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Whimsically amusing - NYT The Mini Clue
Across
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The term "Boston Brahmin" refers to an elite, wealthy, and historically influential social class in Boston, often associated with old Protestant families. "WASPS" stands for "White Anglo-Saxon Protestants," which aligns with the characteristics of this group, making it a fitting answer.
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The clue "Look forward to" implies anticipation or expecting something. "AWAIT" fits as it means to patiently wait or anticipate something's arrival, matching the clue's context. Both share a sense of eagerness or readiness for an upcoming event or outcome.
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The term "RALLY" refers to a sudden recovery or rise in stock prices after a downturn, making it synonymous with a "stock market bounceback." It aligns with the financial context of the clue, describing the market's upward movement after a decline.
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The clue "Whimsically amusing" describes something humorously odd or quirky, which aligns perfectly with the word "DROLL." "Droll" refers to subtle, dry, or understated humor often found in whimsical or amusing situations—making it the ideal fit for this clue.
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The clue "Hearing or sight" refers to two of the human senses. These are sensory abilities, part of the five primary senses, which include hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell. Therefore, the answer "SENSE" aptly covers both hearing and sight as examples of senses.
Down
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The answer "WARDS" fits because voting districts in certain cities, especially in the U.S., are officially divided into "wards." These are administrative areas used for organizing elections and local governance.
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The clue "Oh, I'm well ___!" is phrased as a spoken expression, often indicating awareness or understanding. The missing word completes the phrase "well aware," which means fully conscious or informed about something. AWARE fits logically and contextually, completing the natural spoken phrase accurately.
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The answer is SALON because it's an establishment where beauty treatments, including chemical processes like hair coloring, straightening, and perms, are offered. The clue directly references these services, aligning perfectly with this type of business.
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The abbreviation "SMTWTFS" represents the days of the week (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.). A box labeled this way often organizes daily doses of medication, making the "contents" of such a box commonly PILLS. This aligns with the clue's description.
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The clue "Focus of Vogue and Elle" leads to STYLE because both magazines are renowned for their focus on fashion, design, and trends—key elements of style. STYLE succinctly captures their essence as leading publications in the fashion world.
Today’s Game Difficulty
Hard
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Solving today’s NYT Mini Puzzle and stuck on the 5-letter answer to the Whimsically amusing clue? Don’t worry—Lady Puzzle Pro has you covered! Whether you want the answer right away, revealed letter by letter, or this wordplay seems too puzzling, keep reading for the explanation.
Whimsically amusing Answer Explained
The answer is DROLL.
This one is a little more niche. “Whimsically amusing” points to something that's funny, but not in a laugh-out-loud way. More like quirky, dry, or subtly humorous. That’s exactly what DROLL means. It's not a super common word in everyday use, which makes it tougher. You might guess “witty” or “cute” if you're going with tone, but DROLL is more about odd or ironic amusement. Once you know the word, it’s a crossword favorite, but if you don’t, it could feel like a mystery.
Now that you've cracked the 8A Whimsically amusing clue, you're one step closer to completing today’s Mini Puzzle! If you're still stuck on other clues, don't worry—we've got you covered. Explore more NYT Mini crossword answers right here, or check out our tools for solving the NYT Crossword, Connections, or Strands.
Today’s NYT Mini Highlights
A solid Tuesday Mini by Ian Livengood. Every entry is 5 letters, and there are no black squares, which gives the grid a clean, packed look. The cluing felt tighter and a bit trickier than recent days, especially with some indirect wordplay. A compact but thoughtful solve.
Here’s what caught our attention today:
- Boston Brahmin types
- Stock market bounceback
- Voting districts
- "Oh, I'm well ___!"
- Establishment offering chemical treatments
- Contents of a box labeled SMTWTFS
- Focus of Vogue and Elle
About NYT The Mini
NYT The Mini Crossword is a compact version of the New York Times Crossword puzzle. Usually 5 x 5, with larger grids on Saturdays, it offers mid-week equivalent difficulty clues with no progression over the week. It is accessible to anyone with or without a New York Times account. You can play it on nytimes.com/crosswords, The New York Times Games app (iOS and Android), and the Play tab of the New York Times News app. Games and All Access Subscribers can solve past Mini Crossword puzzles in the archive.
Daily Availability
Puzzles are accessible the evening before the publish date. Weekday and Saturday puzzles: 10 p.m. EST the previous day. Sunday puzzles: 6 p.m. EST on Saturday.
How to Play - Features and Tips
Fill white squares with letters to form intersecting words or phrases by solving clues in Across and Down columns. Read our guide to NYT Mini Mastery to learn how to read the different types of clues. Successfully completed puzzle triggers music and a congratulatory message.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Arrow keys: Change direction within the same square, move in the direction of the arrow, jump back to the first blank in the word, or jump to the next clue.
- Spacebar: Clear the current square, advance, or toggle between Across and Down.
- Backspace (Delete on Macs): Remove words or a letter from a word.
- Tab key: Jump to the next clue.
- Shift + Tab keys: Jump to the previous clue.
- Escape: Enter Rebus mode.
- Pen and Pencil Modes. Switch between pen and pencil modes by selecting the respective icon. Letters in pen mode are black; in pencil mode, gray.
Letter Colors
Black: Default pen mode entries.
Gray: Pencil mode entries.
Blue: Confirmed letters with Check.
Mini Timer
Time your solving with the timer displayed above the puzzle. Pause/resume using the respective buttons. The timer restarts if the entire puzzle is cleared. Option to hide the timer in Puzzle settings.
In-game Help
- Reveal: Unveil correct letters for a square, answer, or the entire puzzle.
- Check: Verify correctness.
The answers you get using help are marked with a red triangle in the upper right-hand corner of the box while those confirmed with check become blue.
Leaderboards
It’s an additional social resource provided by NYT. You can add friends (up to 100 invitees) to track daily completion and compete.