NYT Crossword Answers Today, November 13, 2026

The New York Times (NYT) Crossword for Friday, Nov. 13, 2026 by Mike Graczyk: a hint for all 70 clues, four wordplay clues explained, then answers.

By Fresh Calendars News Desk, Editorial team, daily puzzles

Published November 12, 2026, 10:28 p.m. ET 11 min read

A Friday crossword grid for Nov. 13, 2026 — The New York Times Friday Crossword for Nov. 13, 2026; a hint for each of the 70 clues sits above the answer list. Illustration: Fresh Calendars

In this article

Four question-mark clues and the trick in each
What kinds of clues fill the Nov. 13 Crossword
How the Nov. 13 grid is built
Hints for every clue
Today’s NYT Crossword answers (spoilers)

The New York Times (NYT) Crossword for Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, was constructed by Mike Graczyk and edited by Will Shortz: 70 clues, 34 Across and 36 Down, in a 15-by-15 grid. Four clues carry a question mark, and the grid opens with a stack of three 11-letter entries. Every clue has a hint behind a tap, and the answers close the page.

Four question-mark clues and the trick in each

All four wordplay clues are plain-looking phrases with a second meaning. None of the notes names an answer.

30-Across, “Formal guidance?” (9 letters). The guidance is about clothing, not about manners or speeches. The answer is a set of rules about attire, written as two words run together.
35-Across, “What a deck may be stacked with?” (7 letters). Put the playing cards away. The deck is the floor of a ship, and the stack is people, in the plural.
8-Down, “Lays waste to?” (7 letters). The question mark softens “waste” from ruin to rubbish. The verb is what a careless picnicker does to a park.
13-Down, “Relief pitcher?” (7 letters). Baseball is the decoy. The answer is a brand name, and the relief it sells has nothing to do with the bullpen.

36-Across has no question mark but plays the same game: the clue describes a trick done to a Greek letter, and the answer is the letter you start from.

What kinds of clues fill the Nov. 13 Crossword

Sorting the 70 clues by how they are worded gives five groups, counted from the puzzle data:

Clue type	Count	Examples (clue numbers)
Plain definition	45	23-Across, 54-Down, 60-Down
Spoken phrase in quotation marks	11	1-Across, 17-Across, 24-Down, 46-Down
Fill-in-the-blank with ”___”	5	12-Across, 51-Across, 61-Down
Abbreviation in the clue	4	16-Across, 19-Across, 20-Across, 41-Across
Question mark	4	30-Across, 35-Across, 8-Down, 13-Down
Sound in square brackets	1	55-Across

Ten of the 11 spoken-phrase clues have answers made of several words run together; 58-Across, a single word, is the exception. Reading those clues as something a person would say out loud is the shortcut.

How the Nov. 13 grid is built

The grid is 15 columns by 15 rows, 225 squares in all: 33 black and 192 holding a letter, a black share of 14.7 percent. The black pattern is unchanged when the grid is rotated half a turn. The longest entries are 11 letters, and there are six of them, all running Across. The longest Down entries are 8 letters, and four share that length.

Length	Across	Down	Total
3	10	4	14
4	8	10	18
5	4	4	8
6	2	10	12
7	2	4	6
8	0	4	4
9	2	0	2
11	6	0	6

Rows 1 to 3 each have a single black square, in column 12, so 1-Across, 15-Across and 17-Across run 11 squares side by side. Rows 13 to 15 mirror them with a single black square in column 4, which sets 59-Across, 63-Across and 65-Across in columns 5 to 15. Rows 7, 8 and 9 hold five black squares apiece and are the most closed part of the grid. The hub explains the daily format on our NYT Crossword page; on this Friday, start from whichever 11-letter stack you can read as a spoken line.

