Home/Archive/Sep 30, 2026

NYT Crossword — September 30, 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

2T

3U

4B

5C

6A

7L

8M

9A

10S

11K

12E

13W

14I

O

N

A

15O

P

I

E

16S

P

I

K

E

17E

X

A

M

18P

A

P

E

R

19P

A

C

E

D

20G

I

B

B

O

U

S

21C

22L

E

R

K

23E

N

L

I

S

T

24C

H

E

C

K

B

25O

26X

27S

S

E

28T

H

29O

U

30S

T

L

U

K

E

31F

O

O

D

I

32E

33E

T

A

S

34S

35U

R

P

R

I

S

E

36P

37A

R

T

Y

38D

U

N

E

39N

I

N

E

R

S

40I

L

L

E

41S

42T

43N

Y

P

D

44B

45A

46S

47S

U

I

T

C

A

48S

E

49B

E

50H

E

S

T

51K

R

O

N

A

52P

A

N

A

C

H

E

53A

54C

E

I

T

55F

56R

O

N

T

D

O

O

R

57S

P

L

A

T

58E

Y

E

D

59T

O

R

E

60S

L

Y

L

Y

61S

E

T

S

62O

L

E

O

Across

35 clues

1Much-used pencil

14Isle that's the traditional burial site of Scottish kings

15Mayberry kid on old TV

16Sharp increase

19Walked while fraught with worry, say

20Like a moon that is not full but is more than half visible

21Administrative role

27Nottingham-to-London dir.

30Attributed writer of the third Gospel

31Culinary connoisseur

33GPS's guesses

38Desert landform

39San Francisco team, informally

40Best and most awesome, in slang

43Times Sq. squad

44Humanities degs.

49Person's bidding

51Need for a greedy Swede?

57Pie-in-the-face sound

59Hightailed it

60How a trickster might behave

61Group in a gym routine

Down

37 clues

1Drawn-out attacks

2Things to be cleansed from the body

4Movie with the record for the longest time between its release and the release of its sequel (63 years)

5Writing partner

6Many tech start-up ideas

8Some concert gear, informally

10They might get lit at a birthday celebration

11Be super-successful, in slang

13Give a ring, say

18Surgery recovery period, in brief

22"___ Troyens" (five-hour French opera)

24Collection of dishes?

26Treasure map markings

29God whose name has one "I," fittingly

31Offer from many a streaming service

32Start of a counting rhyme

34"Star Trek" helmsman

36Musical promoters of school spirit

41"Star Trek" engineer

42Trig function that can output every real number

44"Don't freak out, dude"

45Where landlubbers are at home

46It often features panels with speakers

48Targets of some heists

50Was out of other options

52Word found at the start of "Poe, to name one"

54Rank below sgt.

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

Stats & info

Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026

15×15

Grid size

72

Total entries

34/191

Black / letter cells

5.3

Avg entry length

13 ltrs

Longest entry

Medium

Wednesday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedSep 30, 2026

DayWednesday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorJoel Woodford

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split35 across · 37 down

Longest entries

34APlanet!13 ltrs 17AMarket!9 ltrs 55ALocket!9 ltrs 10DThey might get lit at a birthday celebration9 ltrs 31DOffer from many a streaming service9 ltrs

Wednesday is the midweek pivot, where themes get denser and clues start bending the surface reading. This grid has 34 black squares and averages 5.3 letters per entry.