August 19, 2026archive
NYT Mini Crossword — August 19, 2026
Hints — one at a time
Hint 1 of 5
Today's five-by-five opens with the instrument behind a famous solo in a 1980s Phil Collins hit, then the salty liquid a pickle sits in.
Hint 2 of 5
Continue across with the British word for what Americans call elevators, and the lower female voices in a choir.
Hint 3 of 5
The last across answer is the abbreviated name of the pro soccer league that includes Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls.
Hint 4 of 5
Down starts with a carpentry tool used for boring holes, and a word for falling-outs between friends or allies.
Hint 5 of 5
Finish down with the opening word of the Golden Rule, a word for a tricky, messy situation, and a comic-book sound effect for impact.
The answer — spoilers!
Reveal the full answer
- Instrument with an iconic solo in Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight" — DRUM
- It's in a pickle — BRINE
- Elevators, in British English — LIFTS
- Certain choir voices — ALTOS
- Sports org. for the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls: Abbr. — MLS
- Carpentry tool — DRILL
- Personal fallouts — RIFTS
- "Do ___ others ..." (start of the Golden Rule) — UNTO
- Pickle — MESS
- "Kapow!" — BLAM
This puzzle by the numbers
- 5 across, 5 down
- BRINE (5)
Counted from our own archive of NYT Mini Crossword answers — not published anywhere else.
