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The NYT Crossword answers for Thursday, September 18th 2025

Get a bit of help with the NYT Crossword puzzle

The New York Times Mini Crossword logo against a blue background.
Image credit: The New York Times
This guide is for a previous day! Looking for today's NYT Crossword guide? Check out the NYT Crossword answers for Sunday, October 19th 2025!

Need a hint for today's NYT Crossword on Thursday, 18th September? Well, you have come to the right place! Because we have them. All of them, in fact. Whether you are a dedicated NYT Crossword connoisseur or you're new to the grid, we are here to help.

We have different 'tiers' of clues, if you will, to help gently guide you in the right direction or relieve you of your misery and give you the answer. That way, you can customize your level of assistance so you can keep working those crossword muscles without getting stuck or frustrated.

NYT Crossword hints: Thursday September 18th 2025

Below you can find all the hints in today's NYT Crossword, listed first across, then down. If you need a bit of help on any of them, tap or click on the spoiler text below them to reveal our extra clue. And to reveal the answer for each clue separately, just expand the spoiler boxes below!

1a. Customizable, all-in-one internet digest.

Our hint: A two word answer.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: RSS FEED.

Stands for Really Simple Syndication.

8a. Shoots for the stars.

Our hint: A two word answer.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: GOES BIG.

Go big or go home!

15a. Game played on an 8x8 board.

Our hint: Has the same name as a certain Shakespearean play.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: OTHELLO.

A strategy board game.

16a. "Thumbs down from me"

Our hint: Often heard on "American Idol"

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: I VOTE NO.

Similar to Simon Cowell's "It's a no from me"

17a. Meditation chant, in a sense.

Our hint: What you say when someone cuts you a slice of cake that is a bit too big.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: TOO MUCH.

Everything in moderation.

18a. Sought-after.

Our hint: To be wanted greatly.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: DESIRED.

More than your average want.

19a. Variety of bark?

Our hint: Starts with an A.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: ARF.

Heard at the dog park or a pound, perhaps.

20a. Something you might change on a bed.

Our hint: Or a table, perhaps.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: DAIPER.

Maybe lay a towel down first.

22a. ___ Ulrich, Metallica drummer.

Our hint: Rhymes with one of the planets in our solar system.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: LARS.

A drumming legend.

23a. Gave a sneak preview of.

Our hint: Like a trailer, for example.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: TEASED.

Teaser trailers are usually shorter than your average cinematic one.

25a. Tennis do-over, in a way.

Our hint: A risky Russian game.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: ROULETTE.

A do-over in tennis wipes the slate clean.

27a. Counterparts of countesses in British peerage.

Our hint: A Grey tea flavored with bergamot, perhaps.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: EARLS.

Earls and countesses are of high status.

28a. Equine hybrid.

Our hint: Starts with an H.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: HINNY.

The offspring of a male horse and a female donkey.

29a. One in Bonn.

Our hint: Bonn is in Germany.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: EIN.

Ein is German for one.

30a. Sch. with a satellite campus in Calexico.

Our hint: Starts with an S.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SDSU.

San Diego State University, in other words.

31a. Terse response "Why?"

Our hint: Shorthand for a certain family member.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: CUZ.

Short for because or cousin!

32a. Thingum.

Our hint: An obscure gadget.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: DOODAD.

A placeholder title for something you can't remember the name of.

34a. Superman portrayer Christopher, in so many words.

Our hint: Like an eclipse.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: RARE EVENT.

Rare, indeed.

37a. Heart-pumping stuff?

Our hint: Or a laser!

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: PLASMA.

Plasma is the liquid part of blood.

40a. Goal to shoot for.

Our hint: In golf.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: PAR.

Par is the number of shots expected for a hole.

41a. ___ Kong.

Our hint: In China.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: HONG.

A Special Administrative Region in China.

45a. Steeplechase unit.

Our hint: A unit of distance.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: LAP.

A sport similar to hurdles.

46a. Bar from the bank?

Our hint: Solid metal.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: INGOT.

Bars of precious metal, like gold or silver.

48a. Borderer of the Indian state of Sikkim.

Our hint: Mt. Everest is there.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: NEPAL.

Home of the most popular Mt. Everest climbing route.

49a. Passport or driver's license, in a manner of speaking.

Our hint: A prang, for example.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: ACCIDENT.

Necessary documents after a car accident.

51a. Who wrote "Existentialism is a Humanism" in 1945.

Our hint: Jean-Paul.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SARTRE.

The argument that humans are not born with a preexisting purpose.

52a. First person?

Our hint: You.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SELF.

To think in the first-person, say.

53a. Spread some dirt.

Our hint: Or spill some tea, perhaps.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: GOSSIP.

Dirt is a slang term for gossip.

55a. Gershwin brother.

Our hint: Starts with an I.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: IRA.

George is the second brother.

56a. Muscle car whose name evokes a U.S. road trip.

Our hint: Starts with a T.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: TRANS-AM.

Speedy!

58a. Action star Jet, in a nutshell.

Our hint: Large birds with even larger beaks.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: PELICAN.

Jet Li, the action star.

60a. "Don't worry about the check"

Our hint: A three word answer.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: IT'S ON ME.

How generous!

61a. Close contemporary.

Our hint: A two word answer.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: AGE MATE.

Someone who is the same age as you!

62a. O-O and O-O-O, in chess notation.

Our hint: Dwellings, for those lucky enough.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: CASTLES.

