NYT Mini Crossword — October 4, 2026
Hints — one at a time
Hint 1 of 5
Today's grid opens across with a wooden container used to age wine, then the leader of a fictional all-girl rock band in comics and film.
Hint 2 of 5
Continue across with a phrase meaning "to put it briefly," and the N.B.A. team crowned 2026 champions.
Hint 3 of 5
The last across answer is a playful Pig Latin denial — the reverse of "nix."
Hint 4 of 5
Down starts with part of a classic Christmas song lyric about Santa heading to town, and the organization devoted to pet adoption.
Hint 5 of 5
Finish down with a word describing fabric as smooth as fine bedsheets, the valuables you should never lock inside your own house, what you shout when you and a friend say the same thing at once, and a wintery activity on the slopes.
The answer — spoilers!
Reveal the full answer
- Wine barrel — CASK
- Leader of the Pussycats, in comics and film — JOSIE
- In a nutshell — SIMPLY
- 2026 N.B.A. champions — KNICKS
- Denial that sounds like 7-Across in Pig Latin — IXNAY
- "Santa Claus Is ___ to Town" (holiday hit) — COMIN
- Pet adoption org. — ASPCA
- Like the texture of fine bedsheets — SILKY
- Bad things to leave locked in your house — KEYS
- "We said the same thing at the same time!" — JINX
- Hit the slopes — SKI
This puzzle by the numbers
- 5 across, 6 down
- SIMPLY (6)
Counted from our own archive of NYT Mini Crossword answers — not published anywhere else.
