Home/Archive/Feb 12, 2025

NYT Crossword — February 12, 2025

Wednesday’s 15 × 16 puzzle, 77 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 77 revealed

1M

2I

3C

4A

5P

6A

7W

8A

9T

10I

11G

12O

13R

14A

N

O

N

15A

B

A

S

E

16N

E

R

O

17D

E

N

Y

18L

E

G

I

T

19S

I

A

M

20D

E

F

I

21N

I

T

E

A

R

22T

I

C

L

E

23D

I

D

I

N

24A

R

G

O

S

25D

E

C

26F

27I

28B

29A

N

G

30S

31P

E

A

K

32S

O

N

E

33S

P

I

E

34C

35E

36P

A

S

S

37T

R

A

L

A

38A

C

H

E

39E

P

I

40R

A

H

41L

L

42C

43K

E

N

44C

I

N

45D

E

R

E

46L

L

A

S

47T

O

R

Y

48O

P

E

R

A

A

R

I

A

49B

50O

51O

M

52S

E

E

P

Y

53I

54F

55S

56O

57I

N

C

A

58S

59E

L

L

E

N

60B

E

H

I

N

61D

62A

63P

64A

Y

W

A

L

L

65B

U

R

N

O

U

T

66B

L

E

A

K

L

Y

67P

E

S

T

O

S

68R

I

D

G

E

S

Across

36 clues

1Mineral that shimmers

5Bat around, as a kitten might

10Composer Stravinsky

14Like much graffiti: Abbr.

16Emperor named an enemy of the state in A.D. 68

19Neighbor of Indonesia, on a Risk board

24City that was a rival of ancient Sparta

25Big mo. for eggnog sales

29Lee who directed "Gemini Man"

30Talks frankly

37Singsong refrain

38Heating pad target

39Lead-in to -gram or -graph

40Pep rally cry

41Cousin of Inc.

43Doll who debuted in swim trunks

44Success against all odds

48Either of two for Mozart's Queen of the Night

49“Take THAT!”

52Flowing slowly

53"Should that happen …"

57Builders of 25,000+ miles of roads in South America

59TV's DeGeneres

60With 63-Across, where some journalism is located ... or how to interpret the ends of 20-, 30- and 44-Across vis-à-vis the shaded squares

63See 60-Across

65Exhaustion from work

66Without much hope

68Features of coins which make them harder to counterfeit

Down

41 clues

1Road safety org.

2"___ to Know" (1999 Marc Anthony hit)

3Tells private things

4"How will we ever get out of this mess?"

5Satirist Michael

6Drive for, maybe

8It's east of the Urals

10Presidential seal, for one

11Lizard mascot with a Cockney accent

12Some campus grilling events?

13Spanish Steps locale

22Where a wedge may be used

28When to wave the white flag

30Guideline, in brief

31Big ___ (longtime Red Sox nickname)

32Some looks into space

34Sole one-named Best Actress Oscar winner

40One leg curl, e.g.

42CBS drama for 15 seasons

46Ka ___ (southernmost point in the U.S.)

47Sign of a hound's happiness

49Kind of lettuce

51Shade in a barren landscape

54Undependable sort

55Gives up the goods?

56"Above us ___ sky" ("Imagine" lyric)

58Pesky little brat

61Pop music's Wham! or Erasure

63Inexpensive beer, informally

64Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala ___

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Feb 12, 2025

15×16

Grid size

77

Total entries

40/200

Black / letter cells

5.2

Avg entry length

15 ltrs

Longest entry

Medium

Wednesday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedFeb 12, 2025

DayWednesday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorPhilip Koski

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split36 across · 41 down

Longest entries

20AThe15 ltrs 30ATalks frankly15 ltrs 44ASuccess against all odds15 ltrs 3DTells private things10 ltrs 11DLizard mascot with a Cockney accent10 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 5.2 letters per entry.