NYT Mini Crossword Answers May 24, 2025

Across
1 “Get a load of ___!” (Answer: THIS)
🔠 4 letters, starts with T, ends with S
👀 “Look at ___!”
📣 Demonstrative word
🤨 “Can you believe ___?”
🎯 Attention grabber
🎬 Movie title filler: “Look at ___!”
📺 Pointing pronoun
🗯️ What’s in your hand
📌 Direct object
🧭 Not that, but ___
🗣️ Word used with emphasis

5 Ability to keep one’s balance on a ship (Answer: SEALEGS)
🌊 8 letters, starts with S, ends with S
🛳️ Nautical stability
⚓ Balance at sea
🌬️ What prevents seasickness
👣 Seafarer’s advantage
🧭 Mariner’s trait
🚢 Ocean readiness
🌍 Adjustment to waves
⛵ A sailor develops these
🌡️ Rough sea tolerance
🧍‍♂️ Standing upright on a yacht

8 Army shirt? (Answer: TANKTOP)
🪖 7 letters, starts with T, ends with P
👕 Sleeveless pun
💪 Combat-ready apparel?
🎖️ Top for muscle showing
🫡 Armorless upperwear
💼 Camouflage cami
👚 Barrel-bottom shirt?
👕 Warm-weather gear
💥 Cannon-inspired clothing?
🛡️ Armored vehicle pun

9 Chicago trains (Answer: ELS)
🚇 3 letters, starts with E, ends with S
🏙️ City track system
🚉 Elevated transit
🚆 Windy City transit
🌆 Above-ground transport
🛤️ Subway alternative
📍 Loop lines
🚝 Short for “elevateds”
🏗️ Built on stilts
🌃 Transit seen in “The Bear”
📈 Urban climb

10 Wand-waving org. (Answer: TSA)
🛂 3 letters, starts with T, ends with A
✈️ Airport security
🔎 Screeners
🪄 “Remove your shoes” group
🧳 Carry-on checkers
🛬 Security line initials
🧼 Travel inspection org.
🪶 Wand wavers
🪪 ID checkers
👣 Line at the gate

11 Flowers depicted in classical Chinese art (Answer: PEONIES)
🌸 7 letters, starts with P, ends with S
🖌️ Brush-painted blooms
🎨 Ornamental garden flowers
📜 Symbol of wealth and honor
🧧 Common in Asian paintings
🌹 Bushy spring flowers
🧵 Silk embroidery subjects
🌼 Classical flora
🏺 Seen on porcelain
🧘‍♀️ Elegant bloom
🪻 Metaphor for prosperity

13 By oneself (Answer: ALONE)
😶 5 letters, starts with A, ends with E
🧍‍♂️ Not with company
🛋️ Solo
🏠 Without others
🧘 Singular
📱 Not on social
🧩 Playing solitaire
📖 Reading quietly
🚶‍♂️ Without accompaniment
🌒 Just one

14 Phileas ___, “Around the World in Eighty Days” protagonist (Answer: FOGG)
📚 4 letters, starts with F, ends with G
🕰️ Jules Verne voyager
🧳 Literary traveler
🚂 Globe-trotter
🧭 80-day explorer
⛴️ Victorian adventurer
🗺️ Famous wager winner
🎩 Balloon ride character
📖 Novel lead
🌍 Fictional circumnavigator
🇬🇧 Gentleman’s name in Verne

Down
1 Something “read” in the divination method of tasseography (Answer: TEALEAF)
🍵 7 letters, starts with T, ends with F
🔮 Cup-based clue
☕ Brewed future
👁️ Fortune in a cup
🧿 Leafy omen
📜 Loose-leaf prophecy
🌿 Mystic residue
🔍 Read at the bottom
🍂 Sipped symbol
🕯️ Seer’s swirl

2 Sci-fi hero with the line “Never tell me the odds” (Answer: HANSOLO)
🚀 7 letters, starts with H, ends with O
💫 Millennium Falcon captain
🎬 Harrison Ford role
🧊 Carbonite encased
🧑‍🚀 Chewie’s co-pilot
⚔️ Rebel with a smirk
🌌 Star Wars smuggler
🖖 Doesn’t like stats
🎯 Known to shoot first
💸 Intergalactic rogue

3 Kind (Answer: ILK)
🧬 3 letters, starts with I, ends with K
🧪 Of that sort
🎩 Breed
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family type
🎓 Class
🐾 Species
📚 Old-school synonym
📇 Same stripe
📈 That variety

4 Where a story takes place (Answer: SETTING)
📖 7 letters, starts with S, ends with G
🎭 Scene location
📍 Literary backdrop
🗺️ Place and time
📸 Background for action
🏞️ Narrative location
🧭 Plot coordinates
🖼️ The “where”
🏙️ Story’s space
📍 Novelist’s foundation

5 Lather, rinse or repeat (Answer: STEP)
🧼 4 letters, starts with S, ends with P
👣 Sequence part
📋 Instruction
📈 Phase in a plan
🧽 Bath routine element
🔁 Checklist item
🎯 Part of a process
🧭 Direction unit
📚 Followed rule

6 “Take a look for yourself!” (Answer: GOSEE)
👀 5 letters, starts with G, ends with E
🗣️ “Don’t take my word for it”
🏃 Observe in person
🧭 Visit
👁️‍🗨️ Check it out!
🚶‍♀️ Travel to verify
📍 Field trip plan
🎫 Scout the scene
🔍 Confirm firsthand

7 Places to get pampered (Answer: SPAS)
💅 4 letters, starts with S, ends with S
🧖‍♀️ Relaxation centers
🛁 Steam room spots
🧼 Mud bath locales
💆 Massage joints
🧴 Beauty retreats
🧘 Wellness havens
🛏️ Luxury escapes
🌸 Scented sanctuaries

12 Eggy holiday drink (Answer: NOG)
🥚 3 letters, starts with N, ends with G
🍾 Yuletide sip
🎄 Creamy cocktail
🥛 Brandy blend
🍶 Holiday treat
🍬 Nutmeg-topped
🎅 Santa’s beverage
🍷 Often spiked
🧊 Cold dairy drink