Home/Archive/Jul 16, 2026

NYT Crossword — July 16, 2026

Thursday’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

2O

3S

4H

5S

6M

7A

8S

9H

10I

11N

12L

13A

14W

15H

A

H

A

16P

I

N

T

A

17N

O

O

N

E

18I

R

O

N

19M

A

N

T

R

I

20A

T

H

L

O

N

21V

D

A

Y

22I

T

C

H

23C

I

D

24G

25R

E

E

N

26D

27E

F

I

L

E

28A

N

Y

29M

I

L

L

I

30P

E

D

E

31B

32U

T

T

S

33T

O

E

34O

U

I

35F

36L

A

G

37D

38I

39R

E

C

T

40F

L

I

G

H

41T

42N

A

M

E

43R

O

E

44H

45A

46S

47S

48M

49O

C

K

50Y

A

R

D

51S

52T

I

C

K

53P

O

X

54E

55S

56P

A

N

A

57A

O

R

T

A

58A

R

T

59I

H

O

P

60A

V

I

D

61D

O

E

62S

T

H

I

S

63H

64A

V

E

L

E

65G

66S

67A

S

A

H

I

68S

A

U

C

E

69E

Y

R

E

70Y

E

M

E

N

71E

T

H

E

R

72D

E

E

T

Across

37 clues

10Acquisition on the big day

15"That's a good one!"

16Galápagos island that was home to Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his subspecies

17Who knows what preceded the Big Bang

18*Yes — three arduous ones

21February 14, informally

22Scratch that!

28Preceder of how, way or where

29*Yes — sometimes more than 1,000

33Little dipper?

34"Tout à fait!"

37*Yes — exactly one, in common usage

42First line on many a form

43Common garnish in a chirashi bowl

44Had at present?

47Article of lab wear

50*No — but it does have three feet

53Elizabethan curse

54Country that las islas Canarias are part of

57Important blood line

58"___ is the proper task of life": Nietzsche

59Business whose rewards program gives "Stackholder Perks"

61Question during a brainstorming session ... or of the answers to the starred clues

67Popular Japanese brew

68Alcohol, slangily

69Literary heroine who says "I would always rather be happy than dignified"

70Its capital is Sanaa

72Debugging component?

Down

44 clues

1Letter after upsilon

3Cleared, as snow

4"Messiah" composer

6What a big hand indicates: Abbr.

7Its colony can be considered one superorganism

9World's most populous Creole-speaking country

10Pretty much assured

11Japanese drama

12Feline in a 2000s meme

13Dub ... or rub

14Fast-food restaurant that sells Frostys

20Oft-injured part of the knee, for short

24Clock-setting std.

25___ Bravo (México/Tejas border)

26Certain tie score

32Sound of dissatisfaction

35Botanist's study

38Business ending

39Roll in dough

40Actress/union leader Drescher

41Symbol of spiritual insight, in Hinduism

46Music genre with "walking" bass lines

47Steamy occasion?

49Pioneers' prairie pullers

52Worked sufferingly

63"Wait ... really?"

64One of a kind

65Test for future Ph.D.s

66Not needing anything else

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

Stats & info

Thursday, Jul 16, 2026

16×15

Grid size

81

Total entries

42/198

Black / letter cells

4.9

Avg entry length

16 ltrs

Longest entry

Tricky

Thursday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedJul 16, 2026

DayThursday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorZhou Zhang and Mallory Montgomery

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split37 across · 44 down

Longest entries

18A*Yes — three arduous ones16 ltrs 61AQuestion during a brainstorming session ... or of the answers to the starred clues16 ltrs 37A*Yes — exactly one, in common usage12 ltrs 29A*Yes — sometimes more than 1,0009 ltrs 50A*No — but it does have three feet9 ltrs

Thursday is the gimmick day: rebus squares, reversed entries and other tricks are fair game. This grid has 42 black squares and averages 4.9 letters per entry.