NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for July 12, 2025

Q: Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive .

Saturday, July 12, 2025

By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated Nov 3, 2026 at 12:33 PM ETHow we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Saturday, July 12, 2025. The daily crossword is the classic: a 15×15 grid on weekdays and a larger Sunday puzzle, with difficulty rising from a gentle Monday to a fiendish Saturday. Hints come first and the solution stays hidden until you ask for it.

72 clues · jump to Across or Down. Tap a tile for one letter, or Answer for the whole word.

Across clues & answers

Down clues & answers

Know someone stuck on this one? The link opens on the hints, not the answer.

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Previous The Crossword answer

Friday, July 11, 2025

across

1. Armies: HOSTS
6. Big-eyed, in a way: OWLY
10. Accouterment for a queen: SASH
14. Acquirer of GeoCities and Broadcast.com during the dot-com bubble: YAHOO
15. Butter in South Asian cooking: GHEE
16. Prayer, essentially: PLEA
17. Examines something in more depth: DRILLSDOWN
19. Prefix with directional: OMNI
20. Outpace the syllabus, say: READAHEAD
21. Laughfest: HOOT
22. They might pop up from time to time: ADS
23. Bolted: RAN
24. Submit: HANDIN
26. Supermodel Alek: WEK
27. Katy Perry song with the lyric "Louder, louder than a lion 'cause I am the champion": ROAR
29. "Don't Worry Kyoko" singer: ONO
30. One on the fast track?: RACECARDRIVER
33. What might come with a twist or two: BALLOONANIMAL
34. "You're warm": GETTINGCLOSER
35. Hookups: INS
36. "Poppycock!": PISH
37. Peppery: HOT
38. First-rate: FINEST
40. Phanerozoic, for one: EON
41. Isaac Asimov novel "Murder at the ___": ABA
44. "Please, take this off my hands": HERE
45. Tales are related about them: CAMPFIRES
48. Org. with the pioneering Artemis program: NASA
49. Features of many documentaries: VOICEOVERS
50. Colonial group: ANTS
51. Tiptop: ACME
52. Actress Rapp of "Mean Girls": RENEE
53. Fundamental unit in logarithmic equations: BASE
54. It may drip in the winter: NOSE
55. Cries of annoyance: DRATS

down

1. Sea serpent of myth: HYDRA
2. Four-___ (like some shells): OARED
3. Most Iranians: SHIAS
4. Ordered: TOLD
5. Event requiring special specs: SOLARECLIPSE
6. Nash who wrote "The cow is of the bovine ilk; / One end is moo, the other, milk": OGDEN
7. "Hold on there, cowboy!": WHOA
8. Dirty: LEWD
9. Kind of coin that features a Buddhist temple on one side: YEN
10. Cuddle, in a way: SPOON
11. Pedro ___, Oscar-winning screenwriter for "Talk to Her": ALMODOVAR
12. One with a watch: SENTINEL
13. Japanese accord?: HAI
18. Seal the deal: SHAKEONIT
21. Film star whose name consists of two presidents: HARRISONFORD
24. Was destined to fail: HADNOHOPE
25. 1952 Olympics locale: Abbr.: NOR
26. "Breaking Bad" antihero: WALT
27. Alternative to French: RANCH
28. Kind of cavity: ORAL
30. Sties, say: RATSNESTS
31. Machine workers?: COGS
32. "How ___ Your Mother": IMET
33. Restaurant chain where chefs make onion volcanoes: BENIHANA
34. Animated internet pic: GIF
39. Make vanish: ERASE
40. One making introductions: EMCEE
41. Play ground?: ARENA
42. Military topper: BERET
43. Fools: ASSES
45. 2017 animated film set in the Land of the Dead: COCO
46. Directs: AIMS
47. Indie folk's Bon ___: IVER
48. Collar: NAB
49. Car pool transport: VAN

Hints and full breakdown for Jul 11

More daily puzzle hints

How the week is built

Monday and Tuesday: straightforward definitions and familiar answers. These are the best days to learn.
Wednesday: a step up, often with a playful theme.
Thursday: the trick day, with rebus squares (several letters in one square) and answers that turn corners or skip squares.
Friday and Saturday: themeless and tough, with sly clues and long open sections.
Sunday: a bigger 21×21 grid with a theme, about as hard as a Wednesday or Thursday.

Crossword-solving habits worth building

Learn the common fill. Short vowel-heavy words such as ERA, OREO, ALOE and ETNA appear constantly because they help constructors connect sections.
Read clue signals. "?" means wordplay, "Abbr." means an abbreviation, "e.g." means an example of a category, and a foreign word in the clue hints at a foreign answer.
Find the theme. The longest answers usually share a gimmick; the title (on Sundays) or a "revealer" clue explains it.
Erase without fear. When crossings don't work, the wrong letter is usually in the answer you were most confident about.
Use targeted help. Reveal one letter here, or try our crossword solver with a pattern like ?R?S?.

The Crossword FAQ

When is the next crossword released?

Weekday puzzles go live at 10 p.m. Eastern Time the night before; weekend puzzles are released earlier in the evening.

What is a rebus square?

A square that holds more than one letter. Sometimes it holds a whole word or a symbol. They are most common on Thursdays.

Which day is the hardest?

Saturday is generally the hardest, followed by Friday. Sunday is larger but closer to midweek difficulty.

Can I see past crossword answers?

Yes. Each date we have covered is in the crossword archive.