Home/Archive/Sep 28, 2025

NYT Crossword — September 28, 2025

Sunday’s 21 × 21 puzzle, 140 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 140 revealed

1E

2M

3P

4T

5O

6R

7P

8A

9P

10R

11I

12K

13A

14I

15C

16E

17M

18A

19N

20M

O

H

A

V

E

21H

A

S

A

S

I

P

22N

O

L

O

S

E

23M

O

O

R

E

S

24D

A

Y

C

A

R

E

25F

L

I

N

T

S

26A

L

E

27R

E

28B

S

29C

H

I

30D

31R

E

D

32I

R

S

33A

B

34L

A

T

E

35I

H

E

A

36R

37E

R

O

38I

C

A

39H

E

A

L

T

H

40D

E

L

H

I

41D

E

N

T

A

L

42I

L

L

A

43S

K

44A

45T

O

N

E

S

46E

47V

48A

N

49E

V

A

50M

51C

52S

53B

U

C

54Y

55A

56W

57S

58H

A

G

59U

S

E

D

60C

H

E

61A

N

E

62W

63G

E

O

64O

C

E

65A

N

66S

E

67N

D

A

C

68A

R

D

69E

70A

R

L

Y

71W

A

L

R

U

72S

73B

O

N

U

S

74E

A

S

E

L

S

75T

E

R

M

E

76D

77A

N

D

R

A

78G

A

R

T

E

N

79D

I

V

A

80T

E

81N

82A

L

I

83G

R

R

84I

S

E

85E

86J

O

E

Y

87U

F

O

88L

E

T

89E

E

L

90R

O

S

S

91S

N

L

92S

P

E

D

93D

R

Y

94A

W

O

95L

96N

S

C

97L

E

O

N

I

98D

99T

R

I

B

E

100S

101F

102R

I

E

N

D

S

W

103I

104T

105H

B

E

N

E

F

I

106T

107S

108P

E

E

T

S

109C

A

R

H

O

O

D

110T

E

A

M

111S

112A

M

S

C

R

113A

114Y

115R

A

I

N

N

116W

117H

I

S

K

E

Y

118I

M

T

H

E

R

E

119F

I

N

E

D

120W

E

S

T

E

L

M

121R

E

S

I

D

E

S

122S

L

E

D

S

123E

N

T

A

I

L

S

Across

71 clues

1Caveat ___ ("Buyer beware")

7Spice that's characteristic of Hungarian cooking

14Marvel Comics mutant who can freeze his own body

20Arizona county or Indigenous people

21Tries some water, say

22Like a win-win situation

23___ law, concept in computing technology

24Alternative to a nanny

25Fire starters

26Contents of a flagon

27Ole Miss athletes, to fans

29X

30___ Scott, who the Supreme Court said was not free to sue for his freedom

32Org. not getting many happy returns?

33Remove surgically, as tissue

35"They tell me …"

37Beethoven symphony originally intended to honor Napoleon

39Class that might cause some high schoolers to blush

40Sprawling Indian metropolis

41Like some bridges

42"Let me check on that"

44Expiates, with "for"

46Man's name that's 49-Across plus a letter

49Woman's name that's the first three letters of 46-Across

50Rap battle participants

53Tampa Bay athlete, in brief

54Twists off course, as a ship

60"Weekend Update" co-host Michael

61All over again

63___Guessr, hit online game whose players deduce locations from Google Street View images

64Where a hurricane forms

66Wish someone "Happy Birthday," perhaps

71Mammal with long whiskers

74They stand for art

77___ Day, Billie Holiday's portrayer in "The United States vs. Billie Holiday"

78Celebrity chef Ina

79Demanding entertainer

80X

82He was né Clay

83Watchdog's warning

84Words of understanding

87Familiar initialism coined by a U.S. Air Force captain

88Do-over at Wimbledon

89Kind of sauce at a sushi bar

90Sewer in American history

91"Weekend Update" show, for short

93Like some alcohol … or places that prohibit alcohol

94Not present and not excused, for short

96Foreign policy grp.

97Brezhnev of the Soviet Union

99Cherokee and Cheyenne

101Relationship featuring casual intimacy … or a hint to six pairs of intersecting answers in this puzzle

108Starbucks competitor

109Spot for an ornament

110Giants in California and New York

115Actor Wilson of "The Office"

118"Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

119Like slow filers and fast drivers, at times

120Furniture retailer owned by Williams-Sonoma

122Iditarod transports

Down

69 clues

1Title heroine described as "handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition"

3Fly-catching bird with a name derived from Greek

6Moves elsewhere

7Tenured profs, often

8Small battery … or an org. that might help with a battery

9It's all in your head

10Mother of Joseph and Benjamin, in the Bible

11Book after Song of Solomon

12French cocktail made with crème de cassis

14Reasoned conclusion

16Bulldog fan in Connecticut

19Van ___ Avenue, thoroughfare in San Francisco

28Minds one's P's and Q's

31Contribute (to), as one's reputation

34Been asleep, say

35Texter's "Beats me"

43One-named singer born in Nigeria

45Skier's conveyance

46Online site for D.I.Y.ers

47Time out, perhaps

48Info commonly shown on a board game box

50Clown around with food?

51City SE of Phoenix

52Purpose of some cameras

55Reaches a shared opinion about

56Holistic contentment

57Some beans or sauces

59"E pluribus ___"

68Pretty ___ picture

70Moving around

74You can put a ring on it

78Came back, as hair

79Music's Fatboy Slim and David Guetta, informally

81Error message on a Blu-ray device

83Targeted (to)

85Key for a quick exit

92Boils with rage

95Liberal-leaning

97Chinese "nut" that's really a fruit

98Makes small in comparison

99Government debt obligations, familiarly

102Gets 40 winks

103Letter-shaped train track piece

104"To ___ own self be true"

106George of "Star Trek"

107Bad thing to discover in the pantry

108AA or JJ, e.g.

111Jazz singer Sylvia ___

116Org. that merged with the U.F.C. in 2023

117Kind of party

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

Stats & info

Sunday, Sep 28, 2025

21×21

Grid size

140

Total entries

78/363

Black / letter cells

5.2

Avg entry length

19 ltrs

Longest entry

Themed

Sunday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedSep 28, 2025

DaySunday

ThemeCentral Perk

ConstructorRich Katz

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split71 across · 69 down

Longest entries

101ARelationship featuring casual intimacy … or a hint to six pairs of intersecting answers in this puzzle19 ltrs 66AWish someone "Happy Birthday," perhaps9 ltrs 6DMoves elsewhere9 ltrs 14DReasoned conclusion9 ltrs 47DTime out, perhaps8 ltrs

Sunday is the big one, a 21 by 21 grid built around a named theme rather than raw difficulty. This grid has 78 black squares and averages 5.2 letters per entry.