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NYT Crossword — October 21, 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

1K

2I

3S

4S

5U

6P

7A

8L

9A

10N

11F

12I

13B

14A

R

C

A

N

E

15L

A

N

E

16U

T

A

17P

A

R

K

I

N

18G

F

I

N

E

19L

S

D

20U

T

E

S

21G

R

A

D

22D

23U

L

L

S

24T

E

A

25O

U

I

26B

27U

M

K

N

E

E

28M

29O

V

I

N

30G

A

V

E

R

A

G

E

31R

E

N

32E

R

A

33A

M

I

D

34A

35T

36E

I

N

37W

O

E

38D

I

E

T

S

39L

O

M

O

40B

A

R

41S

O

N

42B

U

I

L

43D

I

N

G

44S

U

P

E

45R

46A

G

R

E

E

O

N

47E

N

E

48E

49L

50M

51C

H

A

S

E

52A

53C

E

D

54A

V

I

A

55O

N

T

56P

57A

S

T

P

E

58R

F

E

C

T

59R

U

E

60E

V

E

R

61C

A

R

R

I

E

62E

T

S

63R

E

E

L

64K

N

O

T

T

Y

Across

39 clues

1Teacher's pet, say, in slang

7Cumming who won a Tony for "Cabaret"

14Not well known

15Driving range?

16N.H.L.'s Mammoth, on scoreboards

17Driver's Ed: B

20Sporty vehicles, in brief

21Reunion attendee, for short

24Crop whose trade contributed to the Opium Wars

25Parisian permission

26Tender bend-er

31___ faire (festival with jousting)

32Life phase, informally

33In the thick of

34Had dinner at home

38Nutrition sources

39___ saltado (Peruvian stir-fry dish)

46Have the same opinion about

47Chemical suffix that indicates a double bond

48"A Nightmare on ___ Street"

51Scene that may begin "Follow that car!"

52Like a tennis player who didn't even swing, maybe

54Sneaker brand

55Province with Niagara Falls: Abbr.

59Look back on with regret

61Stephen King's telekinetic teen of horror

62Figures in some rumored landings, for short

63Short Instagram posting

64Difficult, as a problem

Down

35 clues

2Like a passionate solver discovering a filled-in airline magazine crossword, say

3Edvard Munch painting, with "The"

4Fifth Avenue retailer

6Bird that gives pebbles as a courtship gesture

7Bravo preceder

9Actress Dowd of "The Handmaid's Tale"

10"Can I help?"

11First and last, say

12"That checks out"

13Rotten apples

18Sly look, say

23Kyiv's country

25Bake-off need

27Sch. that's home to Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village

29Birds with a Baltimore species

30Physicist Ohm

35One that's hard to crack

36Airline headquartered in Dubai

37"Are you ready for this?"

38Fabulous, in slang

40Info that might include "Originally from ..."

41Open-air part of a cruise ship

43More profound

50Fellow crew member

54Musical lead-in to beat

57Blvd. crosser

58Tried for office

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026

15×15

Grid size

74

Total entries

34/191

Black / letter cells

5.2

Avg entry length

13 ltrs

Longest entry

Medium

Wednesday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedOct 21, 2026

DayWednesday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorRebecca Goldstein

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split39 across · 35 down

Longest entries

28AGym: B+13 ltrs 42AWood shop: A13 ltrs 17ADriver's Ed: B11 ltrs 56AHistory: A+11 ltrs 8DMade public8 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 34 black squares and averages 5.2 letters per entry.