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NYT Crossword — January 12, 2026

Monday’s 16 × 15 puzzle, 81 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 81 revealed

1P

2S

3Y

4C

5H

6S

7W

8O

9O

10P

11S

12H

13E

14D

15A

L

O

H

A

16N

I

T

R

O

17C

O

D

A

18S

A

Y

I

T

19D

O

N

T

S

P

20R

A

Y

I

T

21S

T

O

P

22E

C

O

23O

P

E

R

A

T

E

24S

25O

M

A

N

26Y

27I

L

Y

28C

29P

30R

31N

O

P

A

I

32N

N

O

G

33A

34I

35N

36E

L

U

37D

E

S

38P

A

S

39O

M

N

I

40L

U

B

E

S

41E

42L

S

E

43C

O

N

A

N

44E

M

I

L

45O

R

E

46I

O

D

I

N

E

47B

E

K

I

48N

D

R

E

49W

50I

N

D

51O

E

R

52C

O

D

53K

I

S

S

E

54D

55M

56Y

57F

A

U

L

58T

59S

A

P

60E

61D

62E

63N

64Y

O

U

S

N

O

O

65Z

E

Y

O

66U

L

O

S

E

67O

G

R

E

68T

R

E

S

S

69S

H

I

S

O

70B

A

Y

S

71S

E

E

T

O

72S

I

T

O

N

Across

37 clues

1Intimidate, with "out"

6Bird's dramatic dive

11Place to store a lawn mower

15Hawaiian greeting

16___ cold brew

17Concluding part of a song

18Rhyming advice to a spitting talker

22___-anxiety (fear of harm to the environment caused by human activity)

23Use, as machinery

24Lots and lots

27Acronym of affection in ASL

28E.M.T. process often administered to the beat of "Stayin' Alive"

31Rhyming advice to a gym rat

36Avoids, as capture

39Prefix that means "all"

40Garage jobs involving grease guns

41"If all ___ fails …"

43Comic/TV host O'Brien

44Man's name that's a citrus fruit spelled backward

45Substance that's a homophone and anagram of 51-Across

46Reddish-brown antiseptic in a first-aid kit

47Rhyming advice to a renter of VHS tapes

51Contraction that's a homophone and anagram of 45-Across

52Massachusetts' Cape ___

55"I'll take the blame here"

59Liquid that circulates in a plant

60Locale for Adam and Eve

64Rhyming advice to a procrastinator

67Fairy tale villain

69Leaf on a sushi tray

71Handle, as matters

72Conceal for the time being, as information

Down

44 clues

1Get a grade other than an F

2Mattress supporter

3Toy that can go "around the world"

4You might let these "fall where they may"

5A chef might wear a puffy white one

6Chocolate treat designed to look like a mountaintop

7Actress Ryder of "Beetlejuice"

8Baseball's Mel

9" … in that range"

10Mary who sings "In every job that must be done there is an element of fun"

11So great it's unnerving

12Georgetown athlete

13Put in a good word, perhaps?

14Something circled on a calendar

19Presentations during a product unveiling

20Move, to a Realtor

25More than 10 billion of them are currently in circulation in the U.S.

26Plaints of puppies

28One with many Insta followers, perhaps

29Fancy feather

30Toy cube inventor Erno

32Scottish negative

33Test an OB may perform in the second trimester

35Football player with a team name inspired by the California gold rush

37Where meats and cheeses are often displayed

42Vegetable that looks like a large scallion

43Girls Who ___ (nonprofit promoting women in computer science)

45Incomplete sets on sale

46Source of motivation, in modern lingo

48Verb preceder, typically

49Most sagacious

50Parent's declaration in response to defiance

54New ___, capital of India

55"Get outta my hair!," in a text

56Discipline for the flexible

61Phrase sometimes chanted after a dare

62Canadian gas brand

63Element with the symbol Ne

65Last of 26 letters

66Initialism on a Navy carrier

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

Stats & info

Monday, Jan 12, 2026

16×15

Grid size

81

Total entries

36/204

Black / letter cells

5.0

Avg entry length

16 ltrs

Longest entry

Easiest

Monday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedJan 12, 2026

DayMonday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorCarolyn Davies Lynch and Christina Iverson

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split37 across · 44 down

Longest entries

18ARhyming advice to a spitting talker16 ltrs 64ARhyming advice to a procrastinator16 ltrs 31ARhyming advice to a gym rat12 ltrs 47ARhyming advice to a renter of VHS tapes12 ltrs 11DSo great it's unnerving9 ltrs

Monday grids are the gentlest of the week: straightforward definitions, familiar fill and almost no wordplay. This grid has 36 black squares and averages 5.0 letters per entry.