O-O is Kingside Castling and O-O-O is Queenside Castling.

63a. Like some shoes at a cobbler's.

Our hint: Starts with an R.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: RESOLED.

A common shoe ailment.

1d. Takes turns.

Our hint: To turn.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: ROTATES.

Like a rotisserie chicken!

2d. One might say "Big savings all week!"

Our hint: Commonly seen on TV.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: STORE AD.

Advertisements for stores, specifically.

3d. Rosh Hashana horns.

Our hint: Starts with an S.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SHOFARS.

Hollow ram's horns that are blown during the Jewish New Year.

4d. Like some nouns: Abbr.

Our hint: Common in French and Spanish.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: FEM.

Short for female.

5d. Gets away from.

Our hint: Hard to grasp.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: ELUDES.

Like the italicized clue answers, for example. They are most certainly eludng me.

6d. Nickname for the Medieval Spanish knight Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar.

Our hint: Starts with an E.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: EL CID.

Meaning The Lord, or Master.

7d. Mideast capital.

Our hint: Capital of Qatar.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: DOHA.

Home of the Museum of Islamic Art.

8d. Victorious military underdog in the bible.

Our hint: Starts with a G.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: GIDEON.

Prominent in the Hebrew bible.

9d. Sports bet based on total points scored.

Our hint: A two word answer.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: OVER UNDER.

When you guess either over or under a specific statistic.

10d. Sister of Helios, in Greek myth.

Our hint: Starts with an E.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: EOS.

The Goddess of Dawn.

11d. Barrier to entry, perhaps.

Our hint: Commonly found on farms.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: STILE.

Designed to allow humans over but nothing else.

12d. Chewed out.

Our hint: Reprimanded.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: BERATED.

Never a good feeling.

13d. Slothfulness.

Our hint: Newton's First Law of Motion.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: INERTIA.

The more mass an object has, the greater the inertia.

14d. Fortuitous gift.

Our hint: Sent straight from the heavens!

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: GODSEND.

A lifesaver, of sorts.

21d. Holdings of winnings.

Our hint: A two word answer.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: PRIZE POTS.

A pool, perhaps.

24d. Curved lines on sheet music.

Our hint: Or offensive names.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SLURS.

The sheet music type of slur is definitely better than the other variety.

26d. France's third-largest city, after Paris and Marseille.

Our hint: Starts with an L.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: LYON.

A beautiful city.

28d. Quality to which a unique six-character code is assigned, in graphic design.

Our hint: Color.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: HUE.

The code allows you to easily relocate the exact shade required.

31d. Arcade staple with a joystick.

Our hint: A picker-upper.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: CRANE GAME.

Notoriously difficult and arguable rigged, but satisfying to win.

33d. Multiple-choice catchall.

Our hint: Alternative.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: OTHER.

"Not that one!"

35d. Inside of.

Our hint: Amongst.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: AMID.

To be amid something is to be immersed.

36d. Large chemical container.

Our hint: The Joker fell inside one.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: VAT.

Usually found in industrial environments.

37d. Credit cards, so to speak.

Our hint: The group of mean girls in Mean Girls.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: PLASTIC.

Tamarind may help to bind and remove microplastics from the body!

38d. Constellation whose name is Latin for "lizard"

Our hint: Found in the northern skies.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: LACERTA.

Near Andromeda and Pegasus.

39d. U.S. History or Calculus BC, e.g.

Our hint: Quite advanced.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: AP CLASS.

Advanced Placement, in other words.

42d. Kind of illusion.

Our hint: Starts with an O.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: OPTICAL.

Like a mirage in the desert, perhaps.

43d. Do some storytelling.

Our hint: To tell a tale aloud.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: NARRATE.

Like Fight Club, for example.

44d. Ascertained bit by bit.

Our hint: Starts with a G.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: GLEANED.

To uncover information.

47d. Garden guardians.

Our hint: Cheeky and sometimes a little spooky.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: GNOMES.

Everyone loves a good garden gnome!

48d. Italy's third-largest city, after Rome and Milan.

Our hint: Known for its wine.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: NAPLES.

A stunning city!

50d. Words before a contingency plan.

Our hint: A two word answer.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: IF NOT.

"If not, [insert plan B here]"

51d. Invader's tactic.

Our hint: Starts with an S.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SIEGE.

A long-term, planned out attack.

54d. Play-fight.

Our hint: Starts with an S.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SPAR.

A practice fight, for example.

57d. Its youngest host was a 7-year-old Drew Barrymore in '82.

Our hint: Always airs on the same night of the week.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: SNL.

Saturday Night Live.

59d. "If you ask me..."

Our hint: An acronym.

Reveal the answer!
The answer is: IMO.

Stands for "in my opinion"

NYT Crossword answers: Thursday September 18th 2025

Done figuring it all out for yourself? Here's the full completed NYT Crossword showing all the answers for today's puzzle:

The completed NYT Mini Crossword for 18/09/2025, showing all the answers for each clue.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/NYT

This was one of the hardest crosswords I have done in a long time, thanks to the italicized clues. Those hints are extremely obscure and still puzzling well after you figure them out.

I found myself cringing every time I saw those slanting words creeping up on me in the hints section, but it was very satisfying finally figuring them out! Just don't ask me how long it took...

That's all for today's puzzle, but if you like to keep your brain active with more of NYT's puzzles, you can also check out our guides on the Wordle hint and answer for Tuesday 29th September and our Connections hint for Tuesday 29th September.

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