Home/Archive/Sep 25, 2026

NYT Crossword — September 25, 2026

Friday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 70 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 70 revealed

1C

2A

3N

4O

5E

6C

7A

8V

9A

10G

11E

12A

13R

14I

K

I

D

Y

15O

U

N

O

T

16A

C

M

E

17T

I

N

D

E

R

D

A

T

E

18R

O

M

E

19E

N

O

20L

A

D

L

E

21B

A

N

A

L

22B

E

L

L

23S

24A

I

G

O

N

25G

26A

27M

E

T

H

E

28S

Y

S

T

E

M

29A

V

E

R

S

E

30W

E

K

31B

I

32D

33E

34P

E

D

I

35A

36M

I

S

S

37A

S

I

A

38E

C

I

G

39L

A

P

40N

41A

N

T

E

S

42T

H

43A

T

R

E

44M

I

N

D

S

M

E

45C

A

T

C

H

Y

46A

C

T

S

47L

E

T

B

E

48J

49A

D

E

N

50P

51C

52P

53A

L

I

A

54P

A

R

A

L

E

55G

A

L

S

56B

L

O

C

57E

N

E

M

Y

S

P

I

E

S

58S

I

N

K

59P

E

A

S

60T

A

R

O

T

Across

35 clues

1Olympic slalom equipment

6Spanish sparkling wine

10First, second or third

16Fictional company famous for its duds

17Outcome of a match, maybe

18Forum setting

19U2 producer Brian

21Like a whodunit in which the butler did it [duh!]

22Device seen on a front desk

23Ho Chi Minh City's former name

25Exploit a loophole, e.g.

30Supermodel Alek

31___ one's time

34Procedure after which you might wear flip-flops, informally

38Pen that isn't used for writing, in brief

39"Karma is a cat / Purring in my ___ 'cause it loves me" (Taylor Swift lyric)

40Port on the Loire

42"Speaking of which ..."

45Like an earworm

48Rapper and actor Smith

53Actress Shawkat

54Ones providing brief assistance?

57Invasive plants?

58One might be meat-only or dairy-only in a kosher household

59Morsels often found in fried rice

60The Devil's domain

Down

35 clues

1Give credit to, in a way

3___ Sarratore, "My Brilliant Friend" character

5Certain loopholes

7Second Freudian stage

8Gives one's approval, in a way

9Past-tense verb that becomes its present tense when you move its last letter to the front

10Sources of some rock

11Some experts of interest?

12World capital once known as Philadelphia

13Instagram : ___ :: YouTube : Short

15Focus for the foul-mouthed?

22"Hang on a sec"

24Says "please," say

26"___ plaisir" ("You're welcome," in French)

27Breathtaking activity?

28Take without paying ... or a motion made while paying

41Residence that can have thousands of chambers

43Unreturnable pickleball shot

44Polite titles

45Instruments in chamber groups

47Discovery sites

49What's distorted in a Mercator projection

50Part of a full house

51Ptolemaic royal, familiarly

52Poke alternative

55Transcript fig.

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

Stats & info

Friday, Sep 25, 2026

15×15

Grid size

70

Total entries

32/193

Black / letter cells

5.5

Avg entry length

13 ltrs

Longest entry

Hard

Friday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedSep 25, 2026

DayFriday

ThemeThemeless

ConstructorRafael Musa

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split35 across · 35 down

Longest entries

25AExploit a loophole, e.g.13 ltrs 42A"Speaking of which ..."13 ltrs 10DSources of some rock11 ltrs 22D"Hang on a sec"11 ltrs 14A"For real!"10 ltrs

Friday puzzles run themeless, so the fill leans on long open entries and wordplay clues rather than a central gimmick. This grid has 32 black squares and averages 5.5 letters per entry.