Home/Archive/Feb 22, 2025

NYT Crossword — February 22, 2025

Saturday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 68 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 68 revealed

1T

2S

3K

4B

5A

6C

7H

8O

9H

10D

11A

12M

13N

14I

H

A

15T

E

Y

O

U

16P

E

O

R

I

A

17M

A

T

H

T

E

A

M

18T

A

R

T

L

Y

19E

L

S

E

20S

L

A

21P

S

T

I

C

K

22S

T

U

N

23S

N

L

24S

C

A

D

25S

26E

27B

28B

29C

U

30P

31R

U

E

32G

R

E

E

33N

A

N

A

34C

35O

N

D

A

36L

O

V

E

L

A

N

G

U

A

G

E

S

37G

A

L

E

N

T

I

N

E

S

D

A

Y

38A

D

D

39S

R

O

40E

S

L

41M

Y

B

42A

43D

44A

N

45G

46L

47O

48C

49S

50G

E

N

I

51U

S

B

A

52R

53A

P

O

P

54E

A

R

T

A

G

55A

M

I

56C

L

E

A

R

57E

G

G

I

N

G

58L

A

P

D

A

N

C

E

59L

A

S

S

E

S

60L

Y

E

S

61S

H

E

Across

33 clues

1Utterance that's usually made in pairs

4Who said "I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music"

8"Wow, that's … amazing!"

14Attack words that might be spoken as a compliment

16Classic stop on the vaudeville circuit

17Ones who should prepare for their day of reckoning?

18How criticism of a pastry chef might be delivered?

19Word after something, anything or nothing

20A pie to the face, slipping on a banana peel, etc.

23Show for which Eddie Murphy won an Emmy, in brief

24Lots and lots

31Zendaya's role on "Euphoria"

32World's heaviest snake (up to 500 pounds)

36Acts of service and words of affirmation, for two

37Time to celebrate female friendship, in a neologism

39Sign of a hit

40Fluency-building subj.

44Lee with Oscars

46Protective hairstyle, familiarly

54Cattle identifier

58Club purchase that comes with rules of etiquette

60Solutions that sound like problems?

Down

35 clues

2Must, old-style

3Chicken ___, panko-breaded dish

4Network that broadcasts the N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards

6Base for fire-walking

7Big shot performer?

8Picks, with "for"

9Puts in the oven

10Like the exterior columns at the Parthenon

11Best Actor Oscar winner for 1974's "Harry and Tonto"

12Candies originally named for their imperfect shape

13"Au contraire"

15"How dare they!"

21Do a deep dive

25Huge quantity

28They're not always kept in the loop

32Title family in a 2013-23 ABC sitcom

33Dollars : U.S. :: ___ : Nigeria

35Great Plains aquifer that supplies over a quarter of U.S. irrigation water

36A star of 2018's "A Star Is Born"

37School of whales

43Keaton of Hollywood

45Loire Valley grape variety

47Reveals oneself, with "up"

48Certain airplane seating

51Down Under wear

54Fish that can have two sets of jaws

56Alternatives to vinyl

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

Stats & info

Saturday, Feb 22, 2025

15×15

Grid size

68

Total entries

36/189

Black / letter cells

5.6

Avg entry length

15 ltrs

Longest entry

Hardest

Saturday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedFeb 22, 2025

DaySaturday

ThemeThemeless

ConstructorRose Conlon

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split33 across · 35 down

Longest entries

7DBig shot performer?15 ltrs 32AWorld's heaviest snake (up to 500 pounds)13 ltrs 36AActs of service and words of affirmation, for two13 ltrs 37ATime to celebrate female friendship, in a neologism13 ltrs 20AA pie to the face, slipping on a banana peel, etc.9 ltrs

Saturday is the hardest grid of the week, themeless and clued as obliquely as the editor allows. This grid has 36 black squares and averages 5.6 letters per entry.