Daily Puzzle Solution
NYT Crossword
Friday, January 16, 2026
The New York Times crossword puzzle for Friday, January 16, 2026 features 72 clues. Today's puzzle has an average answer length of 5.5 letters. The longest answer is "HERDINGCATS".
Total Clues
72
Longest
HERDINGCATS
Avg Length
5.5
Shortest
CAW
Featured Clue
"Unwieldy situation, metaphorically"
11 Letters
HERDINGCATS
ALLComplete Solution List
Coming-out party?
10BABYSHOWER
Finish up
4WRAP
Hello-o-o?
10ANYONEHOME
Dialect featured in the literature of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, for short
4AAVE
Scenario calling for self-reliance
10SINKORSWIM
Summer flier
4GNAT
Classic 1926 poem associated with the Harlem Renaissance
4ITOO
Do some cleaning
4DUST
Creatures that can turn into humans on land, in Scottish folklore
5SEALS
Sound around a summer cornfield
3CAW
Wood used for flooring
3FIR
Trunk item
6GASCAN
Shortest-reigning English monarch (9 days)
8JANEGREY
Molecule that can self-splice
3RNA
Enthusiasm-curbing
6JADING
Here we go
8LETSROCK
Uncovered
4OPEN
Some cuts of meat
5CHOPS
Tennis great who had a tennis scholarship from U.C.L.A.
4ASHE
Place for trading stories?
8BOOKFAIR
Diverts
6AMUSES
It takes a long time to get this
3OLD
Leading character on social media?
8ATSYMBOL
White House partner, for short
6FLOTUS
Assume, as costs
3EAT
Do some cleaning
3MOP
Market for currencies, informally
5FOREX
Financial aid basis
4NEED
Hand count?
4FIVE
Ian : Scotland :: ___ : Wales
4EVAN
One might help you hitch a ride
10CARTRAILER
Parmesan cheese feature
4RIND
Novel whence the line "Four legs good, two legs bad"
10ANIMALFARM
Rests
4SITS
They're green year-round
10FAKEPLANTS
Bare-bones
5BASIC
Oscar-winning musical role for Rita Moreno
5ANITA
Already
5BYNOW
The Memory Police author Ogawa
4YOKO
Brand lead-in to Caps or Balls
3SNO
Unwieldy situation, metaphorically
11HERDINGCATS
As if!
6OHSURE
Blows away
4WOWS
Release
4EMIT
Kind of cycle
3REM
Listing on a W-2 form
5WAGES
Stumbled upon
9RANACROSS
Overwhelming amount
9AVALANCHE
Some terrarium denizens
9PETSNAKES
Declares
4SAYS
Tai chi accessory
3FAN
Receives unfair criticism
11GETSABADRAP
Nimble, zigzagging maneuver
4JINK
Best Original Song Oscar winner from 2014's "Selma"
5GLORY
P.E. unit
3REP
Invitations to come on board
9JOBOFFERS
First NASA mission broadcast live from orbit
9APOLLOVII
Secret offering
9DEODORANT
Julia of "The Addams Family"
4RAUL
___ Excellency
3HIS
Like leatherette
4FAUX
Witticism
3MOT
Start of a secret invitation, perhaps
6MEETME
Leans
5TENDS
Locale of a semiannual fashion week
5MILAN
Opposite of subtle
5OVERT
Makes do for a while?
5PERMS
Gram, by another name
4NANA
Composer Satie
4ERIK
Goal-oriented global org.?
4FIFA
Half-___
3CAF
Totally
3ALL