Hints for every clue

Across

1-Across (11 letters), “Finally! Me time!”
what you say when the house finally empties out; three words run together; begins with A.
Show the answer
Aloneatlast
12-Across (3 letters), ”___ gratia artis”
the Latin word for “art” in a famous studio motto; begins with A and ends with S.
Show the answer
Ars
15-Across (11 letters), Total area
“Total” is a breakfast brand, and the area is the store section where boxes of it stand; two words run together; begins with C.
Show the answer
Cerealaisle
16-Across (3 letters), Native American Heritage Mo.
the month in which this puzzle appears; begins with N and ends with V.
Show the answer
Nov
17-Across (11 letters), “Nothing better!”
a boast that nothing could beat what was just said; a contraction plus two more words, all run together; begins with C.
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Canttopthat
18-Across (3 letters), Word with ginger or cream
a pub pour, and the other half of “ginger ___” soda; begins with A and ends with E.
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Ale
19-Across (3 letters), Org. that measures A.Q.I.
initials of the federal body that reports on air quality; begins with E and ends with A.
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Epa
20-Across (4 letters), Fall opener: Abbr.
a short form of the month that opens autumn; begins with S and ends with T.
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Sept
21-Across (6 letters), “Little help here”
a polite request for someone to lend a hand; three words run together; begins with B.
Show the answer
Beapal
23-Across (4 letters), Customs
a tax on imported goods, or a soldier’s obligation; begins with D, ends with Y.
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Duty
25-Across (4 letters), Look
appear to be; double E in the middle.
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Seem
27-Across (4 letters), Scintilla
a tiny amount, as in “not a ___”; begins with W.
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Whit
28-Across (5 letters), Dueling equipment
fencing blades with a blunt tip, in the plural; three E’s; begins with E and ends with S.
Show the answer
Epees
30-Across (9 letters), Formal guidance?
the guidance here is about what to wear, and the question mark flags that reading; two words run together; begins with D.
Show the answer
Dresscode
33-Across (3 letters), ___ Z
half of a phrase meaning “everything”; a letter followed by a two-letter word, run together; begins with A and ends with O.
Show the answer
Ato
35-Across (7 letters), What a deck may be stacked with?
read “deck” as part of a ship, not a card game; the crowd on it works the vessel; begins with S.
Show the answer
Sailors
36-Across (5 letters), Greek letter that becomes another Greek letter when its first two letters are dropped
drop its first two letters and another Greek letter is left; begins with T and ends with A.
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Theta
38-Across (5 letters), It’s seriously entertaining
a serious stage genre; two A’s; begins with D and ends with A.
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Drama
39-Across (7 letters), Raise a false red flag
to raise an alarm over nothing, as a shepherd boy did in a fable; two words run together; begins with C and ends with F.
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Crywolf
41-Across (3 letters), Memphis-to-Nashville dir.
a compass heading in three letters, between east and northeast; begins with E and ends with E.
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Ene
42-Across (9 letters), Salsa partner
what the chips go into next to the salsa; two words run together; begins with C.
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Cheesedip
44-Across (5 letters), Reach for the stars, say
aim high; two words run together; begins with G and ends with G.
Show the answer
Gobig
48-Across (4 letters), Parks of Montgomery
the first name of the civil rights figure from Montgomery, Alabama; begins with R and ends with A.
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Rosa
49-Across (4 letters), Inspiration
a spark of creativity; begins with I.
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Idea
51-Across (4 letters), ___ colada (mocktail)
Spanish for “nothing”, which is what this cocktail lacks in alcohol; begins with N and ends with A.
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Nada
52-Across (6 letters), Like many a vault
curved overhead, like a ceiling in a cellar or cathedral; begins with A.
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Arched
55-Across (4 letters), [That’s my kibble!]
the clue is a sound, not words: a dog’s growl over its dish; no vowels.
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Grrr
57-Across (3 letters), Bloomer
a flower before it opens; begins with B.
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Bud
58-Across (3 letters), “I’ll pass”
a casual way of saying no thanks; begins with N.
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Nah
59-Across (11 letters), “Pick up the pace!”
an order to hurry up; three words run together; begins with M.
Show the answer
Moveitalong
62-Across (3 letters), Country music’s ___ Young Band
a short boy’s name, and the first word of a country band’s name; vowels E and I.
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Eli
63-Across (11 letters), “So, there’s this special person …”
how a person starts telling a story about a new romance; three words run together; begins with I.
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Imetsomeone
64-Across (3 letters), Two shakes of a lamb’s tail
a moment, in a short form; begins with S and ends with C.
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Sec
65-Across (11 letters), “Heaven forbid!”
a hopeful wish that something does not happen; three words run together; begins with L.
Show the answer
Letshopenot

