NYT Crossword hints and answer for July 5, 2026
Hints that get gradually more specific, then the answer if you need it. Nothing is revealed until you tap.
Clues136
Across53
Down83
TitleBoxed Sets
Today’s NYT Crossword clues, hints & answers
Every clue from this puzzle with a hint and the answer behind separate buttons, so you only see what you need. Click a clue for its own page.
Across
1A
Firm up (7)
Starts with S, ends with NSTIFFEN→
8A
Capital city on the Gulf of Guinea (5)
Starts with A, ends with AACCRA→
13A
Gamer's pursuit (6)
Starts with E, ends with TESPORT→
19A
Aid for a violin player (8)
Starts with C, ends with TCHINREST→
20A
Crocs and mocs (5)
Starts with S, ends with SSHOES→
21A
Kind of costume that includes a round hat and kerchief (6)
Starts with S, ends with RSAILOR→
22A
{Elijah, Ruth, Natalie} (14)
Starts with B, ends with SBABEINTHEWOODS→
24A
"Send a quick reminder" (6)
Starts with P, ends with EPINGME→
25A
"___ it and rip it!" (aggressive golfer's mantra) (4)
Starts with G, ends with PGRIP→
26A
Org. for those leaving the workforce (4)
Starts with A, ends with PAARP→
27A
Product displays seen at entrances to store aisles (7)
Starts with E, ends with SENDCAPS→
28A
{Kerouac, Dubya, Ginsberg} (18)
Starts with B, ends with HBEATSAROUNDTHEBUSH→
35A
Colored (4)
Starts with H, ends with DHUED→
36A
Org. that accepts returns (3)
Starts with I, ends with SIRS→
37A
Grinders (5)
Starts with H, ends with SHEROS→
41A
{WC, AC, DC} (20)
Starts with P, ends with EPOWERBEHINDTHETHRONE→
49A
Jewish mysticism, in one spelling (6)
Starts with K, ends with AKABALA→
50A
Love, in Lima (4)
Starts with A, ends with RAMOR→
51A
Card game whose name is shouted (3)
Starts with U, ends with OUNO→
52A
Knee part often torn by athletes, in brief (3)
Starts with A, ends with LACL→
53A
At any time (4)
Starts with E, ends with REVER→
54A
Small test subjects (7)
Starts with L, ends with SLABRATS→
57A
Enforcer of traveling restrictions, informally? (6)
Starts with N, ends with FNBAREF→
60A
"The Second Coming" poet, 1919 (5)
Starts with Y, ends with SYEATS→
62A
Ragú competitor (5)
Starts with P, ends with OPREGO→
63A
The Shakespearean version of this has three quatrains followed by a couplet (6)
Starts with S, ends with TSONNET→
66A
{Bonnie, Oscar, Clyde} (17)
Starts with H, ends with SHONORAMONGTHIEVES→
70A
Some salon tasks (6)
Starts with R, ends with SRINSES→
71A
"Hammerin' Hank" of baseball (5)
Starts with A, ends with NAARON→
72A
Allow someone to pass (5)
Starts with Y, ends with DYIELD→
75A
30-ounce Starbucks size (6)
Starts with T, ends with ATRENTA→
78A
Old Testament patriarch (7)
Starts with A, ends with MABRAHAM→
80A
Close by (4)
Starts with N, ends with RNEAR→
81A
Early email provider (3)
Starts with A, ends with LAOL→
82A
Rightmost hour on a grandfather clock (3)
Starts with I, ends with IIII→
85A
Neighbor of an Estonian (4)
Starts with L, ends with TLETT→
86A
Evening that a couple spends together, say (6)
Starts with U, ends with EUSTIME→
88A
{Larry, Sue, Emma} (20)
Starts with T, ends with ETWOBIRDSWITHONESTONE→
94A
Mexican mister (5)
Starts with S, ends with RSENOR→
95A
Veer, as a ship (3)
Starts with Y, ends with WYAW→
96A
Org. concerned with plants (4)
Starts with O, ends with AOSHA→
97A
{Cinnabon, Kool-Aid, Hi-C} (18)
Starts with R, ends with SROLLWITHTHEPUNCHES→
107A
Powerhouse in English football (7)
Starts with A, ends with LARSENAL→
110A
Home to Waikiki Beach (4)
Starts with O, ends with UOAHU→
111A
California's ___ Linda (4)
Starts with L, ends with ALOMA→
112A
Rested atop (6)
Starts with L, ends with NLAIDON→
113A
{Landfill, goose feathers, junkyard} (14)
Starts with D, ends with SDOWNINTHEDUMPS→
119A
Pay no mind to (6)
