NYT Crossword Answers — August 23, 2026
The NYT-style Mini for August 23, 2026 packs a full puzzle into a tiny grid, and today's solution set spans everyday vocabulary from MASON, AMPLE, GUILT, SKI. Today's mini crossword includes a mix of pop culture, food, sports, and wordplay, with a playful nod to Shaggy's song. Because the Mini is so compact, every square does double duty — each letter belongs to both an across answer and a down answer — so a single confident entry can unlock the whole board. Today the shortest answer, SKI, is the kind of gimme that gives you crossing letters for the trickier fill, while the longest entry, MASON, anchors the grid and often takes a crossing or two to confirm. If you're checking your work or you got stuck on one stubborn square, the complete answer key below lists every across and down clue with its solution and a short explanation. We publish these Mini answers every day, so bookmark the archive and come back whenever a clue has you second-guessing. And if reading the answers gives you the itch to solve one yourself, our free Mini Crossword plays the same way — no subscription and no account required.
NYT Mini Crossword Answers
Today's mini crossword includes a mix of pop culture, food, sports, and wordplay, with a playful nod to Shaggy's song.
Across
| Clue | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1. ___-Dixon line | MASON | The Mason-Dixon line is a historical boundary, often associated with the division between Northern and Southern U.S. states. |
| 6. More than enough | AMPLE | Aple means more than sufficient, so 'more than enough' fits. |
| 7. Obvious verdict in Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me" | GUILT | In Shaggy's song 'It Wasn't Me,' the obvious verdict despite denial is guilt. |
| 8. Hit the slopes | SKI | To hit the slopes means to go skiing, which is simply 'ski.' |
| 9. Something to "keep on the prize" | EYE | Keep your eye on the prize is a common phrase, focusing on the goal. |
Down
| Clue | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1. People or Rolling Stone, for short | MAG | People and Rolling Stone are magazines, shortened to 'MAG'. |
| 2. Make laugh | AMUSE | To make laugh is to amuse. |
| 3. Like the skin of a durian fruit | SPIKY | Durian fruit has a spiky outer shell, described as 'spiky'. |
| 4. Skate park jump | OLLIE | An ollie is a skateboard trick performed without using hands, often on ramps or jumps. |
| 5. Part of a ping-pong table | NET | A ping-pong table has a net across the middle, so 'net' is part of it. |
Every answer explained
MASON
Clue: ___-Dixon line
The Mason-Dixon line is a historical boundary, often associated with the division between Northern and Southern U.S. states. As a 5-letter word with 2 vowels, MASON interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
AMPLE
Clue: More than enough
Aple means more than sufficient, so 'more than enough' fits. With 2 vowels across 5 letters, AMPLE is exactly the kind of crossword-friendly answer worth recognizing on sight.
GUILT
Clue: Obvious verdict in Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me"
In Shaggy's song 'It Wasn't Me,' the obvious verdict despite denial is guilt. With 2 vowels across 5 letters, GUILT is exactly the kind of crossword-friendly answer worth recognizing on sight.
SKI
Clue: Hit the slopes
To hit the slopes means to go skiing, which is simply 'ski.' SKI is a tidy 3-letter fill (1 vowel); constructors like it because it plays well in both directions.
EYE
Clue: Something to "keep on the prize"
Keep your eye on the prize is a common phrase, focusing on the goal. With 2 vowels across 3 letters, EYE is exactly the kind of crossword-friendly answer worth recognizing on sight.
MAG
Clue: People or Rolling Stone, for short
People and Rolling Stone are magazines, shortened to 'MAG'. With 1 vowel across 3 letters, MAG is exactly the kind of crossword-friendly answer worth recognizing on sight.
AMUSE
Clue: Make laugh
To make laugh is to amuse. AMUSE is a tidy 5-letter fill (3 vowels); constructors like it because it plays well in both directions.
SPIKY
Clue: Like the skin of a durian fruit
Durian fruit has a spiky outer shell, described as 'spiky'. As a 5-letter word with 1 vowel, SPIKY interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
OLLIE
Clue: Skate park jump
An ollie is a skateboard trick performed without using hands, often on ramps or jumps. As a 5-letter word with 3 vowels, OLLIE interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
NET
Clue: Part of a ping-pong table
A ping-pong table has a net across the middle, so 'net' is part of it. With 1 vowel across 3 letters, NET is exactly the kind of crossword-friendly answer worth recognizing on sight.
Tips for solving
- 1Start with the fill-in-the-blank and short (3-letter) clues — they're usually the fastest points and hand you crossing letters for everything else.
- 2Work outward from your most confident answer instead of top-to-bottom; in a Mini, one solid entry unlocks four or five neighbors.
- 3If a clue ends in a question mark, expect wordplay or a pun rather than a literal definition.
- 4Plural clues almost always mean the answer ends in S — pencil that last letter in early.
- 5When two answers seem possible, let the crossing clue break the tie rather than guessing.