Down

1-Down (6 letters), Acquiesce
to give in and agree; double C; begins with A.
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Accede
2-Down (6 letters), Perform an entrechat, e.g.
a ballet jump, written as a verb plus a particle, run together; begins with L.
Show the answer
Leapup
3-Down (6 letters), Not at all plain
richly decorated, the opposite of plain; begins with O.
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Ornate
4-Down (3 letters), Not gross
what is left after deductions; begins with N and ends with T.
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Net
5-Down (4 letters), Vittles
food, informally; begins with E.
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Eats
6-Down (5 letters), Spiny succulents
spiky plants with soothing gel inside, in the plural; begins with A and ends with S.
Show the answer
Aloes
7-Down (6 letters), Chosen, in a way
picked out for an honor or a role; double P; ends with ED.
Show the answer
Tapped
8-Down (7 letters), Lays waste to?
“lays waste” is read as strewing rubbish, not wrecking a place; begins with L.
Show the answer
Litters
9-Down (3 letters), Louisville Slugger material
the wood in a baseball bat; begins with A and ends with H.
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Ash
10-Down (4 letters), Major hunk
a thick, flat chunk, as of concrete; begins with S.
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Slab
11-Down (4 letters), French bean
the French word for “head”; begins with T and ends with E.
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Tete
12-Down (8 letters), Rhetorical device like “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
repeating the same words at the start of clause after clause; begins with A.
Show the answer
Anaphora
13-Down (7 letters), Relief pitcher?
the “pitcher” here sells relief from heartburn, not from the bullpen; a brand name; begins with R.
Show the answer
Rolaids
14-Down (6 letters), Lissome
slender and graceful; begins with S and ends with E.
Show the answer
Svelte
22-Down (8 letters), “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”
a groan of disbelief; three words run together; begins with A.
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Awcomeon
24-Down (8 letters), “OK, fine, I get it …”
an impatient “okay”, said twice; begins with Y.
Show the answer
Yeahyeah
26-Down (4 letters), Ye olde quaff
a drink made from fermented honey; begins with M.
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Mead
29-Down (5 letters), Bouillabaisse and hasenpfeffer
the clue lists two dishes that are the same kind of slow-cooked meal; plural; begins with S and ends with S.
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Stews
31-Down (4 letters), Progenitor
a father, or a way to address a king; begins with S.
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Sire
32-Down (5 letters), Argot
informal words that groups invent; begins with S.
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Slang
34-Down (4 letters), Plains tribe
a Native American nation of the Plains; vowels O, O and E; begins with O.
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Otoe
36-Down (8 letters), “What style!”
a French-sounding cry of praise for fashion; two words run together; begins with T.
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Treschic
37-Down (4 letters), Big name in discount supermarkets
a grocery chain known for low prices; begins with A.
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Aldi
39-Down (7 letters), Lutheran hymn
a hymn for choir, in the Lutheran tradition; begins with C.
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Chorale
40-Down (7 letters), Doesn’t sit still
squirms and cannot stay still; begins with F.
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Fidgets
42-Down (6 letters), Common origami figures
folded paper birds, and the long-legged kind; begins with C.
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Cranes
43-Down (6 letters), Fourth-to-last word of the Gettysburg Address
the word right before “from the earth” in the speech’s last line; begins with P.
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Perish
45-Down (6 letters), Relative of a mandrill
a big monkey with a bare, colorful face; double O; begins with B.
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Baboon
46-Down (6 letters), “No clue!”
a slangy shrug of ignorance, three words squeezed into one; double N; begins with I.
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Idunno
47-Down (6 letters), Doohickey
a name for a gizmo when you cannot recall its real one; begins with G and ends with T.
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Gadget
50-Down (5 letters), Sci-fi companion who speaks “binary,” familiarly
a sci-fi droid’s nickname, spelled out the way it sounds; ends in a double O; begins with A.
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Artoo
53-Down (4 letters), Actor Jannings or artist Nolde
a first name shared by a German film actor and a German painter; begins with E and ends with L.
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Emil
54-Down (4 letters), Hagia Sophia feature
a rounded roof; begins with D.
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Dome
56-Down (4 letters), Way off, sometimes
a sloped road that leads away from a highway; begins with R.
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Ramp
60-Down (3 letters), One working with canines, maybe
an animal doctor, in short; begins with V.
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Vet
61-Down (3 letters), “Pachinko” author Min Jin ___
the surname of the author of “Pachinko”; double E; begins with L.
Show the answer
Lee

