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NYT Crossword — October 8, 2026

Thursday’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

1E

2N

3B

4Y

5I

6T

7C

8H

9B

10A

11S

12S

13I

14T

E

L

E

15S

C

O

P

E

16L

I

E

I

N

17C

O

U

N

T

E

R

A

R

18G

U

M

E

N

T

19E

T

U

D

E

20B

E

T

21T

B

A

22C

23O

W

E

D

24R

25E

T

R

O

26C

H

I

C

27A

L

A

28B

O

R

E

29L

E

N

T

30B

A

L

31L

32S

Y

33R

A

34T

35S

O

36F

L

I

P

O

37F

A

S

W

I

T

38C

39H

40D

A

B

A

T

41E

P

H

R

O

42N

43S

44I

45V

A

46R

I

47S

E

48O

N

O

49H

A

I

R

50Y

51B

A

C

K

52A

53S

P

E

N

54A

G

E

55I

U

D

56U

57P

E

N

D

58D

R

I

59N

K

S

A

60L

L

A

R

O

U

61N

62D

63E

E

R

I

E

64Y

E

L

L

O

W

S

E

A

65D

E

A

L

S

66S

A

S

S

67S

T

E

M

Across

33 clues

1One who might use they/them pronouns, informally

5Sensation after getting a tattoo, for some

9How low can they go?

14Meteor shower?

16Stay under the covers all morning, to a Brit

19Piano exercise

20"It's never paid to ___ against America": Warren Buffett

21Place-holding letters on a schedule

27In the way of

29Time to go fast?

30Audacious, informally

33"Midnight Cowboy" con man

40Take a hankie to, say

41Nora who wrote "When Harry Met Sally …"

43Counterpart of Brahma and Vishnu

46Expand, as dough

48Hawaiian fish with a palindromic name

52Deciduous tree often found in regions dominated by conifers

54Just a number, they say

55Long-lasting birth control option, in brief

58Naive regal gnat

64It separates China and South Korea

65Everybody's hands

Down

41 clues

1And so on, in brief

2Hero famously "red-pilled," in film

3Perceived Democratic electoral bloc

4Matchmaker in "Fiddler on the Roof"

5Like many summertime coffee orders

7Professional who's busiest in Apr.

9Popeye's rival

10Making money or becoming famous, maybe

12Penalty box in hockey, slangily

15Hoop alternative

18Neighbor of Switz.

22Something inside or outside a wine bar?

23Count of "A Series of Unfortunate Events"

25Unpredictable

26Gingham or seersucker

28Common policy at a neighborhood BBQ

31Remote sensing technology that uses lasers

32Eponymous Belgian resort town

34Cringeily cute

37Units of electric charge

38Spray from a plane

42Start to stick?

43Under a parasol, say

44"My feelings exactly"

45Host Meredith of "25 Words or Less"

47Cézanne painted a "Pyramid" of them

51Clear stuff in a restaurant

52Prefix often meaning "gas"

57Thelma and Louise, e.g.

59Signifier of no value, in many programming languages

61First name signifier?

62Counterpart of a sire, on a horse farm

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

Stats & info

Thursday, Oct 8, 2026

15×15

Grid size

74

Total entries

34/191

Black / letter cells

5.2

Avg entry length

15 ltrs

Longest entry

Tricky

Thursday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedOct 8, 2026

DayThursday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorRachel Grey and John Kugelman

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split33 across · 41 down

Longest entries

17ATaps15 ltrs 58ANaive regal gnat15 ltrs 36APaws13 ltrs 14AMeteor shower?9 ltrs 24ATrams9 ltrs

Thursday is the gimmick day: rebus squares, reversed entries and other tricks are fair game. This grid has 34 black squares and averages 5.2 letters per entry.