Provokes, with "up" - NYT The Mini Clue

Provokes, with "up" Answer Explained

The answer is RILES.

The phrase "provokes, with 'up'" points directly to the expression "riles up," which means to annoy, irritate, or stir someone into anger. The clue includes with "up" because RILES on its own is less common than the full phrasal verb riles up. If you say someone riles up the crowd, you mean they get people worked up or agitated. Even if the word RILES isn't part of everyone's everyday vocabulary, the familiar phrase makes it much easier to recognize. Once I had a couple of crossing letters, it was the only word that really fit both the clue and the five-letter space.

Now that you've cracked the 9A Provokes, with "up" 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

I was a little surprised to see Wyna Liu's name on today's Mini since it's been a while, and I honestly expected something much trickier. Instead, this turned out to be a smooth, enjoyable solve. The all-five-letter grid with no black squares made it feel fast, and most of the clues were very approachable. I slowed down only briefly on JAFAR and RILES, which were probably the toughest entries for me, but with so many helpful crossings, they fell into place without much trouble. Overall, it was a light, satisfying Wednesday Mini that was easier than I expected.

Here’s what caught our attention today:

• Disney villain between Gaston and Scar

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.