Mark the solving days on our printable calendar for November 2026 or the weekly calendar to print.

More puzzles for Friday: Wordle hints, Connections hints and Strands hints. Yesterday’s grid is in our Crossword answers for Nov. 12.

Today’s NYT Crossword answers (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

Clue	Answer
1-Across	Aloneatlast
12-Across	Ars
15-Across	Cerealaisle
16-Across	Nov
17-Across	Canttopthat
18-Across	Ale
19-Across	Epa
20-Across	Sept
21-Across	Beapal
23-Across	Duty
25-Across	Seem
27-Across	Whit
28-Across	Epees
30-Across	Dresscode
33-Across	Ato
35-Across	Sailors
36-Across	Theta
38-Across	Drama
39-Across	Crywolf
41-Across	Ene
42-Across	Cheesedip
44-Across	Gobig
48-Across	Rosa
49-Across	Idea
51-Across	Nada
52-Across	Arched
55-Across	Grrr
57-Across	Bud
58-Across	Nah
59-Across	Moveitalong
62-Across	Eli
63-Across	Imetsomeone
64-Across	Sec
65-Across	Letshopenot
1-Down	Accede
2-Down	Leapup
3-Down	Ornate
4-Down	Net
5-Down	Eats
6-Down	Aloes
7-Down	Tapped
8-Down	Litters
9-Down	Ash
10-Down	Slab
11-Down	Tete
12-Down	Anaphora
13-Down	Rolaids
14-Down	Svelte
22-Down	Awcomeon
24-Down	Yeahyeah
26-Down	Mead
29-Down	Stews
31-Down	Sire
32-Down	Slang
34-Down	Otoe
36-Down	Treschic
37-Down	Aldi
39-Down	Chorale
40-Down	Fidgets
42-Down	Cranes
43-Down	Perish
45-Down	Baboon
46-Down	Idunno
47-Down	Gadget
50-Down	Artoo
53-Down	Emil
54-Down	Dome
56-Down	Ramp
60-Down	Vet
61-Down	Lee

The filled grid, with each clue number in its first square. Drawn from the official puzzle data published by The New York Times.

How the four question-mark clues resolve:

30-Across, Dresscode: a rulebook on what to wear.
35-Across, Sailors: the crew standing on a ship’s deck.
8-Down, Litters: strews rubbish around.
13-Down, Rolaids: an antacid brand that sells relief from heartburn.

The answers come from the puzzle’s official data.

