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NYT Crossword — January 2, 2026

Friday’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

1A

2R

3F

4W

5H

6A

7T

8I

9S

10A

11R

12T

13D

E

I

14G

15N

16H

A

B

A

N

E

R

O

S

17A

P

B

I

O

18I

C

A

N

T

L

O

O

K

19M

O

O

N

W

20A

L

K

21D

E

F

A

T

S

22S

S

N

23W

W

E

24B

O

R

E

R

25A

26F

E

W

27B

O

O

N

S

28R

29E

C

U

R

30T

A

X

R

E

T

31U

32R

33N

34E

M

C

E

E

35O

S

U

36T

E

P

E

E

37G

U

I

L

T

38T

R

I

P

39F

E

A

S

T

40T

A

H

O

E

41D

A

M

N

42P

A

L

E

S

43P

A

M

44D

45A

46X

47C

48L

U

N

K

Y

49M

O

N

O

50G

A

M

Y

51A

I

R

K

I

S

52S

E

S

53U

N

T

I

L

54V

E

G

E

N

A

I

S

E

55S

C

E

N

E

56E

N

E

R

G

Y

B

A

R

57M

O

M

Across

33 clues

1Havanese greeting

4Tolstoy book whose title asks a question

13Reluctantly stoop

16They rate up to 350,000 on the Scoville scale

17H.S. class for tough life lessons?

18"Just tell me when it's over"

19Dance move also known as a backslide

21Skims, as soup stock

22Fig. that cannot start with 9

23Org. for The Rock and Brock Lesnar

24Tunnel-making machine

28Keep coming up

30One might lead to pay back

34Make some introductions, say

35The Cowboys of the N.C.A.A.

36Word from the Lakota for "they dwell"

37Emotional manipulation tactic

40Attraction on the western side of Carson Range

42Seems less impressive, so to speak

43Spray in the kitchen

44German stock market index

49One-to-one relationship

51Exchanges blows?

54Eggless bread spread

55"A-a-a-and ___!" (improv show ender)

56High-carb snack

57May day celebrant

Down

35 clues

1President who wrote "Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it"

2Default outcomes, perhaps

3Kind of sequence that proceeds 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ...

5Modern security threat

6Org. with the Rule of Law Initiative

7Cylindrical oven

8Extremely well-liked?

9Personal opinion?

10Hooting and hollering

11Part of an underground network

12Pithy put-downs

14Main ingredient in an aviation cocktail

15"I like the sound of that!"

20"So adorable!"

24Prepare to ship, say

26Delivery means to a gas station

27Count in the Blues Hall of Fame

28On the ___ (frequently, informally)

29Bird whose eggs are sometimes a canvas for Aboriginal art

30Capotes are flapped at them

31"Let's go, sleepyhead!"

32Booking, for short

33Server's obstacle

38"Word on the street is ..."

41___ Brown, author of "The Da Vinci Code"

42Night of lawlessness in a long-running horror franchise, with "the"

46Stem component

48Lender's security

49Table outside

50Big purveyor of health supplements

52Gender-neutral term in a family

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

Stats & info

Friday, Jan 2, 2026

15×15

Grid size

68

Total entries

36/189

Black / letter cells

5.6

Avg entry length

14 ltrs

Longest entry

Hard

Friday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedJan 2, 2026

DayFriday

ThemeThemeless

ConstructorAdam Wagner and Rafael Musa

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split33 across · 35 down

Longest entries

8DExtremely well-liked?14 ltrs 15D"I like the sound of that!"14 ltrs 9DPersonal opinion?10 ltrs 26DDelivery means to a gas station10 ltrs 4ATolstoy book whose title asks a question9 ltrs

Friday puzzles run themeless, so the fill leans on long open entries and wordplay clues rather than a central gimmick. This grid has 36 black squares and averages 5.6 letters per entry.