Starts with I, ends with EIGNORE→
120A
Longtime Tribeca restaurant where some say the Cosmopolitan was invented, with "the" (5)
Starts with O, ends with NODEON→
121A
Thousands of binary digits (8)
Starts with K, ends with SKILOBITS→
122A
Was overflowing (6)
Starts with T, ends with DTEEMED→
123A
Van Halen of Van Halen (5)
Starts with E, ends with EEDDIE→
124A
Extended voyage (7)
Starts with O, ends with YODYSSEY→
Down
1D
Angel's ___ (distiller's term for the whiskey that evaporates during aging) (5)
Starts with S, ends with ESHARE→
2D
Shinbone (5)
Starts with T, ends with ATIBIA→
3D
Completely incompetent (5)
Starts with I, ends with TINEPT→
4D
Time for Sat. prep? (3)
Starts with F, ends with IFRI→
5D
Marshland (3)
Starts with F, ends with NFEN→
6D
Suffix for superlatives (3)
Starts with E, ends with TEST→
7D
Unspecified member of a series (3)
Starts with N, ends with HNTH→
8D
Nile dam (5)
Starts with A, ends with NASWAN→
9D
Triad, e.g. (5)
Starts with C, ends with DCHORD→
10D
Assume (5)
Starts with C, ends with TCOOPT→
11D
Lead-in to River or Rover (3)
Starts with R, ends with DRED→
12D
Dummkopf (3)
Starts with A, ends with SASS→
13D
Broadcaster of many an N.C.A.A. game (5)
Starts with E, ends with UESPNU→
14D
Called for quiet (7)
Starts with S, ends with HSAIDSHH→
15D
Penny ___ (miser) (7)
Starts with P, ends with RPINCHER→
16D
Lingerie brand with a Slavic-sounding name (4)
Starts with O, ends with AOLGA→
17D
Fun time (4)
Starts with R, ends with PROMP→
18D
"___ bon!" (4)
Starts with T, ends with STRES→
19D
Bygone N.Y.C. music venue with rhyming initials (4)
Starts with C, ends with BCBGB→
23D
Wisconsin's ___ Claire (3)
Starts with E, ends with UEAU→
27D
Buddy of "The Beverly Hillbillies" (5)
Starts with E, ends with NEBSEN→
29D
Apt name for a conchologist? (4)
Starts with S, ends with LSHEL→
30D
Ear-related (5)
Starts with A, ends with LAURAL→
31D
Yank's Civil War foe (3)
Starts with R, ends with BREB→
32D
What has flatter feet? (3)
Starts with O, ends with EODE→
33D
Achieve success, so to speak (3)
Starts with H, ends with THIT→
34D
Chinese instrument with two strings (4)
Starts with E, ends with UERHU→
38D
Sound of an approaching subway train (4)
Starts with R, ends with RROAR→
39D
Start of a reminiscence (4)
Starts with O, ends with EONCE→
40D
Word with confidence or checkout (4)
Starts with S, ends with FSELF→
41D
Do some roadwork on (4)
Starts with P, ends with EPAVE→
42D
Folk religion akin to voodoo (5)
Starts with O, ends with HOBEAH→
43D
Battered by battle (7)
Starts with W, ends with NWARTORN→
44D
Women's areas in old Muslim palaces (6)
Starts with H, ends with SHAREMS→
45D
Last stage of an insect's development (5)
Starts with I, ends with OIMAGO→
46D
"No way, no how!" (9)
Starts with N, ends with TNOTONABET→
47D
Neurosurgeons, e.g.: Abbr. (3)
Starts with D, ends with SDRS→
48D
Metric unit of weight (5)
Starts with T, ends with ETONNE→
49D
Map legend (3)
Starts with K, ends with YKEY→
55D
Figs. related to car loans (4)
Starts with A, ends with SAPRS→
56D
Scottish hill (4)
Starts with B, ends with EBRAE→
58D
Big bunch (4)
Starts with B, ends with YBEVY→
59D
Eroded (7)
Starts with A, ends with OATEINTO→
61D
Pouty mood (4)
Starts with S, ends with TSNIT→
63D
Lead-in to sphere, in the atmosphere (6)
Starts with S, ends with OSTRATO→
64D
"Hey! I know the answer!" (4)
Starts with O, ends with HOHOH→
65D
Atlantic crosser of 1492 (4)
Starts with N, ends with ANINA→
67D
Sign outside a broadcast booth (5)
Starts with O, ends with RONAIR→
68D
Wayne's buddy in "Wayne's World" (5)
Starts with G, ends with HGARTH→
73D
Really weak, as an excuse (4)
Starts with L, ends with ELAME→
74D
Beats by ___ (audio brand) (3)
Starts with D, ends with EDRE→
75D
