Daily Puzzle Solution
NYT Crossword
Thursday, February 5, 2026
The New York Times crossword puzzle for Thursday, February 5, 2026 features 78 clues. Today's puzzle has an average answer length of 4.9 letters. The longest answer is "FREEWAYEXIT".
Total Clues
78
Longest
FREEWAYEXIT
Avg Length
4.9
Shortest
ARK
Featured Clue
"^"
11 Letters
FREEWAYEXIT
ALLComplete Solution List
Dives (into)
5HASAT
Cause to crack up?
4SLAY
Pillow covering
4SHAM
Florida's ___ National Forest
5OCALA
Give quite a shock
4TASE
Antifur org.
4PETA
^
10TOLLBOOTHS
Sheltered from the wind
4ALEE
Charge on imports
4DUTY
Bible-inspired tourist attraction in Williamstown, Ky.
3ARK
Excel spreadsheets, essentially
5GRIDS
Go for ___
3OPT
^
11FREEWAYEXIT
"How dare you!" looks
6GLARES
Tree whose "slippery" variety has medicinal bark
3ELM
Mistake "air" for "heir," say
3ERR
Chick checker of a sort
5SEXER
Put one's hands together
4CLAP
About...
4ASTO
Classic Jack Kerouac novel ... or where you'll find 17-, 24-, 49- and 58-Across
9ONTHEROAD
Fundamentals
4ABCS
Helps out
4AIDS
Spinal stack
5DISCS
Grassy grazing ground
3LEA
Wrestling match ender
3PIN
Racer's final go-round
6GUNLAP
^
11LANECLOSURE
Gershwin brother
3IRA
Adds to a stuffed suitcase, say
5CRAMS
Schedule pro
3CPA
Choice of bands, for short
4AMFM
Church nook
4APSE
|X:X:X:X|<br>|X:X:X:X|<br>|X:X:X:X|
10TRAFFICJAM
Crown
4PATE
Dynamic starter
4AERO
Fictional region that includes Bag End
5SHIRE
Slap (at)
4SWAT
"Your turn," on a radio
4OVER
Sent up on social media, say
5MEMED
Show-offs
7HOTDOGS
Not many
7ACOUPLE
Levy that helped fund the Erie Canal
7SALTTAX
Friend in tough times
4ALLY
Paragraph starter, perhaps
3TAB
Archive
5STORE
Potato pancake for Hanukkah
5LATKE
Campfire residue
3ASH
Definitely
3YES
Prince Harry, per his memoir's title
5SPARE
Genomic shapes
7HELIXES
Put up with put-downs
7ATEDIRT
Baton wielder
7MAESTRO
Galley implements
4OARS
Class that may require a change of clothes
3GYM
Leaves in a waiting room?
4FERN
Becomes tiresome
5WEARS
Brand in the pet aisle
4ALPO
Some vintage autos
4REOS
Khaki alternative
5CHINO
Played the first card
3LED
Possible score seven points after love-love
4ADIN
Follow
4TAIL
In unison, musically
4ADUE
__ case of emergency
7ALLCAPS
Source of a large print
7BEARPAW
Card game played with two decks
7CANASTA
Meat stick brand
7SLIMJIM
Commuter's charge
7CARFARE
Barraged with irrelevant material
7SPAMMED
HPs, e.g.
3PCS
First tennis player to achieve a Golden Slam
4GRAF
Become acquainted via Gmail, say
5EMEET
Jump ___ (horror movie staple)
5SCARE
Willing to take part in
5UPFOR
Pine
4ACHE
Confucian "way"
3TAO
Energize, with "up"
3REV
Suffix with capital
3ISM