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NYT Crossword — January 7, 2026

Wednesday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 76 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 76 revealed
1J
2A
3D
4A
5H
6E
7A
8L
9S
10A
11P
12E
13S
14E
P
I
C
15E
N
R
O
N
16W
O
A
H
17T
I
N
K
18E
R
B
E
L
L
19A
W
R
Y
20L
E
E
21A
S
A
P
22A
R
E
N
A
23A
C
I
24D
S
25N
A
26N
27C
Y
D
R
E
W
28G
E
N
E
T
29I
C
30O
O
O
31T
S
A
32F
E
D
33S
S
N
34C
I
T
Y
35D
O
R
O
36T
H
Y
G
37A
L
E
38S
39M
O
G
40T
A
O
41E
M
O
42T
A
G
43F
O
R
44P
E
T
S
45P
46A
47S
48E
L
L
49E
W
O
O
50D
S
51R
E
E
S
E
52A
W
O
R
D
53P
A
54P
A
55S
H
E
56L
A
V
A
57H
58E
L
L
O
K
59I
T
T
Y
60T
R
E
S
61A
L
U
M
S
62A
L
O
O
63H
E
R
E
64M
I
S
S
Y
65M
E
N
U

Across

39 clues
1Actress Pinkett Smith of "Girls Trip"
5Gets better
10"Great" animals
14Super-cool
15Subject of 2001 bankruptcy headlines
16"That's crazy!," on the internet
17Wing woman?
19Not right
20Second-most-common surname in Korea, after Kim
21Right away
22Sports center
23They have pH's below 7
25Cover girl?
28Kind of makeup you're born with?
30XXX counterpart
31Org. with a 3-1-1 rule
32Gave a meal
33W-9 fig.
34San Francisco or San Antonio
35Homecoming queen?
38Unhealthy haze
40Mathematician Terence
41Musical genre that's the subject of the 2007 book "Everybody Hurts"
42Game of pursuit
43On behalf of
44Places for pampering pups
48Sister-in-law?
51Witherspoon who played 48-Across
52"We need to talk"
53Smurf elder
55Miss, e.g.
56Hot stuff
57Cat lady?
60Uno más dos
61Grads, now
62Potatoes, in Indian cooking
63Text sent upon arrival
64Rapper ___ Elliott
65Course list?

Down

37 clues
1Circadian dysrhythmia, less fancily
2By the item
3Enjoy a home-cooked meal, say
4"Oh no!," in comics
5Certain possessive pronoun
6With all judges present
7Grilled cornmeal cake
8"haha"
9"Black Jeopardy!" show, in brief
10Nobel, for one
11Bold accessory for a suit
12Sincere
13Back off (from)
18Day for hunting
22"The Bear" actress Edebiri
24Clear up, as a windshield
26Snoopy
27Savory rice porridge
29Words of concurrence
33"___ 'nuff!"
34Almost there
35Cynophilist
36Purple boba choice
37Travel option that serves 46 states
38Secrecy
39Virus of sorts
43Chain email abbr.
44Biblical collection of 150 poems
45Kitchen grinder
46Kutcher of "That '70s Show"
47"Later"
49Clear, as a whiteboard
50Equivalent of a 1.3 G.P.A., say
54Small bouquet
57Hawaiian pizza topping
58Lilly of pharmaceuticals
59Dr. Seuss's Sam-___

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Jan 7, 2026
15×15
Grid size
76
Total entries
36/189
Black / letter cells
5.0
Avg entry length
11 ltrs
Longest entry
Medium
Wednesday difficulty
PuzzleThe Crossword
PublishedJan 7, 2026
DayWednesday
ThemeUntitled
ConstructorAdrianne Baik
EditorWill Shortz
Clue split39 across · 37 down
Longest entries
35AHomecoming queen?11 ltrs17AWing woman?10 ltrs57ACat lady?10 ltrs25ACover girl?9 ltrs48ASister-in-law?9 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 36 black squares and averages 5.0 letters per entry.