📰

New York Times, Thursday, January 1, 2026

January 02, 2026

By Topher Booth • 76 Clues

Across Clues

1. You're looking at it! → THIS

5. File type → RASP

9. Piano technician → TUNER

14. Parasite's target → HOST

15. Had no co-conspirators → ACTEDALONE

17. Preparation for many a surprise party → RUSE

18. Which 1991 comedy starred Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss? → WHATABOUTBOB

19. Quotidian → USUAL

21. Charon's domain → STYX

22. Bistecca ___ fiorentina (Italian dish) → ALLA

23. Role for Annie Potts on "Young Sheldon" → MEEMAW

25. Are: Fr. → ETES

27. Gift for a musician → EAR

28. Figure in much W.W. I propaganda → UNCLESAM

31. Kid with a route → PAPERBOY

35. Home to the first N.F.L. team to win a Super Bowl in its own stadium (2021) → TAMPA

39. What Edvard Munch painting inspired a poster for "Home Alone"? → THESCREAM

40. What fictional English heavy metal band consists of David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls? → SPINALTAP

42. Like the origins of Buddhism and Hinduism → ASIAN

43. Chill pill, essentially → RELAXANT

44. Investigate → SCOPEOUT

47. Prefix with genetics → EPI

50. Assessment, informally → EVAL

51. Gorgon slain by Perseus → MEDUSA

56. Cohort → GANG

58. Where many family names begin O'- → ERIN

60. Denizen of hell → DEMON

61. Test graders' aids ... or what is needed to respond to the six italicized clues in this puzzle? → ANSWERKEYS

64. Neighbor of Java → BALI

65. Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes → DETECTIVES

66. Prayer leader → IMAM

67. Lit for fun, e.g. → SLANG

68. ___-à-___ → TETE

69. Bore → TIRE

Down Clues

1. Idly pluck, as a banjo → THRUM

2. It always wins, they say → HOUSE

3. One of Us, say? → ISSUE

4. Driver of some engines → STEAM

5. Like most oysters served with mignonette → RAW

6. Some Bavarian cries → ACHS

7. Majestic → STATELY

8. Which unit of data storage could hold 200,000 HD movies? → PETABYTE

9. 19th letter → TAU

10. Sephora competitor → ULTA

11. Gallant → NOBLE

12. ___ Gay → ENOLA

13. Steel rod with ridges → REBAR

16. Maliciously publishes the private info of online → DOXES

20. Actor Fishburne of "The Matrix" → LAURENCE

24. Org. for the Fever and the Dream → WNBA

26. Filled → SATIATED

29. End of many modern addresses → COM

30. Cat breed from an island in the Irish Sea → MANX

31. Educational support grp. → PTA

32. Sounds of realization → AHS

33. Who won Best Supporting Actor for Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas?" → PESCI

34. Pitchers' stats → ERAS

36. What Mediterranean nation lies between Italy and Libya? → MALTA

37. Go for the gold? → PAN

38. Apropos → APT

40. Initialism for an online advertiser → SEO

41. Pitted fruit → PLUM

43. Take over for → RELIEVE

45. Undisguised → OVERT

46. "Sit!" → PARKIT

47. "Horrors!" → EGADS

48. Group of experts → PANEL

49. 2010 release now owned by Meta, informally → INSTA

52. Entry in red ink → DEBIT

53. So-called "fifth taste" → UMAMI

54. Kind of wind ... or an alternative to wind → SOLAR

55. "Mob Psycho 100" genre → ANIME

57. Singer Stefani → GWEN

59. Negative for Nikolai → NYET

62. Heart chart, for short → ECG

63. Buffalo-to-Baltimore dir. → SSE