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Here are the answers to the NYT Mini Crossword for Monday, December 16, 2024. This is an archive puzzle, not the current day’s crossword.
Monday, December 16, 2024: Across answers
- 1A, “Petting zoo animal”: GOAT
- 5A, “Important feature of the sentence ‘I like cooking, family and friends’”: COMMA
- 6A, “Labor alliance”: UNION
- 7A, “‘All ___ are off!’”: BETS
- 8A, “Triage centers, for short”: ERS
Down answers
- 1D, “One who’s doomed to fail”: GONER
- 2D, “Leaves out”: OMITS
- 3D, “‘Famous’ cookie maker”: AMOS
- 4D, “Original color of peanut M&Ms, introduced in 1954”: TAN
- 5D, “Rubik’s ___”: CUBE
Clues that hinge on wording
The 5-Across clue points to the comma in “I like cooking, family and friends.” The 4-Down clue asks for the original color named in its wording: TAN.
About the NYT Mini and archived puzzles
The Mini is a smaller-format crossword than the newspaper’s full puzzle. A 2024 Forbes guide described most daily grids as 5 by 5, with three to five clues in each direction, while noting that some puzzles—particularly Saturdays—can be larger. It said the Mini could be played on the NYT website or in the NYT Games app and that previous puzzles in the archive required an NYT Games subscription at that time. Those access details reflect the 2024 article and are not confirmation of current subscription terms.
See Kris Holt’s dated Forbes guide for the complete clue list and puzzle context.
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