NYT Crossword Answers for Friday, September 18, 2026

Friday, September 18, 2026 · Today's NYT Crossword answers

SEP18

NYT Crossword

Friday, September 18, 2026

15×15By Ryan MathiasonEdited by Will ShortzHard (themeless)

Friday puzzle · 68 answers · Hard (themeless). Hints first; every answer is behind a button.

Reveal the 3 longest answers (usually the theme)

26A UNITEDNATIONS30A GOALLINESTAND32A SPLITDECISION

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 8; here are their numbers and answers.

  1. 26AAcross clue ending in “?” (13)
    RevealUNITEDNATIONS
  2. 37AAcross clue ending in “?” (5)
    RevealORCAS
  3. 40AAcross clue ending in “?” (4)
    RevealFOES
  4. 2DDown clue ending in “?” (8)
    RevealTREERING
  5. 14DDown clue ending in “?” (4)
    RevealSUMS
  6. 27DDown clue ending in “?” (9)
    RevealTAPDANCED
  7. 31DDown clue ending in “?” (8)
    RevealDOACAMEO
  8. 37DDown clue ending in “?” (5)
    RevealOFAGE
Crossword regulars in this grid (spoilers)

Answers in this NYT Crossword that had shown up before, counted over the 309 puzzles since November 2025:

ECO ×10AIR ×8ENDS ×8ARLO ×6TAU ×6NAS ×5TED ×5DATA ×4

The full NYT Crossword solution

Show the solved grid
All 33 Across answers

1A ITSHOT7A SEGUED13A QRCODE14A SOTOSAY15A SEERED16A JUNEBUGS17A ENDS18A DAMS19A ARLO20A TRAE21A MACS22A INPEN23A AIR24A BARK25A PGA26A UNITEDNATIONS30A GOALLINESTAND32A SPLITDECISION34A DEB35A CHEN36A FAA37A ORCAS40A FOES41A KFCS42A FERN43A PIKE44A DATA45A ALACARTE47A DAREME49A GAZEBOS50A ONESEC51A EYEDUP52A CANTOO

All 35 Down answers

1D IQS2D TREERING3D SCENARIOS4D HORDE5D ODES6D TED7D SONS8D ETE9D GOBANANAS10D USURP11D EAGLE12D DYSON14D SUMS16D JACKANDCOKE18D DARNIT20D TAU21D MADLIB22D IGOTIN24D BELLES25D PISCES27D TAPDANCED28D TEEHEE29D SNIFFTEST31D DOACAMEO33D NAS37D OFAGE38D RELAY39D CRAZE40D FITS41D KAREN43D PROP44D DANA46D ABU47D DOC48D ECO

About This NYT Crossword

The NYT Crossword for Friday, September 18, 2026 was a 15×15 grid by Ryan Mathiason, edited by Will Shortz. It had 68 answers and 38 black squares; the longest answer ran 13 letters. That is 2 fewer than the average Friday before it (69.8). 8 clues ended in a question mark.

Also on Sep 18: the NYT Mini Crossword and the NYT Midi Crossword.

Earlier September 2026 NYT Crossword Answers

Sep 1Sep 2Sep 3Sep 4Sep 5Sep 6Sep 7Sep 8Sep 9Sep 10Sep 11Sep 12Sep 13Sep 14Sep 15Sep 16Sep 17Sep 18

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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