Home/Archive/May 18, 2025

NYT Crossword — May 18, 2025

Sunday’s 21 × 21 puzzle, 138 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 138 revealed

1R

2E

3C

4T

5O

6B

7I

8A

9L

10Y

11A

12L

13A

14I

15C

16A

17P

18E

19B

A

I

U

L

20E

M

C

E

E

21P

E

E

K

22O

W

E

S

23G

R

A

N

D

24R

A

P

I

D

S

25P

E

N

N

26F

A

S

T

27L

O

I

T

E

R

E

D

28T

A

K

E

O

29F

F

I

C

E

30N

O

T

31I

T

32C

33H

Y

34S

A

W

E

E

T

I

E

35D

36R

37U

G

W

A

38R

39R

O

A

R

40S

41S

I

R

E

42M

A

K

I

N

G

A

43N

I

M

P

A

C

44T

45T

N

O

46T

47E

48S

49E

V

E

N

50D

O

P

E

51A

I

52M

53S

C

R

E

W

54D

E

S

55E

56M

I

T

57V

58I

R

G

I

59L

60L

A

N

A

61C

H

A

O

S

62M

E

N

U

63D

E

64P

O

S

I

T

65G

66R

O

U

C

H

O

67M

A

R

X

M

68U

S

T

A

C

H

E

69J

O

H

N

D

O

E

70R

A

G

S

71R

U

B

I

K

72A

T

O

N

73S

A

74Y

S

M

E

75I

M

E

D

76O

77C

78D

79G

A

D

O

80T

81D

E

W

82L

83I

A

M

84I

R

A

Q

85S

T

A

I

R

86S

87W

H

88A

89T

S

T

H

E

90D

91A

M

A

G

E

92S

U

C

93H

94O

L

L

A

S

95R

I

V

A

L

E

D

96B

97R

98A

S

T

R

A

99P

100A

C

T

A

101S

102D

O

M

103L

O

V

E

H

O

T

E

104L

S

105B

E

106A

U

C

O

107U

108P

109A

L

O

U

110L

E

T

O

111S

112A

L

E

S

P

E

R

S

O

113N

114H

E

I

R

115L

O

C

O

116E

R

U

P

T

117T

O

M

M

Y

118S

O

D

S

119S

N

O

T

120T

O

R

S

O

121S

N

A

P

E

Across

65 clues

1Verso's counterpart

6Alternative to an onion bagel

15Where the Pilgrims first landed in the New World

19Skating gold medalist Oksana

22Has a tab open, say

23Hip-hop's "Puba" and "Daddy I.U."?

25Station near Madison Square Garden, for short

28Remove from the champagne bucket?

30"Just kidding!"

31Feeling rash?

34Hip-hop artist with the 2019 hit "My Type"

35Crisis involving cartels

39Goes "Vroom!"

42Casting a total brat in the school play?

45Some govt. securities

50"Super cool!"

51Get ready to take a shot

53Ship propeller

54French for "from"

57Dante's guide in the "Inferno"

60Singer Del Rey

61"The score upon which reality is written," per Henry Miller

62Apps might be seen on one

63Sediment, e.g.

65"The co-star of 'Duck Soup' has to be sore after that!"?

69Anonymous guy

70Pauperism, so to speak

71Author of the 2020 memoir "Cubed"

73"Because I'm the boss!"

75Pinged online

76Condition for which Luvox may be prescribed, in brief

79"Wonder Woman" star

82Late singer Payne of One Direction

84Modern home of where cuneiform writing originated

85Way up or way down

87"How long have beavers blocked this river?"?

94Earthenware pots

95Was comparable to

96Apparel feature that a bandeau lacks

100Function in the role of

102Monk's title

103Be crazy about Chicago trains with broken A.C.s?

105Much in quantity

109Baseball family name

111Metric in a competitive family business?

114Prince, e.g.

115In ___ parentis

117Designer Hilfiger

118Lays turf on

119Little twerp

121Head of Slytherin House in the Harry Potter books

Down

73 clues

1Subject of the 2018 biopic "On the Basis of Sex," familiarly

3"Ci vediamo in giro!"

4Getting ready to listen

5Historic district of a city

6Gnarly problem, so to speak

7Architect of Hong Kong's Bank of China Tower

8Certain hallucinatory experience

10Last word of James Joyce's "Ulysses"

11Dad, in Korean

12Ingredients in some potato soups

13Son of Aphrodite

14"You don't have to tell me"

15Time for a pick-me-up, humorously

17Joe of "Home Alone"

18First name in perfumes

28Banks from Los Angeles

29Maidenhair and others

32Common dog command

35Hit up on Instagram, informally

36Overnight party with light shows and "cuddle puddles"

38Rock group with the 1992 hit "Creep"

40Harum-___ (reckless)

44Notaro of comedy

46Drag-and-drop disposal icon

47Start of a counting rhyme

48Hit with a smack

52Time in a Shakespeare title

55Former Israeli P.M. Olmert

56Platform for Safari and FaceTime

58"Need You Tonight" band, 1987

61Arbiters of taste

62Polite term of address

64Stamp on an invoice

66Valerie Harper title role

67One of three immortal elders in "A Wrinkle in Time"

68Dickens's ___ Heep

74Tree whose name sounds like a pronoun

76Word with history or hygiene

78Threw out of a contest, informally

80Philosopher's pursuit

82Exam with an argumentative writing section, in brief

83"You know, I can't quite remember"

84"Oh geez, the answer was staring me in the face!"

86Goes through screen after screen

89Special attention, for short

93Publicly bash

97Lumberjacks' competition

98Walk around, maybe

99Where one might pick up litter

107West Point inst.

111Like a diamond in a ring

112Queer identity, in brief

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

Stats & info

Sunday, May 18, 2025

21×21

Grid size

138

Total entries

74/367

Black / letter cells

5.3

Avg entry length

19 ltrs

Longest entry

Themed

Sunday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedMay 18, 2025

DaySunday

ThemeHalving the Last Word

ConstructorGarrett Chalfin

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split65 across · 73 down

Longest entries

65A"The co-star of 'Duck Soup' has to be sore after that!"?19 ltrs 42ACasting a total brat in the school play?14 ltrs 87A"How long have beavers blocked this river?"?14 ltrs 15DTime for a pick-me-up, humorously12 ltrs 61DArbiters of taste12 ltrs

Sunday is the big one, a 21 by 21 grid built around a named theme rather than raw difficulty. This grid has 74 black squares and averages 5.3 letters per entry.