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NYT Crossword — October 9, 2026

Friday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 68 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 68 revealed

1C

2L

3A

4S

5S

6A

7C

8T

9S

10A

11S

12A

13H

14I

15R

E

L

I

E

F

M

A

P

16L

E

P

E

R

17A

F

O

R

T

I

O

R

I

18I

D

O

L

S

19S

A

N

E

20N

E

R

21F

B

A

L

L

22H

Y

E

N

23A

24S

25O

R

I

N

O

C

26O

27S

C

R

28O

29O

G

E

S

30G

A

P

31C

O

R

O

N

A

R

Y

32P

I

T

S

33D

A

N

E

34T

S

A

35L

E

E

S

36W

O

N

G

37W

H

I

P

38P

E

T

S

39E

G

O

40F

R

E

S

H

A

I

R

41T

O

P

42P

A

I

R

43K

A

I

44S

45E

46R

47W

E

L

L

T

O

48D

49O

50D

A

R

E

51A

N

N

A

L

52P

A

R

53A

54S

I

T

I

C

55S

E

E

T

O

56E

L

C

L

A

S

I

C

O

57A

R

R

O

W

58S

I

S

Y

P

H

E

A

N

Across

31 clues

10"Super Dry" brewer

15Visual aid with a three-dimensional aspect

16Persona non grata

17By an even stronger argument, at law

18Stars to gaze up at

20Squishy projectile

22Cackling carnivores

25World's third-largest river by discharge, after the Amazon and the Congo

27Miserly sorts, informally

31Like a certain artery

32Mango leftovers

33The astronomer Tycho Brahe, for one

34Org. concerned with screenings

35Wine leftovers

36___ Kar-wai, acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker behind 1994's "Chungking Express"

37Hounds that can run up to 35 m.p.h.

39It's mine, all mine!

40NPR program since 1987

41Two aces, say

50"Do I ___ to eat a peach?": T.S. Eliot

51Record of the year?

52Drawing on another's life

56Much-anticipated rivalry game in soccer's La Liga

57Hidden element of FedEx's logo

58Extremely difficult and ultimately futile

Down

37 clues

1Hit the hay hard

2Morgan ___, sorceress in King Arthur stories

3Not having company

4What Odysseus' crew waxed on about?

5Mahjong grouping

6Org. concerned with screenings

8Zero out, in a way

9Device geared to draw rotationally symmetrical shapes

10Accounts for checking?

11Compact, maybe

13Some Navy aircraft during W.W. II

14Org. requiring crypto disclosures beginning in 2025

21Glenn who co-founded the Eagles

24Broadway show inits.

28Near failure, colloquially

29Fertile place

31Swiss Army knife component

32Aid for someone studying a culture

33One who regularly takes a best friend out?

35Princess who says "Governor Tarkin! I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board"

36Like some noodles and martinis

37Habeas corpus, e.g.

38Cricket's Men in Green, on scoreboards

42Student of Socrates

44"Gymnopédies" composer

45Jong who wrote "Fear of Flying"

46Scouting trip

48Artist with an absurdist humor book all about his mustache

49Sauron's soldiers in "The Lord of the Rings"

53Gymnast Raisman

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

Stats & info

Friday, Oct 9, 2026

15×15

Grid size

68

Total entries

34/191

Black / letter cells

5.6

Avg entry length

10 ltrs

Longest entry

Hard

Friday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedOct 9, 2026

DayFriday

ThemeThemeless

ConstructorNam Jin Yoon

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split31 across · 37 down

Longest entries

9DDevice geared to draw rotationally symmetrical shapes10 ltrs 28DNear failure, colloquially10 ltrs 1AMensches9 ltrs 15AVisual aid with a three-dimensional aspect9 ltrs 17ABy an even stronger argument, at law9 ltrs

Friday puzzles run themeless, so the fill leans on long open entries and wordplay clues rather than a central gimmick. This grid has 34 black squares and averages 5.6 letters per entry.