Today’s NYT Crossword Answers (May 26, 2025): Every Solution & Clue Explained

Trying to crack today’s New York Times Crossword? Below you’ll find the complete solution set, background on the movie-marquee theme, and quick tips to sharpen your solving skills. MONDAY, MAY 26 2025 PUZZLE OVERVIEW • Constructor: Ari Halpern • Grid: 15×15, 76 words, 42 blocks • Theme revealer: 53-Across “MOVIE OF THE WEEK,” pointing to classic film titles embedded in longer answers. THEME ANSWERS • 16-Across ANY GIVEN SUNDAY – 1999 sports drama starring Al Pacino • 25-Across ASH WEDNESDAY – 1973 marital drama with Elizabeth Taylor • 42-Across FREAKY FRIDAY – 2003 fantasy comedy featuring Lindsay Lohan FULL ACROSS ANSWERS 1 BLED 5 CUSP 9 COST 13 REDO 14 ASIA 15 ALTO 16 ANY GIVEN SUNDAY 19 FIGS 20 PER 21 TRAINS 22 ENT 23 EAR 24 BRED 25 ASH WEDNESDAY 30 STEAK 31 BOON 32 NES 35 TEND 36 AVOWS 38 LEST 39 SMS 40 TRIO 41 CIRCA 42 FREAKY FRIDAY 45 AWAY 47 ALY 48 APE 49 ALARMS 51 ACE 52 SLED 53 MOVIE OF THE WEEK 56 THEN 57 FOOT 58 OGRE 59 SARA 60 ARMS 61 OATY FULL DOWN ANSWERS 1 BRAINSTEM 2 LENGTHENS 3 EDYS 4 DOG 5 CAVERN 6 USER 7 SIN 8 PAST 9 CANARY 10 OLDIE 11 STAND 12 TOYS 17 IPAD 18 URBAN 19 FEASTS 23 EEK 26 WAD 27 EBOOK 28 SOW 29 DOS 32 NERD ALERT 33 ESCAPE KEY 34 STAYED 36 ARE 37 VIA 38 LII 40 TRY ME 41 CRY 42 FARINA 43 YACHTS 44 FLEE 45 ALOHA 46 WAVER 49 AMTS 50 SOFA 51 ATOM 52 SEGA 54 FOR 55 WOO SOLVER INSIGHT “Movie of the Week” cleverly strings together three day-of-the-week film titles; once you spotted ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, the pattern likely sped up the rest of the grid. Mondays are designed as the NYT’s easiest, so today’s clean fill (few proper nouns, no rebus squares) makes this a perfect warm-up before tackling trickier midweek puzzles. STRATEGY CORNER • Scan for short fill: commons like ENT, SMS, NES, LII help you anchor the grid. • Work the theme: noticing the day-name pattern lets you pre-fill portions of long themers. • Cross-reference clues: 22-/23-Across ENT and EAR were a free two-for-one. WHAT’S NEXT? New crosswords publish daily at 10 p.m. ET for the following day. Subscribers can also dig into the archive to practice past Monday layouts or explore harder Saturdays. For detailed stats and constructor notes, XWordInfo offers an in-depth breakdown of every grid. Bookmark this page for tomorrow’s answers, theme analysis, and more crossword-solving hacks.