The New York Times has plenty of word games on its roster today — with Wordle, Connections, Strands, and the Mini Crossword, there’s something for everyone — but the newspaper’s standard crossword puzzle still reigns supreme. The daily crossword is full of interesting trivia, helps improve mental flexibility and, of course, gives you some bragging rights if you manage to finish it every day.
While the NYT puzzle might feel like an impossible task some days, solving a crossword is a skill and it takes practice — don’t get discouraged if you can’t get every single word in a puzzle.
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If you’re having trouble completing today’s NYT Crossword, we’re here to help. We’ve got all the answers for today’s clues down below.
NYT Crossword answers today
Across
1 Locale for car chases in “Goldfinger” and “Quantum of Solace” : ALPS
5 Spiced tea : CHAI
9 Slowly depletes : SAPS
13 Not fully value : SELLSHORT
15 Skedaddle : SPLIT
16 “More to come …” : STAYTUNED
17 Hunter on screen : HOLLY
18 English cathedral city : ELY
19 Container for the Ten Commandments : ARK
20 Libby offerings : EBOOKS
22 Connects : TIESIN
24 More spirited : SPUNKIER
26 Meals that traditionally include four cups of wine : SEDERS
27 Round up : HERD
28 The “code” in Walter Isaacson’s best-selling 2021 book “The Code Breaker” : DNA
29 Hosts : MCS
30 Where lines may be drawn in the sand : ZENGARDEN
32 Something to do “criss-cross applesauce” : SIT
33 Expeditions, e.g. : FORDS
34 It’s inspired : AIR
35 Some facilities : MENSROOMS
37 Low point: Abbr. : MIN
38 Some 3.5 million quotations were gathered for it, for short : OED
39 Italian menu word : ALLA
40 Had a hankering : LONGED
43 One known to disappear during work : MAGICIAN
45 Marked down : ONSALE
46 Trust : BANKON
47 Tube travelers? : OVA
48 Unchanging : SET
49 Cheese also known as French Gruyère : COMTE
50 That’s an order! : DIRECTIVE
53 Forestall : AVERT
54 Add exaggerated details to : EMBROIDER
55 Coin once known as the “piece of eight” : PESO
56 “Chain Reaction” singer, 1985 : ROSS
57 Mugful on a desk, perhaps : PENS
Down
1 Good stuff : ASSETS
2 Leave undisturbed : LETLIE
3 Was psychologically manipulative : PLAYEDMINDGAMES
4 Arch : SLY
5 Cranks (out) : CHURNS
6 Toot one’s own horn? : HONK
7 Amount to : ARE
8 “Can’t say for certain” : ITDEPENDS
9 Startle : SPOOK
10 “But seriously …” : ALLKIDDINGASIDE
11 Czech brew : PILSENER
1 Cluttered quarters : STY
14 Things found in a well : STAIRS
15 Showrunner Rhimes : SHONDA
21 Small towns : BURGS
23 Broken-off branches : SECTS
24 Artist Cindy known for her photographic self-portraits : SHERMAN
25 Skedaddled : RAN
30 Film character who asks “Did you ever think that maybe there’s more to life than being really, really, really ridiculously good-looking?” : ZOOLANDER
31 Comes down : RAINS
32 [I won't repeat myself in this note] : SEEABOVE
33 Leaf : FOLIO
35 Million ___ March (political event of 2000) : MOM
36 Clatter : RACKET
37 Most densely populated country in Europe : MONACO
One of Game Pass’ best titles leaves PC on August 15 and you don’t want to miss it
While Xbox Game Pass frequently adds new games to its library, some titles do leave the service every fifteen days. Sometimes, those games are fantastic and PC Game Pass will lose a heavy hitter on August 15: Death Stranding. If you aren't familiar with this game, it, ironically, is a PlayStation console exclusive that's part of Microsoft's subscription service only on PC. Death Stranding first released on PS4 in November 2019 and tells a story about a man who is trying to reconnect a post-apocalyptic while dealing with lots of supernatural threats along the way.
It didn't come to PC until July 2020, before that was followed by Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PC and PS5 in the following years. The version of the game that's available through Xbox Game Pass is based on the July 2020 PC release, although it only came to PC Game Pass in August 2022. After a year on Microsoft's subscription service, the deal is up, and it's going to leave on August 15. Death Stranding is a game with a very compelling and socially relevant story and gameplay not quite like anything out there, so Game Pass subscribers who haven't tried this game yet need to before it leaves the service soon.
It's all connected
Death Stranding follows the journey of Sam Porter Bridges, the adopted son of the President of the United Cities of America, as he attempts to reconnect what's left of America with a Chiral Network and save his sister. Of course, this game has Kojima's signature eccentricity, as Sam also carries around and starts forming a deeper connection with a baby in a pod (called a BB) that helps him avoid deadly creatures called BTs and gives him visions of a mysterious figure played by Mads Mikkelsen. On that note, Death Stranding has a stacked Hollywood cast as it stars people like Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Margaret Qualley and features characters modeled after Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn, and more.
I'm not a huge fan of this game's melodramatic dialogue exchanges and arduous pacing that leaves a lot of the most interesting reveals for the end. Still, it undeniably has some prescient themes about how important connection is, something that became even more apparent and relevant in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Few video game writers can craft narratives that are as engaging and memorable as the ones in Hideo Kojima's games. Though what I like most about Death Stranding is its gameplay, which isn't quite like anything that came out before or since.
For the most part, Death Stranding is a game about delivering packages. It initially seemed like a shocking change in style for the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series, but the connections become a bit clearer to me as I had to stealthily avoid BTs and saw the Metal Gear Solid V-level of freedom the game gives players in making deliveries. To maximize profits from deliveries, I have to balance all of the packages in Sam's possession, keeping a close eye on the terrain, and finding the best ways to get Sam to his destination without damaging much of the goods he's carrying.
Wordle is now playable on New York Times Crossword app
The New York Times announced that Wordle is now playable within The New York Times Crossword app on Android and iOS. Players can access the popular word guessing game in the same app as three other games: The Crossword (the app's namesake), The Mini Crossword, and Spelling Bee.