{"id":370838,"date":"2026-10-12T09:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T09:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/370838\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T09:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T09:06:16","slug":"nyt-crossword-answers-for-oct-12-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/370838\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT Crossword Answers for Oct. 12, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONDAY PUZZLE<\/a> \u2014 Zhouqin Burnikel has a talent for spinning figures of speech into lighthearted crossword themes. I particularly enjoyed a Monday puzzle<\/a> of hers from last year whose central phrase, \u201cI\u2019ve got you covered,\u201d referred to coverings in the animal kingdom \u2014 i.e., shells, feathers, scales and hair. Today\u2019s puzzle is of that ilk: one phrase, twisted, with several examples of that twist.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re just starting out with the New York Times Crossword, welcome! You\u2019ve come to the right day of the week. We always recommend that new solvers start with Mondays, because they tend to be beginner-friendly and to have accessible themes. You can always read the Wordplay column for tips and explanations about clues or entries you don\u2019t understand and get extra help from your fellow solvers in the comments section. Eventually, you\u2019ll do the same with Tuesdays. And so on.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Theme<\/p>\n

The revealer clue in a crossword puzzle is the one that cracks the theme. You can generally tell where that clue is by its length and structure, because it tends to be the longest of the set, and because it will refer, in some way, to the puzzle itself. Here\u2019s the revealer in today\u2019s puzzle, at 58-Across: [Positioned precariously \u2026 or where the ends of 16-, 24-, 35- and 49-Across can all be found].<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry about the second half of a revealer clue until you\u2019ve solved the phrase it seems to be hinting at \u2014 which, in this case, is OUT ON A LIMB. Now, use it to make sense of the cited entries.<\/p>\n

The [Electric vehicle from Japan] at 16A is the NISSAN LEAF (news to me), and you might describe the [Total mess] at 24A as a MARE\u2019S NEST. Those who expected this clue to solve to \u201crat\u2019s nest\u201d \u2014 not that it fits, mind you \u2014 may have cause: The etymologist Michael Quinion suspects that the original meaning of \u201cmare\u2019s nest,\u201d which was more like \u201can unbelievable situation,\u201d took its modern sense in part<\/a> from the phrase \u201crat\u2019s nest.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 35A, an [Unpredictable emotional shift] is a MOOD SWING, and the [Celtics legend nicknamed \u201cThe Hick from French Lick\u201d] at 49A is LARRY BIRD.<\/p>\n

The ends of these entries, as the revealer suggests, are all things you might find out on a tree limb: leaf, nest, swing (hanging from the limb) and bird.<\/p>\n

Tricky Clues<\/p>\n

18A\/34A. As with many ancient gods, the [God with a bow and arrow] goes by one name in Greek mythology and another in the Roman tradition. Cupid is also known as EROS. In [Mercury, Venus or Mars], by contrast, each names a Roman DEITY. Their Greek equivalents are Hermes, Aphrodite and Ares.<\/p>\n

27A. The first word of [Contents of a sleeve] is deceptive, because it\u2019s generally used to refer to things in plural \u2014 but since these are the contents of just \u201ca\u201d sleeve, the answer is the singular ARM.<\/p>\n

2D. \u201cIt\u201d clues, as I refer to them, use figures of speech as a form of misdirection. [It isn\u2019t working] seems like a comment about dead batteries or a faulty appliance. In fact, the \u201cit\u201d describes a state of not working, which in this case is LEISURE.<\/p>\n

8D. Many a solve of mine has been undone by [\u201cClemency\u201d actress Woodard], because I keep expecting to see a \u201cD\u201d at the end of ALFRE. Blame the fame of Hitchcock!<\/p>\n

46D. Normally, a \u201ctimepiece\u201d is a watch, but this [Time piece?] is two words. Moreover, the clue ends in a question mark, which suggests a witty twist. \u201cPiece\u201d refers to a unit of time, as in a MINUTE.<\/p>\n

Improve Your Crossword Solving<\/p>\n

Work your way through our guide \u201cHow to Solve the New York Times Crossword<\/a>.\u201d It contains an explanation of most of the types of clues you will see in the puzzles and a practice Mini at the end of each section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONDAY PUZZLE \u2014 Zhouqin Burnikel has a talent for spinning figures of speech into lighthearted crossword themes. I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[44226,41568,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-370838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-crossword-puzzles","tag-games","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}