NYT Mini Crossword Answers May 28, 2025

Across
1 Stuff that accumulates on a bookshelf (Answer: DUST)
🧹 4 letters, starts with D, ends with T
📚 Shelf scum
😮‍💨 Static cling
🏠 Neglected corner debris
🌬️ Light and powdery
🧼 Spring cleaning target
👻 Settling particles
🚫 Anti-clean
🕰️ Sign of age
🐾 Pet hair’s friend
📸 Makes things look old

5 “Inside Out 2” emotion who’s constantly glued to her phone (Answer: ENNUI)
📱 5 letters, starts with E, ends with I
😐 Boredom embodied
💤 Existential apathy
📖 French for “meh”
😒 Phone-scrolling vibe
🎬 New emotion on screen
👀 Watches, doesn’t care
📉 Low-energy mood
🛋️ Listless lounge
🧠 Mental fog
🥱 Animated indifference

7 Snack for a squirrel (Answer: ACORN)
🐿️ 5 letters, starts with A, ends with N
🌳 Nut from an oak
🥜 Forest treat
🍂 Autumn crunch
🧺 Gathered in nests
🦫 Rodent snack
🌰 Oak seed
🦴 Buried for winter
📦 Nature’s packaging
🐾 Nutty nibble

8 Fail, informally (Answer: FLUNK)
📉 5 letters, starts with F, ends with K
📝 Bomb a test
📚 School stumble
🚫 Didn’t pass
🧠 Brain freeze moment
🧾 “F” for effort
🏫 Academic oops
📉 GPA killer
🔚 Class catastrophe
👎 Not quite

9 Crafter’s online marketplace (Answer: ETSY)
🛍️ 4 letters, starts with E, ends with Y
🧶 Handmade hub
🧵 Artisan market
📦 Indie store site
🖌️ Custom creation shop
🪡 Crafters’ paradise
🧧 Small business haven
🎁 Personalized goods
💌 Quirky shop stop
🧺 Online bazaar

Down
1 Using sign language, say (Answer: DEAF)
🧏 4 letters, starts with D, ends with F
🖐️ Communicates non-verbally
👂 Without hearing
💬 Signs instead of speaks
🧠 Perceives differently
🔇 Silent world
📢 Not reliant on sound
📚 Learns ASL
👋 Talks with hands
🎧 Not needed

2 ___ Sam (patriotic symbol) (Answer: UNCLE)
🇺🇸 5 letters, starts with U, ends with E
🎩 Pointing poster guy
🎆 American icon
🗽 “I want YOU” rep
🧓 Stars & Stripes figure
📯 War recruitment face
📜 Classic symbol
📘 Civics class name
🧨 Patriotic persona

3 What a tapir can grasp and manipulate objects with (Answer: SNOUT)
🐽 5 letters, starts with S, ends with T
🐘 Prehensile part
👃 Long-nosed tool
🌿 Grabbing sniffer
🍽️ Feeding aid
🧠 Smart snoot
🐾 Jungle adapter
🥒 Can hold veggies
📸 Funny face feature

4 Chances to play in a board game (Answer: TURNS)
🎲 5 letters, starts with T, ends with S
♟️ Board game unit
🧠 Strategy moment
🔁 Player’s opportunity
🎮 One at a time
🚶 Sequential moves
📅 Comes after waits
🧮 Counted in rounds
🃏 Card game rhythm

6 Like one’s fingers after using a leaky pen (Answer: INKY)
✍️ 4 letters, starts with I, ends with Y
🖋️ Smudged up
📓 Pen mishap result
🧽 Needs a wipe
🖐️ Stained fingers
🧼 Hard to clean
🎨 Messy writing
🖊️ Pen problem
🖤 Blotchy outcome