Daily Puzzle Solution
NYT Crossword
Sunday, January 18, 2026
The New York Times crossword puzzle for Sunday, January 18, 2026 features 140 clues. Today's puzzle has an average answer length of 5.2 letters. The longest answer is "SOUNDSLIKEAYOUPROBLEM".
Total Clues
140
Longest
SOUNDSLIKEAYOUPROBLEM
Avg Length
5.2
Shortest
OPT
Featured Clue
""Don't look at me for help" ... or a phonetic hint to this puzzle's theme"
21 Letters
SOUNDSLIKEAYOUPROBLEM
ALLComplete Solution List
Bit of regal headwear
6DIADEM
Singer Horne
4LENA
Develops alopecia
8GOESBALD
Total
6ENTIRE
2022 World Series champ
5ASTRO
College town nicknamed "A<sup>2</sup>"
8ANNARBOR
Like the Gospel of Mark, sequentially?
12AFTERMATTHEW
Concert lineups
8SETLISTS
Matriarch of six of the 12 Tribes of Israel
4LEAH
Make a choice
3OPT
Trouble
3WOE
1982 film whose name is a security program
4TRON
Text that says "Congratulations! You've won a MacBook Pro," probably
4SCAM
Prepare for a mechanic's certification exam?
15REVIEWTHEENGINE
Pulsates
6THROBS
Rock's Plastic ___ Band
3ONO
Central parts of planets
5CORES
Hairdresser's supply
3DYE
Molecule that might be modeled with Twizzlers and gummies in biology class
3DNA
Soft shots, in tennis
5DINKS
Meditative chants
3OMS
Plant used in pickling
4DILL
H.S. exam whose highest score is 36
3ACT
Source of income for a website
6ADSALE
Half of a popular social media app
3TIK
Discontinued iPods designed to fit into watch pockets
5NANOS
Original people to move into Cancún's peninsula?
20THESETTLERSOFYUCATAN
Affectionate term for una madre
4MAMI
Designation for the Louisville Bats and Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp
3AAA
Preceder of Peacock and White in the game Clue
3MRS
"Big" comic protagonist
4NATE
"Don't look at me for help" ... or a phonetic hint to this puzzle's theme
21SOUNDSLIKEAYOUPROBLEM
Dove's dwelling
4COTE
Wii remote batteries
3AAS
Sloth in 2002's "Ice Age"
3SID
Sensation before a migraine, medically
4AURA
Gets married while wearing protective gear?
20UNITESINSHININGARMOR
Quarrels
5SPATS
Itty-bitty
3WEE
Japanese craft that literally translates to "tray planting"
6BONSAI
"This Is your brain on drugs," e.g., for short
3PSA
Best-selling romance author Jimenez
4ABBY
One of 2,214 for Babe Ruth
3RBI
Shrek author William
5STEIG
Common item at a checkout line, informally
3MAG
#1 spot in London?
3LOO
Honkers without horns
5GEESE
It might come with a shell
3OAR
Go over again
6REREAD
List of restaurant offerings for kids not yet three years old?
15TWOANDAHALFMENU
Kerfuffle
4TODO
Oodles
4GOBS
Someone who might issue a travel warning?
3REF
Roger that
3YEP
Name that means "pink" in Spanish
4ROSA
Relative of a husky
8MALAMUTE
Wedding planner's aid?
12VENUEDIAGRAM
"5 stars"
8ILOVEDIT
It might raise a bunch of dough
5YEAST
Stab of pain
6TWINGE
Values
8ASSESSES
Businesses offering mud masks
4SPAS
Pulls the chain of, so to speak
6TEASES
Word on either side of "or no"
4DEAL
Overrun
6INFEST
Add electronically, in a way
6ATTACH
Like a really big fan
7DIEHARD
Go wrong
3ERR
Bad thing not to get (especially at the office?)
4MEMO
The Cinnamon Dolce or the Blonde Vanilla, at Starbucks
5LATTE
"Silentium ___ aureum" ("Silence is golden")
3EST
High degree
3NTH
"Is it time to rethink this relationship?"
7AREWEOK
Hilarious thing
3GAS
Like George H.W. Bush, but not George W. Bush
7ONETERM
Starters' followers
7ENTREES
Businesses whose employees work standing up
6SALONS
Carry in
5BRING
"Chiseled" features
3ABS
Destiny in life
3LOT
Hippocratic oath followers, for short
3DRS
Stop! That hurts!
4OWOW
Car financing figs.
4APRS
List shortener
3ETC
"Hidden Figures" co-star Janelle
5MONAE
Breathable fabric used in mosquito nets
5VOILE
Child
5INNER
What a bad student might play
5HOOKY
Menzel of Broadway
5IDINA
Guitar string material
5NYLON
Fish traditionally in the British dish "pie and mash"
4EELS
What kitsch exhibits
8BADTASTE
____ Lama
5DALAI
Part of a bedtime routine
5STORY
Healthy, fiber-rich snack
7DATEBAR
Where some bills originate
4ATMS
Former transportation secretary Elaine
4CHAO
Chinese competitor of Amazon
4TEMU
Loses freshness
6STALES
In that case
4IFSO
Grp. that Sweden joined in 2024
4NATO
___ Vegas
7SINCITY
Sensation
5SMASH
Removes from the top of one's profile, as an Instagram post
6UNPINS
Hearts or spades, but not diamonds
8CARDGAME
^
4DOTS
Classic Orson Welles protagonist
4KANE
Ameliorates
5EASES
Via __
5USING
Feature of undermixed batter
4LUMP
Greek god whose name becomes a flower if you move the first letter to the end
4EROS
Golden Globe nominee Rooney
4MARA
V, to a violinist
5UPBOW
Padmé Amidala's home planet in "Star Wars"
5NABOO
If only!
5IWISH
Steel girder
5IBEAM
Bête ___
5NOIRE
Images that can rip off human creators, perhaps
5AIART
Pretzel topper
4SALT
Trees with heart-shaped leaves
7REDBUDS
Creature, cutesily
7BEASTIE
Candies that crack with a crunch
7TOFFEES
Last of the 13 original colonies to be founded
7GEORGIA
Some lawn ornaments
6GNOMES
Part of E.N.T.
3EAR
Kicked oneself for
4RUED
Prettifies
6ADORNS
500 mg 2x/day, e.g.
6DOSAGE
Source of a natural sweetener
5AGAVE
Last name shared by three actors on "Schitt's Creek"
4LEVY
Russian denials
5NYETS
The Panthers of the A.C.C.
4PITT
Midwest city whose name becomes a Southwest city if you move the first letter to the end
4AMES
Not around, informally
3MIA
Hirt and Hirschfeld
3ALS
Día de ___ Reyes Magos
3LOS
They're often depicted with green skin, for short
3ETS
Something much needed after an all-nighter
3NAP
Today preceder
3USA
Leave speechless
3AWE