NYT Mini Crossword — September 3, 2026
Hints — one at a time
Hint 1 of 5
Today's five-by-five opens with a two-word phrase for leaving something undisturbed, then a strong word for despising something.
Hint 2 of 5
Continue across with the central part of your body between your neck and hips, and the joints a dance instruction tells you to put your hands on, cha-cha style.
Hint 3 of 5
The last across answer is the colored part of your eye that surrounds the pupil.
Hint 4 of 5
Down starts with a fried potato pancake often eaten during a Jewish winter holiday, and a costly, dark-colored hardwood.
Hint 5 of 5
Finish down with a self-referential answer describing this very clue's position in the down list, a well-known speaker and headphone brand, and a Greek god whose name sounds like the weapon he's famous for firing.
The answer — spoilers!
Reveal the full answer
- Leave alone — LETBE
- Vehemently dislike — ABHOR
- Middle section of the body — TORSO
- "Hands on your ___! Hands on your ___!" (refrain in the "Cha-Cha Slide") — KNEES
- Iris's place — EYE
- Crispy treat during Hanukkah — LATKE
- Expensive dark wood — EBONY
- This clue's number — THREE
- Big name in portable speakers — BOSE
- Greek god who shoots (and sounds like!) arrows — EROS
This puzzle by the numbers
- 5 across, 5 down
- LETBE (5)
Counted from our own archive of NYT Mini Crossword answers — not published anywhere else.
