Daily Puzzle Solution
NYT Crossword
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
The New York Times crossword puzzle for Wednesday, September 16, 2026 features 78 clues. Today's puzzle has an average answer length of 4.9 letters. The longest answer is "PROTOTYPES".
Total Clues
78
Longest
PROTOTYPES
Avg Length
4.9
Shortest
ETA
Featured Clue
"Early models"
10 Letters
PROTOTYPES
ALLComplete Solution List
Important info to have while you're waiting in a cellphone lot, for short
3ETA
Fall or fell
6TOPPLE
Cause of a sudden change in interest, informally?
4REFI
Close
4SHUT
Pho soup garnishes
7SPROUTS
Conduit of neural signals
4AXON
Early models
10PROTOTYPES
Relative of a gull
4TERN
Ain't gonna happen!
4NOPE
Big bang cause?
3TNT
Chilling?
5ONICE
The remotest of remote jobs?
9ASTRONAUT
Kid
5YOUTH
Supermodel Banks
4TYRA
Break into loud cheers, as a crowd
5ERUPT
Answer to "Who's ready to go?"
3IAM
Broadcast
3AIR
Uno + due
3TRE
Mononymous Irish singer
4BONO
Animated film that was the highest-grossing movie of 1992
7ALADDIN
Impossible!
7NOCANDO
Hibernation spots
4DENS
Dip target, maybe
3PEC
Things entered in a sudoku grid: Abbr.
3NOS
Messy dorm room, figuratively
3STY
Fruits often seen in still lifes
5PEARS
Take back, for short
4REPO
City haze
4SMOG
Canine guard?
8RETAINER
Dishwasher cycle
5RINSE
"A form of madness," it's said
3WAR
Actress Pinkett Smith of "Girls Trip"
4JADA
Singer-songwriter Mitchell
4JONI
Fruits named after a mythical drink
10NECTARINES
Noted cartoon dog
5PLUTO
Its first video, "Me at the zoo," has over 400 million views
7YOUTUBE
State whose outline can be made by connecting seven particular squares in this puzzle
4UTAH
Valley
4GLEN
Give a once-over
6ASSESS
Crafty
3SLY
Channel with "2" and "U" spinoffs
4ESPN
Pharynx setting
6THROAT
Post-mortem
7AUTOPSY
General on a Chinese menu
3TSO
Decide one will
5OPTTO
Hester of "The Scarlet Letter"
6PRYNNE
Grab-and-go breakfast option
7POPTART
Guitar relative
4LUTE
Gas brand seen in Edward Hopper's "Portrait of Orleans"
4ESSO
Betting odds, e.g.
5RATIO
Concern for a gymnastics judge
9EXECUTION
Certain pickleball shot
8FOREHAND
Greenwich Village's Stonewall, e.g.
3INN
Groups of four
7TETRADS
Paper competing with the W.S.J.
3NYT
Debugger?
4RAID
Remedy for a missed exit
5UTURN
Lowly worker
4PEON
Farm sound
3MOO
Ready to eat
4RIPE
Small hound that doesn't bark
7BASENJI
What a premium subscription may help you avoid
3ADS
Time to go!
8LETSROLL
Very soon
9ANYMINUTE
By __!
4NEAR
What "Coco" is a nickname for, for tennis's Coco Gauff
4CORI
Military hairstyles
8CREWCUTS
Family-friendly movie ratings
3PGS
The Sphinx, for one
6STATUE
Classic comic strip that's the source for nine Emmys and two Tonys
7PEANUTS
Folding a fitted sheet, it may seem
6ORDEAL
Edible bulb
5ONION
Many Moroccans
5ARABS
Mononymous Irish singer
4ENYA
Grayish
4ASHY
Profile pic format, in brief
3JPG
Dawn deity
3EOS
In medias __
3RES