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NYT Crossword — September 4, 2025

Thursday’s 15 × 15 puzzle, 78 clues. The full solution is below — answers stay masked until you reveal them, one clue or all at once.

0 of 78 revealed

1C

2A

3R

4T

5B

6A

7R

8E

9R

10E

11C

12T

13S

14A

L

E

15E

L

L

E

16N

A

R

N

I

A

17B

A

B

18E

R

U

T

H

19I

C

A

N

S

O

20I

M

M

U

N

E

21S

22A

V

E

S

23N

O

I

R

24M

A

L

E

25E

26D

27G

28E

29L

E

30D

31S

W

A

P

32D

O

O

R

33B

34A

C

K

I

35N

G

36S

A

37G

38E

M

O

39A

N

K

A

R

A

40R

O

41U

S

E

D

42T

I

C

43T

M

44C

45A

G

O

N

I

Z

E

46I

M

O

47N

48R

O

49W

S

50F

I

T

51K

A

R

O

52E

N

O

S

53O

S

54H

55A

56T

57I

D

E

D

58M

59I

N

C

E

S

60A

61R

62M

A

N

I

63N

64O

A

H

S

A

R

K

65B

I

G

T

O

P

66I

N

T

O

67L

O

U

68C

O

M

E

T

S

69W

E

E

P

70E

S

P

Across

40 clues

4One means of going up a hill

15Reese Witherspoon's role in "Legally Blonde"

16Fictional land of magic and talking animals

17Baseball great who said "If I'd just tried for them dinky singles I could've batted around .600"

19Playground retort

21Goalie's stat

23Genre for "Sunset Boulevard"

24Designation for some audio connectors

25Inch (toward)

29Had the reins

31Give and take

32Word with stop or prize

33Financial support

36Lose firmness

38Punk subculture

39World capital in central Anatolia

42That little thing you do?

43Inits. for cinephiles

45Struggle to decide

46"___ a roll!"

48Spreadsheet units

50In good shape

51Corn syrup brand

52Book of Mormon book

53Plant watcher, for short

56Helped temporarily, with "over"

60High-end suit

63Locale for a couples cruise?

65Milieu for the Flying Wallendas

66Obsessed with

67Reed in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

68Celestial omens, to some

Down

38 clues

1Part of an airplane

2Where Davy Crockett died, with "the"

3Athlete tackling El Capitan, e.g.

4Relative of a gull

8A bunch of fruit may grow on it

11___ International, channel seen in hotel rooms worldwide

12"Deck the Halls" contraction

13___ Tiago, largest of the Cape Verde islands

18Problem solver's cry

22"___, that love, so gentle in his view, / Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof!": "Romeo and Juliet"

24N.Y. Rangers' home

26Investor's question for a start-up, to which 3-, 8-, 35- and 49-/7-Down reply "Yes!"'

27One of the Addams family

28Slowly diminish

33Dyeing technique

34Jungian archetype

35Who popularized the proverb "With great power comes great responsibility"

44Traffic director

47Write, as music

49With 7-Down, worker who likely knows the ropes

55Invite from atop the stairs, say

57When ties get untied, for short

59Place offering a Rise ’N Shine breakfast

60Epitome of simplicity

61"Flying Down to ___" (1933 film)

64Start to count?

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

Stats & info

Thursday, Sep 4, 2025

15×15

Grid size

78

Total entries

39/186

Black / letter cells

4.8

Avg entry length

11 ltrs

Longest entry

Tricky

Thursday difficulty

PuzzleThe Crossword

PublishedSep 4, 2025

DayThursday

ThemeUntitled

ConstructorColin Ernst

EditorWill Shortz

Clue split40 across · 38 down

Longest entries

3DAthlete tackling El Capitan, e.g.11 ltrs 26DInvestor's question for a start-up, to which 3-, 8-, 35- and 49-/7-Down reply "Yes!"'11 ltrs 8DA bunch of fruit may grow on it9 ltrs 35DWho popularized the proverb "With great power comes great responsibility"9 ltrs 17ABaseball great who said "If I'd just tried for them dinky singles I could've batted around .600"8 ltrs

Thursday is the gimmick day: rebus squares, reversed entries and other tricks are fair game. This grid has 39 black squares and averages 4.8 letters per entry.