WSJ Crossword hints and answers for August 21, 2026
A hint and the answer for every clue, each behind its own button. Nothing is revealed until you tap.
Clues140
Across70
Down70
TitleNope!
Today’s WSJ 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
Diplomatic assignment (4)
Starts with P, ends with TPOST→
5A
Weighs down (5)
Starts with L, ends with SLADES→
10A
Infectious bug (4)
Starts with G, ends with MGERM→
14A
One might get tipped (3)
Starts with H, ends with THAT→
17A
Contrail makeup (5)
Starts with V, ends with RVAPOR→
19A
Vengeful swordsman Montoya (5)
Starts with I, ends with OINIGO→
20A
Potatoes, in Indian cuisine (4)
Starts with A, ends with OALOO→
21A
Parcel (out) (4)
Starts with M, ends with EMETE→
22A
Long-necked swamp speaker? (11)
Starts with C, ends with RCRANEORATOR→
24A
Honey-based drink (4)
Starts with M, ends with DMEAD→
25A
Around 314, for a circle of radius 10 (4)
Starts with A, ends with AAREA→
26A
Alamo option (7)
Starts with C, ends with TCOMPACT→
27A
Final glimpse of a forbidding silhouette? (11)
Starts with T, ends with RTHEGRIMREAR→
30A
Precocious “Family Guy” character (6)
Starts with S, ends with ESTEWIE→
32A
“That had to hurt!” (3)
Starts with O, ends with FOOF→
34A
Dreyer’s partner (3)
Starts with E, ends with YEDY→
35A
Imposes (upon) (6)
Starts with F, ends with SFOISTS→
36A
Used to be (3)
Starts with W, ends with SWAS→
37A
1982 movie with 2010 and 2025 sequels (4)
Starts with T, ends with NTRON→
39A
One of 265 in the Bronx Zoo (4)
Starts with A, ends with EACRE→
41A
Regional flora and fauna (5)
Starts with B, ends with ABIOTA→
42A
Two things that meet when applying balm after a workout? (13)
Starts with A, ends with MACHESANDCREAM→
45A
Losses in a ledger (6)
Starts with R, ends with KREDINK→
47A
Cynical crime genre (4)
Starts with N, ends with RNOIR→
48A
Injures badly (5)
Starts with M, ends with SMAIMS→
49A
Latin for “load” (4)
Starts with O, ends with SONUS→
51A
Yao in the Basketball Hall of Fame (4)
Starts with M, ends with GMING→
53A
Having the most pepper icons on the menu, perhaps (8)
Starts with S, ends with TSPICIEST→
56A
Result of a burning desire (5)
Starts with A, ends with NARSON→
58A
Strung along (5)
Starts with L, ends with NLEDON→
59A
Take in (3)
Starts with C, ends with NCON→
60A
Fawn’s kin (4)
Starts with E, ends with UECRU→
62A
Genesis creator (4)
Starts with S, ends with ASEGA→
64A
Memorable span (3)
Starts with E, ends with AERA→
65A
Salon choice without waves or curls? (10)
Starts with S, ends with OSTRAIGHTDO→
70A
Drone-based delivery vehicle? (10)
Starts with F, ends with TFLYINGCART→
73A
Nintendo avatar (3)
Starts with M, ends with IMII→
74A
“Whiskey in My Water” country singer Tyler (4)
Starts with F, ends with RFARR→
75A
Place to grab a mocha (4)
Starts with C, ends with ECAFE→
77A
___ Lingus (3)
Starts with A, ends with RAER→
78A
North Pole workers (5)
Starts with E, ends with SELVES→
80A
Factory worker (5)
Starts with R, ends with TROBOT→
82A
“You doubt me?” (8)
Starts with A, ends with GAMIWRONG→
87A
Garden with a snake problem (4)
Starts with E, ends with NEDEN→
88A
Surrender (4)
Starts with C, ends with ECEDE→
89A
Saharan stopovers (5)
Starts with O, ends with SOASES→
91A
Modernists (4)
Starts with N, ends with SNEOS→
93A
Genre for Björk and Kate Bush (6)
Starts with A, ends with PARTPOP→
95A
Two-wheeler with cables pulled taut? (13)
Starts with T, ends with ETENSEDBICYCLE→
99A
Bargain hunters’ finds (5)
Starts with D, ends with SDEALS→
100A
Home of Iowa State (4)
