monday’s 15 × 15 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

3D

4A

5M

6T

7A

8C

9O

10L

11A

12D

13O

P

E

R

A

14A

S

T

I

15N

16A

L

A

17J

A

C

K

S

18O

N

H

O

L

E

19S

O

W

20O

R

O

21C

A

K

E

22P

I

23S

T

O

N

24S

T

R

25E

A

K

26S

27E

A

L

E

D

28U

R

S

29A

30M

I

L

L

I

31E

32L

33Y

34C

R

A

35S

36C

A

N

37T

S

38A

39S

O

H

O

40D

I

G

I

T

41S

C

A

T

42D

Y

E

43R

A

I

L

44H

O

H

U

M

45O

R

46I

47G

I

N

48S

49L

A

M

50R

A

R

E

S

51T

52I

M

E

53A

54N

55T

56S

57L

Y

N

O

D

58A

59C

E

S

60R

O

I

61C

U

P

62W

O

63R

K

O

U

T

64W

E

L

L

65A

L

I

66L

U

T

E

S

67E

E

N

I

E

68B

L

T

69T

E

N

T

70R

I

T

E

S

Across

39 clues

1Sir's counterpart

6Folded Mexican snack

13"___ is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings": Robert Benchley

14Sean of "The Lord of the Rings"

16Chicken ___ king

17Wyoming skiing mecca

20Gold, in Spanish

21Dessert with icing

22Motor City hoopster

24Run out of clothes?

26Like an envelope that's ready to be sent

28___ Major (constellation)

30"Enola Holmes" actress ___ Bobby Brown

32Bicycle shorts material

35Computer image

37ID checkers at an airport

39Gallery-filled Big Apple neighborhood

40Finger or toe … or, when read as two words, what you can do to the ends of 17- and 62-Across and 10- and 34-Down

41"Get outta here!"

42Artificial colorant

43Half of a train track

44"That's boring!"

45Starting point

48Grand ___ (achievement in baseball or tennis)

50Hardest to find

52"Let me clarify ..."

56Gesture suggesting "I see what you did there"

58Top poker cards

60Monarch at Versailles

61Golfer's target ... or prize

62End successfully

65Comedian Wong

66Medieval stringed instruments

67"___, meenie, miney, mo"

68Crunchy sandwich, for short

70Religious ceremonies

Down

39 clues

3Interior design

5The eyes may have it

7Remnants of a volcanic spew

8Corp. exec overseeing engineers, say

9Stuff on an artist's palette

10Eleventh-hour

11Potatoes, in Indian cooking

12From ___ to dusk

15Actor Sam of "Jurassic Park"

18Acorn droppers

23Salt, in Paris

25Money across the Atlantic

27Messages on which you might be cc'd

29Iraqis and Iranians

31Biblical brother of Jacob

32Psychedelic tab

33Toy on a string that's not a kite

34Center of a stone fruit

36Film special effects, for short

38After-hours source of $$$

40Lost moisture

41Nonspecific amount

44Pet that stores food in cheek pouches

46Author Fleming

47What empty stomachs do

51No longer available

53"There ___ enough hours in the day"

54"That's the truth!"

55Mosaic pieces

56Covering over a wound

57Pause in the action

59"It's gonna ___ you!"

64Early Chinese dynasty

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

Stats & info

Monday, Dec 8, 2025

15×15

Grid size

78

Total entries

40/185

Black / letter cells

4.7

Avg entry length

11 ltrs

Longest entry

Easiest

Monday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedDec 8, 2025

DayMonday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorDan Kammann and Zhouqin Burnikel

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split39 across · 39 down

Longest entries

17AWyoming skiing mecca11 ltrs 62AEnd successfully11 ltrs 10DEleventh-hour9 ltrs 34DCenter of a stone fruit9 ltrs 9DStuff on an artist's palette8 ltrs

Monday grids are the gentlest of the week: straightforward definitions, familiar fill and almost no wordplay. This grid has 40 black squares and averages 4.7 letters per entry.