Home/Archive/Oct 7, 2026

NYT Crossword — October 7, 2026

Wednesday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 72 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 72 revealed

1S

2R

3O

4T

5H

6E

7M

8E

9I

10N

11S

12T

13A

14H

E

H

15R

E

C

U

R

16R

O

T

I

S

17A

P

B

18E

A

R

L

S

19S

T

U

B

S

20T

R

U

21E

B

L

U

E

22A

R

I

A

23T

O

T

A

L

S

24S

25A

26T

27U

R

D

A

Y

28E

V

I

T

E

29D

I

N

30Y

E

S

31R

E

D

S

32T

33R

34I

E

D

I

35T

36D

O

A

37D

O

U

B

L

E

T

A

38K

39E

40T

R

I

M

M

E

D

41M

E

A

42T

43G

44R

45R

46A

L

B

47A

R

E

S

O

48R

A

I

49N

G

E

A

50R

51S

L

O

P

E

S

52A

C

N

E

53A

54T

L

A

N

T

I

S

55B

E

G

A

56T

57A

V

I

A

N

58A

N

O

59L

I

E

T

O

60M

E

R

C

I

61B

T

U

62E

N

R

O

N

63T

R

E

K

S

64S

O

T

Across

37 clues

1"No seats" sign

4Dolly Parton vis-à-vis Dollywood

9___-famous (reel popular?)

16Curry complements

17Call to cruisers, for short

18Well-manored men?

19Some concert refuse

20Staunchly loyal

22Solo for a soprano

23Wrecks beyond repair

24Popular date night

28Event-planning platform

31Team with a stadium on the Ohio River

32"Been there, done that"

36React with exaggerated surprise ... or how to form the shorter shaded answers from the longer ones

40Cut back a bit

41Protein source

43"That's infuriating!"

46B.C. neighbor

47Kid's comeback

48Macs and wellies, e.g.

51Snow bunnies are inclined to hit them

52Spots that may need clearing up

53Aquaman's domain

55Brought into being

57Like the descendants of some dinosaurs

58In Rio, janeiro starts it

60Expression de gratitude

61Abbr. on a box for an air conditioner

62Bygone company whose website has been revived as satire

63Serious schleps

Down

35 clues

1Break to pieces

2Gently scolded

3Sly reply to "You can't possibly know that!"

4Knob on an amplifier

5Becomes good as new

7Stereotypically uncooperative creatures

9Collecting org.

10E-cigarette claim

12Shin guards protect them

13Some chemistry lab procedures

25Musical artist with the fastest video to reach one billion views on YouTube

26Helped through a rough patch, with "over"

27Peck or parsec

32Patterned fabric

33Afro-Cuban dance

34Big name in cloud services

35Hall with a self-titled daytime talk show

37Regalia for some queens

38Monitor closely, with "on"

39Slowly get familiar with

43Pinup icon Betty

44Arrive out of breath, perhaps

45Close lookalike

47Singer Morissette with the 1995 #1 album "Jagged Little Pill"

50All-night party attendee

51In need of tightening, maybe

54Start to fade

56Trucker's measure

57Paycheck fig.

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Oct 7, 2026

15×15

Grid size

72

Total entries

38/187

Black / letter cells

5.2

Avg entry length

13 ltrs

Longest entry

Medium

Wednesday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedOct 7, 2026

DayWednesday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorBen Zimmer

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split37 across · 35 down

Longest entries

36AReact with exaggerated surprise ... or how to form the shorter shaded answers from the longer ones13 ltrs 20AStaunchly loyal8 ltrs 24APopular date night8 ltrs 48AMacs and wellies, e.g.8 ltrs 53AAquaman's domain8 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 38 black squares and averages 5.2 letters per entry.