Starts with A, ends with SAMES→
101A
Memo starter (4)
Starts with I, ends with EINRE→
102A
Receipt line (3)
Starts with T, ends with XTAX→
103A
Climbing expert (6)
Starts with S, ends with ASHERPA→
105A
Bestie, in Bordeaux (3)
Starts with A, ends with IAMI→
106A
Youngest king in the Valley of the Kings (3)
Starts with T, ends with TTUT→
108A
Capital on the Hudson (6)
Starts with A, ends with YALBANY→
110A
Easy scores during a casual round? (11)
Starts with W, ends with SWALKINGPARS→
113A
Snitch (7)
Starts with T, ends with RTATTLER→
115A
Initial cost (4)
Starts with A, ends with EANTE→
116A
Snore-inducing (4)
Starts with D, ends with LDULL→
117A
Perfectly negotiated agreements? (11)
Starts with A, ends with SACETREATIES→
121A
Xmas, for Jimmy Buffett (4)
Starts with B, ends with YBDAY→
122A
Southernmost Great Lake (4)
Starts with E, ends with EERIE→
123A
Liquefy in a blender (5)
Starts with P, ends with EPUREE→
124A
Sonata section (5)
Starts with R, ends with ORONDO→
125A
___ admin (IT pro) (3)
Starts with S, ends with SSYS→
126A
Dirt road tracks (4)
Starts with R, ends with SRUTS→
127A
Microscope insert (5)
Starts with S, ends with ESLIDE→
128A
Drei squared (4)
Starts with N, ends with NNEUN→
Down
1D
Piping plastic, for short (3)
Starts with P, ends with CPVC→
2D
Crew member (3)
Starts with O, ends with ROAR→
3D
Enterprise, e.g. (9)
Starts with S, ends with PSPACESHIP→
4D
Thus far (5)
Starts with T, ends with WTONOW→
5D
Old Milanese money (4)
Starts with L, ends with ALIRA→
6D
World’s heaviest snakes (9)
Starts with A, ends with SANACONDAS→
7D
“Likewise!” (5)
Starts with D, ends with ODITTO→
8D
Braggart’s attribute (3)
Starts with E, ends with OEGO→
9D
Put in order (4)
Starts with S, ends with TSORT→
10D
They may include only the first levels (9)
Starts with G, ends with SGAMEDEMOS→
11D
Mournful poem (5)
Starts with E, ends with YELEGY→
12D
Stadium sound (4)
Starts with R, ends with RROAR→
13D
Tweaks (8)
Starts with M, ends with SMODIFIES→
14D
“How about this...” (11)
Starts with H, ends with AHERESANIDEA→
15D
Really bothered (5)
Starts with A, ends with TATEAT→
16D
Drops from ducts (5)
Starts with T, ends with STEARS→
18D
Sends, as payment (6)
Starts with R, ends with SREMITS→
21D
Seafaring (8)
Starts with M, ends with EMARITIME→
23D
Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “Hugh the Drover,” e.g. (5)
Starts with O, ends with AOPERA→
28D
Daughter of Cronus (4)
Starts with H, ends with AHERA→
29D
State of mind (4)
Starts with M, ends with DMOOD→
30D
Pond glider (4)
Starts with S, ends with NSWAN→
31D
Some food truck fare (5)
Starts with T, ends with STACOS→
33D
Growing business? (4)
Starts with F, ends with MFARM→
38D
“Put your wallet away” (4)
Starts with O, ends with EONME→
40D
France’s film award (5)
Starts with C, ends with RCESAR→
41D
Sultanate on the South China Sea (6)
Starts with B, ends with IBRUNEI→
43D
Gospel singer Campbell (5)
Starts with E, ends with AERICA→
44D
Named as a source (5)
Starts with C, ends with DCITED→
46D
Bouillon brand (5)
Starts with K, ends with RKNORR→
50D
Like a busybody (4)
Starts with N, ends with YNOSY→
52D
Pest in a cloud (4)
Starts with G, ends with TGNAT→
54D
Salon offerings (5)
Starts with C, ends with SCOIFS→
55D
“Young Frankenstein” role (4)
Starts with I, ends with AINGA→
57D
Elizabethan collar (4)
Starts with R, ends with FRUFF→
58D
Cold-fermented beer (5)
Starts with L, ends with RLAGER→
61D
Pixar film set during el Día de los Muertos (4)
Starts with C, ends with OCOCO→
63D
