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NYT Crossword — February 5, 2026

Thursday’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

1H

2A

3S

4A

5T

6S

7L

8A

9Y

10S

11H

12A

13M

14O

C

A

L

A

15T

A

S

E

16P

E

T

A

17T

O

L

L

B

18O

O

T

H

S

19A

L

E

E

20D

U

T

Y

21A

R

K

22G

R

I

D

S

23O

P

T

24F

R

E

E

25W

26A

Y

E

X

I

T

27G

L

A

28R

E

S

29E

L

M

30E

R

R

31S

E

X

E

R

32C

33L

A

P

34A

S

T

O

35O

N

36T

H

E

R

O

37A

D

38A

39B

40C

S

41A

I

D

S

42D

I

43S

44C

45S

46L

E

A

47P

I

N

48G

U

N

L

A

P

49L

A

N

50E

C

L

O

51S

52U

R

E

53I

R

A

54C

R

A

M

S

55C

P

A

56A

M

F

M

57A

P

S

E

58T

59R

A

F

F

60I

C

J

A

M

61P

A

T

E

62A

E

R

O

63S

H

I

R

E

64S

W

A

T

65O

V

E

R

66M

E

M

E

D

Across

39 clues

6Cause to crack up

10Pillow covering

14Florida's ___ National Forest

15Give quite a shock

17| $ | $ | $ | $ |

19Sheltered from the wind

20Charge on imports

21Bible-inspired tourist attraction in Williamstown, Ky.

22Excel spreadsheets, essentially

24| : : : | / /

27"How dare you!" looks

29Tree whose "slippery" variety has medicinal bark

30Mistake "air" for "heir," say

31Chick checker of a sort

32Put one's hands together

35Classic Jack Kerouac novel … or where you'll find 17-, 24-, 49- and 58-Across

46Grassy grazing ground

47Wrestling match ender

48Racer's final go-round

53Gershwin brother

54Adds to a stuffed suitcase, say

56Choice of bands, for short

58|X:X:X:X| |X:X:X:X| |X:X:X:X|

62Dynamic starter?

63Fictional region that includes Bag End

65"Your turn," on a radio

66Sent up on social media, say

Down

39 clues

3Levy that helped fund the Erie Canal

4Friend in tough times

5Paragraph starter, perhaps

7Potato pancake for Hanukkah

8Campfire residue

10Prince Harry, per his memoir's title

11Genomic shapes

12Put up with put-downs

13Baton wielder

18Galley implements

22Class that may require a change of clothes

24Leaves in a waiting room?

25Becomes tiresome

26Brand in the pet aisle

28Some vintage autos

32Khaki alternative

33Played the first card

34Possible score seven points after love-love

37In unison, musically

38Case of emergency?

39Source of a large print

40Card game played with two decks

43Meat stick brand

44Commuter's charge

45Barraged with irrelevant material

48First tennis player to achieve a Golden Slam

50Become acquainted via Gmail, say

51Jump ___ (horror movie staple)

52Willing to take part in

58Confucian "way"

59Energize, with "up"

60Suffix with capital

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

Stats & info

Thursday, Feb 5, 2026

15×15

Grid size

78

Total entries

34/191

Black / letter cells

4.9

Avg entry length

11 ltrs

Longest entry

Tricky

Thursday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedFeb 5, 2026

DayThursday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorDario Salvucci

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split39 across · 39 down

Longest entries

24A| : : : | / /11 ltrs 49A| : : :--|11 ltrs 17A| $ | $ | $ | $ |10 ltrs 58A|X:X:X:X| |X:X:X:X| |X:X:X:X|10 ltrs 35AClassic Jack Kerouac novel … or where you'll find 17-, 24-, 49- and 58-Across9 ltrs

Thursday is the gimmick day: rebus squares, reversed entries and other tricks are fair game. This grid has 34 black squares and averages 4.9 letters per entry.