They might be up in arms, informally (4)
Starts with T, ends with STATS→
76D
T. ___ Price (investment firm) (4)
Starts with R, ends with EROWE→
77D
"I bought this before ___ went crazy" (rueful bumper sticker on a Tesla) (4)
Starts with E, ends with NELON→
78D
He was né Clay (3)
Starts with A, ends with IALI→
79D
___ pork (dish in a Chinese restaurant) (5)
Starts with M, ends with UMUSHU→
83D
Tale of rustic life (5)
Starts with I, ends with LIDYLL→
84D
"Vidi," in Caesar's boast (4)
Starts with I, ends with WISAW→
87D
Satirist Freberg (4)
Starts with S, ends with NSTAN→
89D
You won't actually die of it (7)
Starts with B, ends with MBOREDOM→
90D
Rocks smelted to make steel (7)
Starts with I, ends with EIRONORE→
91D
Conflict sparked by an archduke's assassination: Abbr. (3)
Starts with W, ends with IWWI→
92D
San Francisco's ___ Valley (3)
Starts with N, ends with ENOE→
93D
Madrid's land, in the Olympics (3)
Starts with E, ends with PESP→
98D
Like Olympic pools (5)
Starts with L, ends with DLANED→
99D
Like some cars parked next to "No Parking" signs (5)
Starts with T, ends with DTOWED→
100D
Vietnam's capital (5)
Starts with H, ends with IHANOI→
101D
Old-fashioned "your" (5)
Starts with T, ends with ETHINE→
102D
Soldier for Attila (3)
Starts with H, ends with NHUN→
103D
Black suit (5)
Starts with C, ends with SCLUBS→
104D
Good pal (5)
Starts with H, ends with EHOMIE→
105D
Out of gas (5)
Starts with E, ends with YEMPTY→
107D
Settled down, in a way (4)
Starts with A, ends with TALIT→
108D
All the ___ (4)
Starts with R, ends with ERAGE→
109D
Kind of wave (4)
Starts with S, ends with ESINE→
113D
Last name for an unnamed person (3)
Starts with D, ends with EDOE→
114D
Curious (3)
Starts with O, ends with DODD→
115D
Ring result, in brief (3)
Starts with T, ends with OTKO→
116D
Secreted away (3)
Starts with H, ends with DHID→
117D
Ron who played Tarzan (3)
Starts with E, ends with YELY→
118D
Two in Tijuana (3)
Starts with D, ends with SDOS→
How to solve the NYT Crossword
Fill the grid so that every Across and Down answer matches its clue. Numbered squares mark where answers begin. Theme answers, usually the longest entries, share a twist that the puzzle's title or a revealer clue explains. Thursday puzzles are known for rebus squares and other tricks that bend the normal rules.
Want the full method? Read our NYT Crossword strategy and tips, or check how to play the NYT Crossword on the hub.
NYT Crossword tips for tomorrow
- Start with Monday-level clues. Even on a Saturday, a handful of clues are straightforward. Find them and build outward from the crossings.
- Hunt for the revealer. A clue that references other entries or ends in "?" often explains the theme. Solving it first unlocks the long answers.
- Respect the day of the week. Thursday means tricks like rebus squares; Friday and Saturday mean long, clever fill with misleading clues.
Done for today? Try The Mini, The Midi, LA Times Crossword, all with hints first and answers behind a reveal.
Previous NYT Crossword puzzles
NYT Crossword FAQ
How many clues are in the NYT Crossword for July 5, 2026?+
136 clues: 53 Across and 83 Down. The puzzle was constructed by Rich Katz and edited by Will Shortz.
What are some answers in today’s NYT Crossword?+
For example: Firm up (STIFFEN); Capital city on the Gulf of Guinea (ACCRA); Gamer's pursuit (ESPORT).
What time does the NYT Crossword come out?+
The next day's puzzle is released at 10:00 pm Eastern Time Monday to Friday and at 6:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Where can I find past NYT Crossword answers?+
Every puzzle in our archive has its own page with all Across and Down answers, plus a page for each clue. Click any date above.
