Home/Archive/Mar 11, 2026

NYT Crossword — March 11, 2026

Wednesday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 74 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 74 revealed

1C

2O

3M

4M

5A

6C

7S

8P

9A

10N

11A

12S

13K

14A

H

E

A

D

15O

P

E

R

A

16T

I

N

17P

O

S

T

I

18T

N

O

T

E

S

19O

N

O

20S

E

N

A

T

O

R

21S

L

A

W

22T

23R

I

24P

E

N

I

25C

26I

L

L

I

N

27C

O

A

28R

29S

E

30O

N

E

31M

A

N

E

T

32E

33L

34A

P

S

E

35D

36M

I

C

R

37O

W

A

V

E

O

V

E

38N

39C

H

I

N

E

S

E

40L

E

T

U

41P

42A

P

U

43B

E

S

E

T

S

44S

45I

46L

L

Y

P

47U

48T

49T

Y

50C

S

I

51O

V

A

L

52N

E

A

R

53E

54S

T

55L

O

T

56S

57E

R

E

N

D

I

P

I

58T

59Y

60A

R

T

61A

M

E

N

D

62R

E

V

U

E

63R

Y

E

64T

O

P

S

Y

65E

D

E

N

S

Across

33 clues

1Clause separator

6Channel showing committee hearings

14Winning, for the moment

15"Don Giovanni" genre

16Container for sardines

17In 1968, Spencer Silver at 3M Corporation was attempting to develop a superstrong adhesive ...

19Musician Yoko

20One in a hundred

21Alternative to fries, maybe

22___-color pasta

24In 1928, Alexander Fleming at St. Mary's Hospital in London found mold in his cultures of staphylococcus bacteria ...

30Answer to the riddle ending "How many are going to St. Ives?"

31"Olympia" painter

32Ran out, as time

36In 1945, Percy Spencer at the Raytheon Manufacturing Company noticed the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted close to a magnetron ...

39Language in which "computer" is made up of the characters for "electric" and "brain"

40Take one's foot off the gas

42Kwik-E-Mart proprietor on "The Simpsons"

44In 1943, James Wright at General Electric was attempting to develop synthetic rubber for the war effort ...

50Inits. on a police forensic van

51Racetrack shape

52Like Mercury among all the planets vis-à-vis the sun

55One to build on

56Happy chance, as illustrated by the four invention stories at 17-, 24-, 36- and 44-Across

60Singer Garfunkel

61Update, as the Constitution

62Vaudeville show

63Deli bread option

Down

41 clues

2"Well, that's a surprise!"

3Marked by a religious zeal

5Tennis score after deuce

6Old French tale

7With whom the dish ran away in "Hey Diddle Diddle"

10Rapper Lil ___ X

11Part of Micronesia

12Mount associated with Moses

18Wrap for an athlete's injury

21Things a vest lacks

22Channel for old westerns

28Community center for games and activities

29Having streaks

32Producer of milk for Roquefort cheese

33"___ Culturistas" (popular podcast)

34Street sign abbr.

35Clue examiner

37"Movin' ___" ("The Jeffersons" theme song)

38McAuliffe's one-word reply to a German commander's demand of surrender

41Tire inflation meas.

43Polar explorer Richard

44Certain renewable energy

45Shade of off-white

46Milky coffee drink

47General Assembly participant, for short

48Many first-time smartphone owners

49Jessica who won an Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy"

53Ireland, to the Irish

54Hightailed it

56Exam for college applicants

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Mar 11, 2026

15×15

Grid size

74

Total entries

42/183

Black / letter cells

4.9

Avg entry length

13 ltrs

Longest entry

Medium

Wednesday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedMar 11, 2026

DayWednesday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorJohn Guzzetta

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split33 across · 41 down

Longest entries

36AIn 1945, Percy Spencer at the Raytheon Manufacturing Company noticed the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted close to a magnetron ...13 ltrs 17AIn 1968, Spencer Silver at 3M Corporation was attempting to develop a superstrong adhesive ...11 ltrs 56AHappy chance, as illustrated by the four invention stories at 17-, 24-, 36- and 44-Across11 ltrs 24AIn 1928, Alexander Fleming at St. Mary's Hospital in London found mold in his cultures of staphylococcus bacteria ...10 ltrs 44AIn 1943, James Wright at General Electric was attempting to develop synthetic rubber for the war effort ...10 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 42 black squares and averages 4.9 letters per entry.