Welcome to the inaugural edition of this New York Times Crossword clues and answers guide, where I go through the puzzle and pull out all the answers to the toughest questions the NYT has for you. And they are really tough, as you probably know by now, depending on the day. Today we will begin with the Sunday, May 4 puzzle. But first: HOW TO PLAY THE NYT CROSSWORD Well, the first step here is that if you’re doing this online and not in the newspaper, you will need a full all-access subscription to the New York Times, which allows you to play online and it gives you access to all archives of all puzzle games on the site. Past that, well, it’s a crossword. You will be given clues stretching on both directions on the board and find the letters that fill out the entire thing correctly. Clues can be tough on their own, but with multiple answers potentially in the same lettercount, they can be downright diabolical. The puzzle has a timer to see how you’re doing for your personal bests, and don’t forget about the “Rebus” button which turns some squares into two letter spaces, which is always a nightmare. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. And with that, here’s today’s puzzle. ACROSS CLUES AND ANSWERS 1) Things hidden after purchasing a premium account, maybe - ADS 4) Follower of a bit? - MUCH 8) Bank robber’s accessory - MASK 12) "The Wild Duck" playwright - IBSEN 17) Egg ___ yung - FOO 18) Big name in deodorant - ARRID 20) Contents of a blog - POSTS 21) Handle - SEETO 22) Product that "can cut a slice of bread so thin you can almost see through it!," in old ads - GINSUKNIFE 24) Try to open, as a gift - RIPAT 25) Toon fighter of Skeletor - HEMAN 26) French name that’s an anagram of a mostly German river - HENRI 27) Features of jalapeños and piña coladas - TILDES 29) Coach Lasso on TV - TED 31) Confirmation, e.g. - RITE 32) Brand with a line of "Calm + Restore" products - AVEENO 34) Bunless cookout entrees - LETTUCEWRAPS 37) Land - NET 38) Natl. economic stat - GDP 40) Spirit for a spritz - APEROL 41) Moves one’s butt (over) - SCOOTS 44) Book reviews of sorts? - IRSAUDITS 47) Reason to take iron supplements - ANEMIA 49) Concave umbilicus - INNIE 50) Gives one’s all - GOESHARD 52) Given reluctantly - BEGRUDGING 54) The Aztecs of the N.C.A.A. - SDSU 57) Damning info - DIRT 58) Some hosp. workers - RNS 59) Texter’s "Bye!" - CYA 60) It squirts on a squid - INKSAC 63) Royal house of Mary, Queen of Scots - STUART 67) Many air travelers’ texts, for short - ETAS 70) Sci-fi-inspired greeting that’s a hint to eight squares in this puzzle - MAYTHEFOURTHBEWITHYOU 76) Gives a hand - AIDS 77) "Au ___ les Enfants" (1987 film) - REVOIR 78) Apparel for wizards and thieves - CLOAK 79) Bad spot for a tear, in brief - ACL 82) Saison avant l’automne - ETE 84) Possible cause of insomnia - DRIP 86) 2017 Pixar film inspired by el Día de los Muertos - COCO 87) Companion who might take your breath away? - BLOWUPDOLL 91) Camp inspection after lights out - BEDCHECK 94) Ballet handrail - BARRE 95) "Grand" things - PIANOS 97) Over and over - ADNAUSEAM 101) All mixed up - ADDLED 103) They contain brains - CRANIA 105) Sorority member, endearingly - SIS 106) Org. with a tip line - FBI 107) Famous Leonardo da Vinci drawing with four arms and four legs - VITRUVIANMAN 109) Turns down - DENIES 111) Little feud - SPAT 113) Contracted - GOT 114) Like organic food products, for short - NONGMO 117) Droops - WILTS 118) Invasive Japanese vine - KUDZU 120) Alphanumeric component - DIGIT 122) Steaminess - SENSUALITY 124) Drinks that get slushy over time - ICEES 125) Places for some braces - KNEES 126) Senator Baldwin or Duckworth - TAMMY 127) Prefix with -lithic - NEO 128) Alternative name for our planet - TERRA 129) Goes from 0 to 60? - AGES 130) Some