NYT Mini Crossword Answers Today, November 14, 2026

Ian Livengood made the New York Times (NYT) Mini Crossword for Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026: an 8-by-8 grid with 20 clues and 12 black squares. Every clue below has a hint that opens on a tap, and the filled grid waits in the marked spoiler section at the end.

Hints for every clue

Across

• 1-Across (4 letters), Santa’s present holder

  a bag slung over a shoulder; it starts with S, the letter that opens 1-Down, and ends with the K that begins 4-Down.

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  Sack
• 5-Across (6 letters), Descendants of a wealthy family

  an old-fashioned word for heirs, in the plural; it starts with S, the same letter as 5-Down, and its second letter is C.

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  Scions
• 7-Across (7 letters), Chinese dog breed known for its wrinkles

  the wrinkled dog; it starts with S, and its first five letters repeat in the long row beneath it.

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  Sharpei
• 8-Across (8 letters), Trademarked markers

  a brand name, in the plural; it starts and ends with S and is the one answer that spans the full width of the grid.

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  Sharpies
• 9-Across (7 letters), Like the increase from 15 to 150

  a word for a multiplication by ten; it starts with T, ends with D and has F as its fourth letter.

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  Tenfold
• 10-Across (3 letters), Antlered animal in the American West

  a large member of the deer family; it starts with E and ends with K.

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  Elk
• 11-Across (4 letters), Accomplishes

  a verb in the third person singular; it starts with D and ends with S.

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  Does
• 13-Across (3 letters), All Hallows’ ___

  the blank is the night before; it starts and ends with E.

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  Eve
• 14-Across (4 letters), Proofreading mark meaning “Leave it in”

  a word an editor writes beside struck-out text to cancel the cut; it starts with S and ends with T.

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  Stet
• 15-Across (3 letters), Color of lanterns on Chinese New Year

  a primary color; it starts with R and ends with D.

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  Red
• 16-Across (3 letters), Any member of the “slow horses” on “Slow Horses”

  a secret agent; it starts with S and ends with Y.

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  Spy

Down

• 1-Down (5 letters), Neckwear for a snowman

  a knitted wrap; it starts with S, ends with F, and its second letter is the C in 5-Across.

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  Scarf
• 2-Down (7 letters), A couple buds you might run with?

  a pair of wireless earbuds sold under one brand name, written as one word; it starts with A, ends with S, and its last letter begins 14-Across.

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  Airpods
• 3-Down (8 letters), #2s in the sky

  the number sign stands for second place, so these are the crew members seated next to the captain; it starts with C, ends with S and has two O’s.

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  Copilots
• 4-Down (8 letters), Mired (in)

  an idiom of two hyphenated words entered as one; it starts with K, ends with P and holds a double E twice.

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  Kneedeep
• 5-Down (7 letters), Completely mishit, as a golf ball

  a verb in the past tense, for a drive that veers badly off line; it starts with S, ends with D and shares its first letter with 5-Across.

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  Shanked
• 6-Down (3 letters), Bro’s sibling

  a short, affectionate word for a sister; it starts and ends with S, and the first S is the last letter of 5-Across.

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  Sis
• 7-Down (6 letters), Table for later

  a verb meaning to put aside until another day; it starts with S, ends with E and begins with the first letter of 7-Across.

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  Shelve
• 8-Down (5 letters), Operate a car wheel

  a verb for guiding a vehicle’s direction; it starts with S, ends with R and begins with the first letter of 8-Across.

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  Steer
• 12-Down (3 letters), Messy home for pigs

  a pen that is anything but tidy; it starts with S and ends with Y, the last letter of 16-Across.

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  Sty

Saturday’s grid, clue by clue against Friday’s

The clue with the least literal wording is 2-Down. Its question mark signals that “buds” is not meant the plain way, and “run with” tells you when the pair gets used, not who you would run beside. Read it as a small riddle about two things, one for each ear, that come along on a jog. A smaller twist sits in 3-Down, where a number sign takes the place of a rank, and in 7-Down, where “table” is a verb rather than a piece of furniture.

Sorted by what each clue asks for, the 20 clues fall into these groups:

Clue type	Count	Clues
Plain definition	10	1-Across, 5-Across, 9-Across, 10-Across, 11-Across, 1-Down, 5-Down, 6-Down, 8-Down, 12-Down
Brand, breed or term	4	7-Across, 8-Across, 14-Across, 15-Across
Wordplay on the printed words	3	16-Across, 3-Down, 7-Down
Fill-in-the-blank or dangling word	2	13-Across, 4-Down
Question mark	1	2-Down
Abbreviation answer	0	none

Friday’s Mini counted three abbreviation answers, one spoken pun and no question mark. Saturday flips that: no initials at all, and the one question-mark clue is the day’s riddle. The blank in 13-Across is the only classic fill-in; 4-Down gives just a bare word in parentheses and leaves the rest of the phrase to you.

The constructor changed too, from Joel Fagliano to Ian Livengood, and the board grew. Counted from the saved data:

Count	Fri., Nov. 13	Sat., Nov. 14
Grid size	5 by 5	8 by 8
Black squares	2	12
White squares	23	52
Clues	10 (5 Across, 5 Down)	20 (11 Across, 9 Down)
Three-letter entries	1	6
Four-letter entries	2	3
Five-letter entries	7	2
Six-, seven- and eight-letter entries	0	9
Full-width Across entries	4	1
Full-height Down entries	3	2

Three letters is the most common length today, six of the 20, yet nine entries run six to eight letters. The single full-width row crosses eight of the nine Down entries; only 12-Down, which starts in the sixth row, stays clear of it. Both full-height Down entries are eight letters, so they are the two longest answers in the grid along with that one Across row.

Today’s grid is 8-by-8, and how the Mini plays is on our Mini Crossword page.

Keep the solve on the November 2026 printable calendar or the printable weekly calendar.

More for Saturday, Nov. 14: Wordle hints, Connections hints, Strands hints, Spelling Bee hints and Pips hints. Friday’s grid is in the Mini answers for Nov. 13.

Today’s NYT Mini answers (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself. The hyphenated idiom in 4-Down goes into the grid as a single word.

Clue	Answer
1-Across	Sack
5-Across	Scions
7-Across	Sharpei
8-Across	Sharpies
9-Across	Tenfold
10-Across	Elk
11-Across	Does
13-Across	Eve
14-Across	Stet
15-Across	Red
16-Across	Spy
1-Down	Scarf
2-Down	Airpods
3-Down	Copilots
4-Down	Kneedeep
5-Down	Shanked
6-Down	Sis
7-Down	Shelve
8-Down	Steer
12-Down	Sty

The answers come from the puzzle’s official data.

Yesterday's Mini Crossword answer

The Mini on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026: Across 1 Wales, 6 Angle, 7 Inbox, 8 Latte, 9 Qed; Down 1 Wail, 2 Anna, 3 Lgbtq, 4 Elote, 5 Sexed. Yesterday's hints and full solution.