Chew like a capybara (4)
Starts with G, ends with WGNAW→
65D
Hook’s sidekick (4)
Starts with S, ends with ESMEE→
66D
Swinton of “Michael Clayton” (5)
Starts with T, ends with ATILDA→
67D
Big mouth features (11)
Starts with R, ends with SRIVERDELTAS→
68D
Corp. benefits experts (6)
Starts with H, ends with SHRREPS→
69D
Stepped (on) (4)
Starts with T, ends with DTROD→
71D
Home page, in a way (5)
Starts with L, ends with ELEASE→
72D
Partner in crime (5)
Starts with C, ends with YCRONY→
76D
Priest’s advice (5)
Starts with A, ends with EATONE→
79D
ATM feature (8)
Starts with E, ends with YENTERKEY→
81D
Fellows who follow (9)
Starts with B, ends with SBETAMALES→
83D
Practiced mindfulness, say (9)
Starts with M, ends with DMEDITATED→
84D
Bookstore ID (4)
Starts with I, ends with NISBN→
85D
Smooth fruit (9)
Starts with N, ends with ENECTARINE→
86D
Ancient city that lent its name to a Middle Eastern plateau (5)
Starts with G, ends with NGOLAN→
88D
Utensil that’s full of holes (8)
Starts with C, ends with RCOLANDER→
90D
Mgr.’s underling (4)
Starts with A, ends with TASST→
92D
Hot, in a way (4)
Starts with S, ends with YSEXY→
94D
Daddy, in Durango (4)
Starts with P, ends with IPAPI→
96D
Doha dignitary (4)
Starts with E, ends with REMIR→
97D
Really steamed (5)
Starts with I, ends with EIRATE→
98D
Where losers dwell (6)
Starts with C, ends with RCELLAR→
103D
DNA lab items (5)
Starts with S, ends with SSWABS→
104D
Good around the house (5)
Starts with H, ends with YHANDY→
105D
Challenging H.S. English course (5)
Starts with A, ends with TAPLIT→
107D
Ultrasound targets (5)
Starts with U, ends with IUTERI→
109D
Back with bucks (5)
Starts with B, ends with NBETON→
111D
Revered adviser (4)
Starts with G, ends with UGURU→
112D
Easy victims (4)
Starts with S, ends with SSAPS→
114D
Hazel or olive (4)
Starts with T, ends with ETREE→
118D
___-de-sac (3)
Starts with C, ends with LCUL→
119D
End of an academic address (3)
Starts with E, ends with UEDU→
120D
Heir, often (3)
Starts with S, ends with NSON→
How to solve the WSJ Crossword
Fill the grid so every Across and Down answer matches its clue. The title hints at the theme, and on Fridays a final instruction asks for the meta answer. Our answer pages list every clue with its answer behind a reveal button.
Want the full method? Read our WSJ Crossword strategy and tips, or check how to play the WSJ Crossword on the hub.
WSJ Crossword tips for tomorrow
- Read the title first. WSJ titles are precise. They usually describe exactly how the theme entries are transformed.
- Solve Friday twice. Fill the grid, then look for a pattern in the theme entries that spells or points to the meta answer.
- Learn the editor's style. Mike Shenk favours tight wordplay. A clue that seems too literal probably has a second reading.
Done for today? Try NYT Crossword, LA Times Crossword, Newsday Crossword, all with hints first and answers behind a reveal.
Previous WSJ Crossword puzzles
WSJ Crossword FAQ
How many clues are in the WSJ Crossword for August 21, 2026?+
140 clues: 70 Across and 70 Down. The puzzle was constructed by Zhouqin Burnikel and edited by Mike Shenk.
What are some answers in today’s WSJ Crossword?+
For example: Diplomatic assignment (POST); Weighs down (LADES); Infectious bug (GERM).
Who edits the WSJ Crossword?+
Mike Shenk has edited the Wall Street Journal Crossword since its launch.
Where can I find past WSJ Crossword answers?+
Every puzzle in our archive has its own page with all answers and a page per clue.