summer babies - LEOS 131) "Despicable Me" character voiced by Steve Carell - GRU Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder DOWN CLUES AND ANSWERS 1) Currency unit of Kabul - AFGHANI 2) Enthusiastic reply to "Want to?" - DOIEVER 3) Poems also fancily known as quatorzains - SONNETS 4) Barely managing - MAKINGDO 5) Coffee holder - URN 6) Lit ___ (rhyming class nickname) - CRIT 7) Antique purchase for an audiophile - HIFI 8) Dew, for example - MOISTURE 9) A nemesissssss to Indiana Jones? - ASP 10) More dignified - STA 11) Lead actress in the "Twilight" movies, in tabloids - KST 12) "More or less" - ISH 13) Game you likely get worse at the longer you play - BEERPONG 14) Band with the 1998 hit "Closing Time" - SEMISONIC 15) Coup d’___ - ETAT 16) Zip - NONE 19) Gospel/jazz singer Reese - DELLA 20) Make believe - PRETEND 23) "Well, OK" - SURE 28) Exodus - DEPATURE 30) Practice group?: Abbr. - DRS 33) Drooling pooch of the comics - ODIE 35) Tool for grooming - COMB 36) What vinegar or lemon juice adds to a dressing - ACID 39) Focus of some psychotherapy, for short - PTSD 42) Lilliputian - TINY 43) Company behind the Saturn and Dreamcast consoles - SEGA 45) The Masters host city - AUGUSTA 46) Minty herb used in Japanese cuisine - SHISO 48) Veep from 1969 to 1973 - AGNEW 51) Boxer Beterbiev - ARTUR 53) Countrylike - RUSTIC 54) ___ card - SIM 55) Kendrick Lamar title that completes the lyric "I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my ..." - DNA 56) Where to see contrails - SKY 61) Tuna type - AHI 62) Handed over - CEDED 64) Dune buggy, e.g., in brief - ATV 65) ___ Ridgeback, dog breed originally from Zimbabwe - RHODESIAN 66) Classic sports car, familiarly - TBIRD 68) Hub code for Delta - ATL 69) Necessity for off-roading - SHOCK 71) Photog’s setting - FSTOP 72) ___ Kane, longtime role on "All My Children" - ERICA 73) Chairman ___ (old N.B.A. nickname) - YAO 74) The N.B.A.’s Thunder, on scoreboards - OKC 75) Grp. with so-called "camp shows" - USO 79) "Money, Money, Money" group - ABBA 80) Attired - CLAD 81) Term of address aboard the Death Star - LORDVADER 83) Bringing forth - ELICITING 85) Third degrees? - PHDS 88) Big name in organs - WURLITZER 89) Amanda of film - PEET 90) "___ Croft: Tomb Raider" - LARA 91) Witticisms - BONMOTS 92) Wednesday Addams’s werewolf roommate on TV’s "Wednesday" - ENID 93) Routes across low waters - CAUSEWAYS 96) Baby monitors - NANNIES 98) TurboTax activity - EFILING 99) Getaway driver, for instance - ABETTER 100) Sentiment in a letter from home - MISSYOU 102) Just what the doctor ordered? - DRUG 104) Perturbation - ANGST 108) Screwdriver component - VODKA 110) Zip - NIL 111) Piece of improv - SKIT 112) Hue of a dry bloodstain, maybe - PUCE 115) Cafeteria offering - MEAL 116) "I’ve got this one" - ONME 119) Women’s soccer powerhouse - USA 121) "Who knew?!" - GEE 123) Sport that takes place in a dohyo - SUMO Embarrassing Clue - How did that go for you? Some really tough ones in there, and I was embarrassed I thought “May the fourth be with you” was “live long and prosper” because that was the only sci-fi phrase that came to mind. To be far, that’s not exactly in the movies. Favorite Clue - I really enjoyed the “companion who takes your breath away” being a blow-up doll, extremely clever. Hardest Clue - Always a lot to choose from here, but it’s almost always something with a Rebus, which in this case whas the ginsu knife from the old TV ads, as sometimes it will be used to make something plural, but not in this case, and you needed it to face the base word in. Very tough. That’s all for today, see you tomorrow. Maybe. Depending on how this goes. on TwitterYouTube, Bluesky Instagram Herokiller series The Earthborn Trilogy. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades