NYT Crossword Answers — August 1, 2026
The NYT-style Mini for August 1, 2026 packs a full puzzle into a tiny grid, and today's solution set spans everyday vocabulary from DECAF, CICADA, ALMONDS, DAP. Today's mini crossword has no overarching theme, but features a mix of everyday terms and a reference to a tech AI assistant. 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, DAP, is the kind of gimme that gives you crossing letters for the trickier fill, while the longest entry, ALMONDS, 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 has no overarching theme, but features a mix of everyday terms and a reference to a tech AI assistant.
Across
| Clue | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Coffee choice before bed | DECAF | Decaf is coffee without caffeine, suitable for bedtime. |
| 6. Recurring bug? | CICADA | Cicadas are insects that emerge periodically, hence recurring bugs. |
| 7. California's most valuable crop, just barely edging out grapes | ALMONDS | Almonds are a major California crop, slightly ahead of grapes in value. |
| 8. Fist pound | DAP | A dap is a fist bump or handshake gesture. |
| 9. Back of a soccer goal | NET | The net is the back part of a soccer goal. |
| 10. Carefully thought (over) | MULLED | Mulled means thought over carefully, as in 'mulled over'. |
| 12. Brain sparks | IDEAS | Ideas are often described as sparks in the brain. |
| 13. Something that might end after "Pencils down!" | TEST | A test ends when the instructor says 'Pencils down!'. |
Down
| Clue | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Indentations at the end of a smile | DIMPLES | Dimples are small indentations that appear when smiling. |
| 2. Green: Prefix | ECO | Eco- is a prefix meaning environmentally friendly or green. |
| 3. Film festival with the Palme d'Or | CANNES | Cannes is a film festival known for awarding the Palme d'Or. |
| 4. No ___ sugar (product claim) | ADDED | No added sugar means sugar isn't added to the product. |
| 5. Speedy | FAST | Speedy means fast or quick. |
| 6. Anthropic's A.I. assistant | CLAUDE | Claude is the name of Anthropic's AI assistant. |
| 7. Own up to | ADMIT | Admit means to own up to something. |
| 11. Back muscle, for short | LAT | LAT is short for latissimus dorsi, a back muscle. |
Every answer explained
DECAF
Clue: Coffee choice before bed
Decaf is coffee without caffeine, suitable for bedtime. As a 5-letter word with 2 vowels, DECAF interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
CICADA
Clue: Recurring bug?
Cicadas are insects that emerge periodically, hence recurring bugs. As a 6-letter word with 3 vowels, CICADA interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
ALMONDS
Clue: California's most valuable crop, just barely edging out grapes
Almonds are a major California crop, slightly ahead of grapes in value. As a 7-letter word with 2 vowels, ALMONDS interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
DAP
Clue: Fist pound
A dap is a fist bump or handshake gesture. As a 3-letter word with 1 vowel, DAP interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
NET
Clue: Back of a soccer goal
The net is the back part of a soccer goal. With 1 vowel across 3 letters, NET is exactly the kind of crossword-friendly answer worth recognizing on sight.
MULLED
Clue: Carefully thought (over)
Mulled means thought over carefully, as in 'mulled over'. As a 6-letter word with 2 vowels, MULLED interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
IDEAS
Clue: Brain sparks
Ideas are often described as sparks in the brain. As a 5-letter word with 3 vowels, IDEAS interlocks easily with crossing entries — one reason it turns up in grids so often.
TEST
Clue: Something that might end after "Pencils down!"
A test ends when the instructor says 'Pencils down!'. TEST is a tidy 4-letter fill (1 vowel); constructors like it because it plays well in both directions.
DIMPLES
Clue: Indentations at the end of a smile
Dimples are small indentations that appear when smiling. With 2 vowels across 7 letters, DIMPLES is exactly the kind of crossword-friendly answer worth recognizing on sight.
ECO
Clue: Green: Prefix
Eco- is a prefix meaning environmentally friendly or green. ECO is a tidy 3-letter fill (2 vowels); constructors like it because it plays well in both directions.
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.