Daily Puzzle Solution
NYT Crossword
Friday, October 2, 2026
The New York Times crossword puzzle for Friday, October 2, 2026 features 70 clues. Today's puzzle has an average answer length of 5.6 letters. The longest answer is "WHENCANYOUSTART".
Total Clues
70
Longest
WHENCANYOUSTART
Avg Length
5.6
Shortest
SLR
Featured Clue
"Question posed at the end of a successful job interview"
15 Letters
WHENCANYOUSTART
ALLComplete Solution List
Important figure on staff?
4CLEF
Photographer's inits.
3SLR
For real
5TRULY
Funky-smelling
4RIPE
Sugar substitute?
10SWEETIEPIE
Within
4AMID
Core-focused workout in a humid room
10HOTPILATES
Unit of sound intensity
3BEL
Like Mitt Romney and Ken Jennings
6MORMON
Lead-in to "coin" for a major cryptocurrency
4DOGE
Whew!
8CLOSEONE
Whose fault your mistake might be
6NOONES
Hybrid cat
5LIGER
Member of a noble family
5SCION
Request after eating a habanero, perhaps
4AGUA
What comes from needing little, per Epictetus
6WEALTH
Small dosage amts.
3MGS
Question posed at the end of a successful job interview
15WHENCANYOUSTART
Waze ways: Abbr.
3STS
Spends a long time in front of the mirror, maybe
6PRIMPS
Inkling
4IDEA
Word with cane or corn
5CANDY
Villainous expression
5SNEER
Home to the Basilica of St. Clare
6ASSISI
Highly controlling?
8PILOTING
Like a golf course, regularly
4MOWN
Snap, crackle, and pop
6NOISES
___ Cup, tournament established in the 2020s
3NBA
___ never been better
10IFEELGREAT
Site of a 1956 international conflict
4SUEZ
Animal chased by Toto in "The Wizard of Oz"
10SIAMESECAT
Key in a chain
4ISLE
Figure with three faces, in Dante
5SATAN
Brief bit
3SEC
They're stretched out before some workouts
4MATS
Hard-shelled delicacies
9CRABCLAWS
Public eye
9LIMELIGHT
Written posts?
9EPILOGUES
Stoked
3FED
Like some enemies
5SWORN
"I need to get a word in!"
15LETMESAYMYPIECE
Possible result of a default
4REPO
Before
3TIL
Not stop at the end of a chapter, say
6READON
Suffragist Harriet Taylor ___
5UPTON
One doing the lord's work?
5LIEGE
Words of affirmation
5YESES
Skedaddle!
4SHOO
Condition that can be caused by excess earwax
8TINNITUS
Debussy's "La ___"
3MER
Jay ___, singer of the 2009 #1 hit "Down"
4SEAN
Sounds from fans
4OOHS
Clip follower
4CLOP
Some weather service messages
8WARNINGS
Wheat Capital of Oklahoma
4ENID
Label on some domestic products
9MADEINUSA
Eco-friendly area around a city
9GREENBELT
Stares into space
9STARGAZES
Ones doing balancing acts?
4CPAS
Windows feature
4TINT
Pictures
6CINEMA
Message that might be signaled with smoke
3SOS
__ off
5AMISS
European capital with layers of Thracian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history
5SOFIA
Beads for an athlete
5SWEAT
Director Lee ___ Chung
5ISAAC
Neighbor of an Estonian, historically
4LETT
They're sometimes picked for their rarity
4ORES
Wiseman who directed "Ballerina" and "Live Free or Die Hard"
3LEN
____ city
3SIM