Yesterday's Crossword answer

The Crossword on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026: Across 1 Smh, 4 Cee, 7 Mia, 10 Cho, 13 Leotard, 15 Adcreep, 17 Revamps, 18 Notabit, 19 Stereo, 20 Sobers, 21 Naacp, 23 Screw, 24 Fgs, 26 Skidoos, 28 Ick, 31 Rots, 33 Equip, 34 Etre, 35 Aahs, 36 Tulle, 37 Thar, 38 Cling, 40 Eye, 41 Haydn, 42 Air, 43 Ojs, 45 Die, 47 Ole, 48 Sedate, 50 Samuel, 52 Math, 54 Alda, 55 Rooftopgarden, 60 Vegetablemedley, 62 Illbe, 63 Bin, 64 Semis, 65 Noear, 66 Yet, 67 Troll; Down 1 Slrs, 2 Meet, 3 Hovensthird, 4 Cameas, 5 Erpocket, 6 Eds, 7 Man, 8 Idoscope, 9 Actors, 10 Cebewithyou, 11 Heir, 12 Opts, 14 Tara, 16 Rabe, 22 Piques, 23 Soiled, 24 Fracas, 25 Goalie, 27 Duly, 29 Cradle, 30 Kernel, 32 Ssn, 34 Eta, 39 Gotafter, 41 Headrest, 44 Jetta, 46 Islam, 49 Amoeba, 51 Madder, 53 Hobby, 54 Agent, 55 Relo, 56 Ogle, 57 Plie, 58 Elmo, 59 Neil, 60 Vin, 61 Ysl. Yesterday's hints and full solution.

Frequently asked questions

Who made today's NYT Crossword?

Mike Graczyk constructed the Nov. 13, 2026 grid and Will Shortz edited it, according to the puzzle data.

Why do the top and bottom of the Nov. 13, 2026 Crossword look so open?

Six entries of 11 letters sit in stacks of three, one at the top left and one at the bottom right. The grid has 33 black squares out of 225, and its black pattern is the same when the page is turned upside down. Only the middle rows, 7 to 9, carry 5 black squares each.

How many Nov. 13, 2026 Crossword clues are fill-in-the-blank?

Five: 12-Across, 33-Across, 51-Across, 62-Across and 61-Down. Four more are abbreviations by their own wording: 16-Across, 19-Across, 20-Across and 41-Across.

What are the NYT Crossword answers for Nov. 13, 2026?

Spoilers: Across, Aloneatlast, Ars, Cerealaisle, Nov, Canttopthat, Ale, Epa, Sept, Beapal, Duty, Seem, Whit, Epees, Dresscode, Ato, Sailors, Theta, Drama, Crywolf, Ene, Cheesedip, Gobig, Rosa, Idea, Nada, Arched, Grrr, Bud, Nah, Moveitalong, Eli, Imetsomeone, Sec, Letshopenot, Down, Accede, Leapup, Ornate, Net, Eats, Aloes, Tapped, Litters, Ash, Slab, Tete, Anaphora, Rolaids, Svelte, Awcomeon, Yeahyeah, Mead, Stews, Sire, Slang, Otoe, Treschic, Aldi, Chorale, Fidgets, Cranes, Perish, Baboon, Idunno, Gadget, Artoo, Emil, Dome, Ramp, Vet, Lee.

Sources

The Crossword (The New York Times)

Fresh Calendars News Desk

Editorial team, daily puzzles

The Fresh Calendars News Desk is the editorial team behind Fresh Calendars News. It publishes the daily puzzle pages for games such as Wordle, NYT Connections, Strands, Pips, Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword and Contexto, each with graded hints first and a clearly marked answer section after them. Answers come from the publisher's own game data where it exists and are checked against that saved data before a page goes live; for games without official data, a page waits until two independent published solutions agree. The desk also handles reader tips and correction reports for the whole site, works with the editors who cover holidays, school calendars, money, time changes and seasonal events, and notes each correction at the end of the article with the date it was made.