Daily Puzzle Solution
NYT Crossword
Friday, January 9, 2026
The New York Times crossword puzzle for Friday, January 9, 2026 features 72 clues. Today's puzzle has an average answer length of 5.2 letters. The longest answer is "BENEFITSPACKAGE".
Total Clues
72
Longest
BENEFITSPACKAGE
Avg Length
5.2
Shortest
CPU
Featured Clue
"It often comes with the job"
15 Letters
BENEFITSPACKAGE
ALLComplete Solution List
Crush
9PUPPYLOVE
They get picked up at clubs
4TABS
Winning like crazy
9ONAHEATER
Surfing destinations, for short
4URLS
Places many Cubans are found
10CIGARBOXES
Noggin
4BEAN
Clumsy oafs
4OXES
You better believe it!
8HECKYEAH
Bad thing to have in a poker game
4TELL
Dumps
5STIES
Apple core?
3CPU
Confirmation from a maître d'
3OUI
I didn't do it
5NOTME
Stealthy flier
10AIRMARSHAL
Bummer at a casino game
4CRAP
It often comes with the job
15BENEFITSPACKAGE
___ Slush (frozen fruit drink)
4ICEE
Watch your mouth!
10DONTSASSME
Old-timey oath
5NERTS
Firm up
3SET
Eats
3HAS
Was rude on the road or the dance floor
5CUTIN
"Weed 'Em and ___," gardening book whose title is a spoonerism
4REAP
Led the charge
8CRUSADED
Prepares for a wild night, maybe
4NAPS
Monopoly token retired in 2017
4BOOT
He's great for the time being
10MRRIGHTNOW
Be just chillin'
4IDLE
*"Beats me!"
9IVENOIDEA
Jazz coda?
4ZEES
Unpack for the night, in a way
9SETUPCAMP
Small bit, in Bogotá
4POCO
Windows alternative
4UNIX
Something you have trouble putting down
10PAGETURNER
Gradually introduce, with "in"
5PHASE
The Beatles' "___ Blues"
3YER
Varieties of this include chocolate and yellow
3LAB
Then again ..., to a texter
4OTOH
Puzzles
5VEXES
Build
5ERECT
Footwear that lacks defined heels
9TUBESOCKS
An A in geometry?
4AREA
Dull
4BLAH
Often-redacted fig.
3SSN
Item that someone with cold feet might have
3SKI
Verb that fills in the blanks of its own synonym: _ _AR_
3YEN
Be just chillin'
4LOAF
Vividly shocking
5LURID
Kind of fever
5CABIN
Ballade or étude
5PIECE
Analogy words
4ISTO
Raccoon, humorously
10TRASHPANDA
It's bubbling below the surface
5MAGMA
Pointers for some fighters?
5EPEES
Rom-com plot points
9MEETCUTES
Channel offering deals
3HSN
There are more than 2.3 million in N.Y.C.: Abbr.
4APTS
Industrial cutter
5LASER
Oscar winner Blanchett
4CATE
Shady, in modern parlance
3SUS
Flat hat
3TAM
Elba who portrayed Nelson Mandela
5IDRIS
Some
5NERVE
Shenanigan
5ANTIC
Java ingredient?
4CODE
Listing on a jobs website
4ROLE
Losing effort
4DIET
Wilde thing
4POEM
Cashless transaction
4SWAP
Ad or show follower
3BIZ
African grazer
3GNU
Challenge from a hard-hit ground ball, perhaps
3HOP