Yesterday's NYT Midi Crossword Answers
August 16, 2026
Stuck on puzzle #23,611? Work through a hint at a time, or jump straight to the grid. Nothing spoils until you tap.
Hints, one at a time
Welcome back, puzzler. The Midi Crossword for Sunday, August 16, 2026 is live: a 10x10 grid with 36 clues to fill in, 20 Across and 16 Down, built around the theme "Put a Tent on This Circus!".
Here's how this page works: the hints below work only from the clues themselves, nothing about the answers, so work through them in order and stop the moment you're ready to solve. The full set of answers sits in the green box further down, locked behind a tap. Nothing on this page shows itself until you ask, not a hint and not an answer.
Start with the clue count and stop whenever you're ready to solve.
Drumroll, please…
NYT Midi Crossword Answers for August 16
Spoiler below · tap an answer to revealAcross (20)
Clues 1-20
Tree that produces acorns
Bio or chem, e.g.
Gooey vegetable in bhindi masala
Stale and old
Like the tops of ceiling fan blades, often
Animal with a pouch, for short
Like fire ... or someone who is "on fire"
Once more
Inflated senses of self
Pottery ovens
Sounds from a 5-Down ... and from the noses inside a 5-Down
Filing cabinet securer
Clues 21-30
"In memoriam" story
Declare
Rx regulator
___ echelon
Flowery necklace
Tie to a dock
Web address, for short
Dessert on the faces inside a 5-Down, maybe
Down (16)
Clues 1-17
Approvals
Making balloon animals or juggling, to some
Online travel company named after a boat
One with poor sportsmanship
What a pair of jokers might be found in the back of? ... and a hint to this puzzle's theme
Words followed by a kiss
Temporarily released from custody, perhaps
Altruistic person
"That's mildly funny"
0, in soccer lingo
Glide down a snowy mountain
Blue expanse
Clues 19-26
Truncated trunk
___ shot (seasonal vaccination)
Hawaiian food that's a paste made from taro root
"The Masque of the Red Death" author
Tap an answer to reveal it, open a clue range to browse it, or show the whole grid at once.
About yesterday's grid #23,611
36 answers in total: 20 Across and 16 Down.
The longest answer runs 9 letters; the shortest run 3 letters (20 of them).
O is the most common letter, appearing 12 times across the grid.
Puzzle #23,611, published Sunday, August 16, 2026, edited by Ian Livengood and built by Kareem Ayas.
Midi Crossword strategy that actually helps
Proven habits from top solvers, useful today and every day.
Skim the whole list before writing anything. An easy Down clue often unlocks a tricky Across neighbor.
The Midi often builds several answers around one theme. Spotting it early can crack a few tricky clues at once.
Three and four letter answers lean on common words and abbreviations, so bank those first.
A "?" at the end of a clue signals wordplay or a pun, not a literal definition.
Unsure of a letter? Solve the crossing clue instead of guessing, and let it fill in the gap for you.
The longest answers usually need the most crossing letters, so they're often the last ones to click.
NYT Midi Crossword, answered
Quick answers to the questions we get every day.
What time does the new Midi Crossword come out?
The Midi resets at midnight in your local timezone, wherever you are. This page updates within minutes of the reset, so if the date above matches today, the hints and answers are current.
How is the Midi different from the Mini and the full Crossword?
The Midi sits between the two: a mid-size grid, usually 10x10, with more clues than the tiny Mini but far fewer than the full daily Crossword. It's built around a single theme, the way the full Crossword often is, but finishes in a fraction of the time.
Why do some Midis feel harder than others?
Like the other NYT crosswords, difficulty can vary day to day: some puzzles lean on straightforward definitions, while others lean more on wordplay, theme logic, and less common phrasing.
Can I play past Midi Crossword puzzles?
Yes, if you're an NYT Games subscriber, the app and site keep an archive of past Midis. This page's own archive grows day by day as we cover more puzzles.
Does using hints count as cheating?
We'd say no. A nudge that keeps you playing beats a broken streak. That's why this page is built hints-first: you choose exactly how much help you get, one clue at a time.
Today's hints for every game
Same spoiler-safe format, for each daily puzzle we cover.