NYT Crossword Answers for Friday, August 21, 2026
NYT Crossword
Friday, August 21, 2026
Friday puzzle · 68 answers · Hard (themeless). Hints first; every answer is behind a button.
Reveal the 6 longest answers (usually the theme)
15A BOOTYCALLS18A COCHAMPION32A CRASHINGOUT36A THEATERGEEK38A MEATBALLSUB55A WHEREITSAT
The question-mark clues
A “?” at the end of an NYT clue means wordplay: a pun, a double meaning or a trick. This grid had 3; here are their numbers and answers.
- 15AAcross clue ending in “?” (10)
Reveal
BOOTYCALLS - 38AAcross clue ending in “?” (11)
Reveal
MEATBALLSUB - 55AAcross clue ending in “?” (10)
Reveal
WHEREITSAT
Crossword regulars in this grid (spoilers)
Answers in this NYT Crossword that had shown up before, counted over the 281 puzzles since November 2025:
TAO ×10ESC ×7LENT ×7ABC ×6AWOL ×6PHI ×6ACME ×5HERS ×5
The full NYT Crossword solution
Show the solved grid
All 33 Across answers
1A LAMA5A AMBERALES14A ARID15A BOOTYCALLS17A BAND18A COCHAMPION19A EMILE21A SCONE22A TAO23A LAMELO25A ESC26A LENT27A SIA28A YOM30A OFUSE32A CRASHINGOUT36A THEATERGEEK38A MEATBALLSUB40A BRASH42A MER43A RAJ45A HEAD46A PHI49A ROCOCO51A EDT52A HOIST54A DESKS55A WHEREITSAT58A SALT59A SODARNCUTE60A AWOL61A GETSTHEAX62A RAGE
All 35 Down answers
1D LABELS2D ARAMAIC3D MINIMART4D ADDLE5D ABC6D MOOS7D BOCCE8D ETHOS9D RYANCOOGLER10D ACME11D LAP12D ELITES13D SLOANE16D SNOT20D ELYSEES24D OOHAAHPOINT26D LUTES29D MITT31D FUELROD33D AHMAD34D NEB35D GRAM37D KUROSAWA39D BACKLOG40D BEDHOG41D RATEDE44D JOSTLE45D HEWS47D HITCH48D ISSUE50D CESAR52D HERS53D TATA56D RAT57D TEX
About This NYT Crossword
The NYT Crossword for Friday, August 21, 2026 was a 15×15 grid by Adryel W. Robles Ojeda, edited by Will Shortz. It had 68 answers and 36 black squares; the longest answer ran 11 letters. That is 2 fewer than the average Friday before it (70.0). 3 clues ended in a question mark.
Also on Aug 21: the NYT Mini Crossword and the NYT Midi Crossword.
Earlier August 2026 NYT Crossword Answers
Every earlier puzzle is in the NYT Crossword archive. For the newest one, see today's NYT Crossword answers, which switch to the next puzzle as soon as it's released.
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