Home/Archive/Mar 16, 2026

NYT Crossword — March 16, 2026

Monday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 78 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 78 revealed

1I

2M

3O

4P

5E

6N

7W

8H

9I

10R

11B

12A

13T

14N

E

B

U

L

A

15W

A

C

O

16A

I

R

17A

D

I

N

F

I

18N

I

T

U

M

19D

O

E

20P

I

T

T

21F

Y

I

22A

23M

P

L

E

24T

A

P

S

25S

U

I

26G

27E

N

E

R

I

S

28A

O

29C

30S

P

O

T

31M

32A

G

N

U

33M

34O

35P

U

S

36A

37G

38O

39G

40D

I

E

41P

O

R

T

I

O

42N

43A

N

Y

44S

D

S

45U

46P

O

S

T

M

O

47R

T

E

M

48P

49E

E

N

50W

E

E

51Q

52U

53I

D

P

R

O

54Q

55U

56O

57P

A

58S

59T

60A

S

D

O

I

61U

R

L

62A

G

U

A

63T

A

I

64L

65A

66T

I

N

L

67O

V

E

R

S

68A

G

O

69O

P

A

L

70A

V

E

N

G

E

71R

E

M

72G

E

N

T

73S

I

S

T

E

R

Across

37 clues

1"Throw me the ball, no one's covering me!"

11Cave-dwelling flier

14Galactic cloud

15Texas city that's home to Baylor University

20Brad of 2025's "F1"

21"In case it's of interest ...," in brief

25*One of a kind

28Bronx-born congresswoman elected in 2018, familiarly

30"Great Red" feature of Jupiter

36Wide-eyed and eager

40Go down to 0%, as a computer battery

44SoCal sch. whose teams are the Aztecs

46*After the event, as an analysis

48Ball-___ hammer

51*Reciprocal exchange

57Historian's focus

60"Me too," formally

61One might end with "com" or "org"

62Water, in Juárez

64Stereotypical charmers ... or those charmed by the answers to the starred clues?

69Gem mined in Australia

70Exact retribution for

71Sleep cycle inits.

73Term of address for a nun

Down

41 clues

2Social ___ (TikTok, Instagram, etc.)

3Locales for the late news?

4Kicks down the road, as a decision

5Santa's little helper

6Innocent sorts

7Hypothetical (one hopes!) global conflict, for short

8Beanie or beret

9Carefully monitored hosp. area

10Italian cheese

11Negative press for a celeb, say

12Condiment with lots of garlic ... and vowels

13Family diagrams

18Greenwich Village campus, in brief

23Like a book about writing a book, say

26Fighter pilot's garb

32A helping hand

34City that's home to the University of Maine

35Six for a touchdown: Abbr.

37Staffer in a flight terminal

38"All for ___ and ___ for all!"

47Improves, as a bike path

49Literary afterthought

51Mideast nation ruled by the House of Thani

52Meter reading

53"Talk turkey" or "eat crow"

54Warm bed covering

55Still-life vessel

56Earthen pots, from the Spanish

58Sudden increase

59Weapon that stuns

65Tail-less primate

66Beachgoer's "souvenir"

67Prefix meaning "egg"

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

Stats & info

Monday, Mar 16, 2026

15×15

Grid size

78

Total entries

38/187

Black / letter cells

4.8

Avg entry length

11 ltrs

Longest entry

Easiest

Monday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedMar 16, 2026

DayMonday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorJamey Smith

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split37 across · 41 down

Longest entries

17A*Forever11 ltrs 64AStereotypical charmers ... or those charmed by the answers to the starred clues?11 ltrs 25A*One of a kind10 ltrs 31A*Masterwork10 ltrs 46A*After the event, as an analysis10 ltrs

Monday grids are the gentlest of the week: straightforward definitions, familiar fill and almost no wordplay. This grid has 38 black squares and averages 4.8 letters per entry.