NYT Crossword · The New York Times

The Crossword Clues, Hints & Answers for August 8, 2026

Q: Can I see past crossword answers?

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

Saturday, August 8, 2026

By WordFinderZ Puzzle TeamLast updated Nov 3, 2026 at 12:05 PM ETHow we make hints

This archive page covers the The Crossword from Saturday, August 8, 2026. 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.

62 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, August 7, 2026

across

1. What suggests that relief is at hand?: STRESSBALL
11. Some: AFEW
15. "News to me": IHADNOIDEA
16. Shankar who co-composed the score for 1982's "Gandhi": RAVI
17. "Well, now everyone will know": CATSOUTOFTHEBAG
19. Family nickname: SIS
20. Spot for a light punishment: WRIST
21. Eponym of U.S. track and field's Male Athlete of the Year Award: OWENS
22. Member of the World Cup's "Tartan Army" fan base: SCOT
23. Acronymic weapon: TASER
25. Tree whose name has multiple pronunciations: PECAN
27. Laugh, laugh, laugh: BUSTAGUT
30. Geneticist's finding: TRAIT
31. Wasteful government spending, informally: PORK
32. Big name in sandals: TEVA
33. "It's ___ or nothin'!" (classic kids' commercial slogan): NERF
34. Many of the characters in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit": TOONS
35. Word with block or platform: HEEL
36. Tangy hybrid: UGLI
37. Gobsmacks: AWES
38. Elephant mascot of the Alabama Crimson Tide: BIGAL
39. Elf, say: TOYMAKER
41. They may be covered: SONGS
42. Opportunity on Mars, say: ROVER
43. Piece of ice in the drink?: BERG
44. Name of "the other reindeer" in a common Christmas mondegreen: OLIVE
46. Waffle patterns: GRIDS
48. Where baked Alaska is believed to have been invented, oddly enough: Abbr.: NYC
51. Field you make tracks in: MUSICPRODUCTION
54. Blue rasp-"brr!"-y treat?: ICEE
55. Flying nuisance: GATECHANGE
56. Besmirches: TARS
57. What someone might get quickly around lunchtime: ABITETOEAT

down

1. Sets (on): SICS
2. Cuisine with the #1 dish in a CNN "World's 50 Best Foods" poll: THAI
3. Intruders in urban trash cans: RATS
4. Ones who might cut the line, in brief?: EDS
5. Ski slope vehicle: SNOWCAT
6. Lose affection for: SOURON
7. Wiped out, in slang: BITIT
8. Fusses: ADOS
9. No-nos at some highway intersections: LEFTTURNS
10. Trap neighbor: LAT
11. Relationship-defining question: AREWEATHING
12. Bejeweled target of a heist in "Ocean's Twelve": FABERGEEGG
13. McMullin of Utah politics: EVAN
14. Features of some early presidential portraits: WIGS
18. Whole lot: HOST
22. Films in which many stars might appear: SCIFIMOVIES
24. Grills, say: ASKS
25. Competitor of Rao's: PREGO
26. One likely to be "healthy, wealthy and wise," per Benjamin Franklin: EARLYRISER
27. Vocal critic: BOOER
28. Iris settings: UVEAS
29. Lofty: TALL
30. Bit of threaded hardware: TNUT
31. Attempt to seize control: POWERGRAB
34. Perspective: TAKE
38. One dish commonly in the 12-dish Sviata Vecheria, a traditional Ukrainian Christmas dinner: BORSCHT
40. Faire ___ (get by with, in French): AVEC
41. Charm: SEDUCE
43. European fixture: BIDET
44. Skip over: OMIT
45. Title boy in a 2021 Pixar film: LUCA
47. Word that comes from Sanskrit for "bread": ROTI
48. Score somewhat akin to an A-: NINE
49. Flexible practice?: YOGA
50. Website associated with the domain www.news.com: CNET
52. Tour org.: PGA
53. Fields Medal winner Terence: TAO

Hints and full breakdown for Aug 7

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.