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Spoilers ahead: These are the clues and answers for the Saturday, July 12, 2025 NYT Mini Crossword—not the full-size Saturday crossword. Start with the extra hints below if you want a nudge before seeing the solutions.
Extra hints for the July 12 Mini
Try these clue-by-clue nudges first. The complete answer list follows in the next section.
Across
- 1A, “Havana’s home”: Think of the country that includes Havana.
- 5A, “Last word in many bowling alley names”: Think of the marked paths where bowlers roll.
- 6A, “Lots and lots”: Complete “I can only get ___ ____ done in a day.”
- 7A, “Left-leaning social media site”: Think of the color of a cloudless sky.
- 8A, “Hepburn of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’”: The first name of the film’s leading actor.
- 9A, “Word after ‘break’ or ‘banana’”: Think of a food that typically comes in a loaf.
- 10A, “Car loan figs.”: These yearly loan details are expressed as a percentage.
Down
- 1D, “They always shoot their shot”: Image capturers.
- 2D, “Brand-new”: Still in its packaging.
- 3D, “Woman with ‘the good hair,’ in a famous Beyoncé lyric”: A name associated with the lyric.
- 4D, “In need of moisturizer”: A word for skin that can look pale and greyish.
- 5D, “‘We can’t hear you back here!’”: What a crowd might call for when the sound is too quiet.
- 6D, “Drink noisily”: The sound someone might make while eating soup loudly.
- 7D, “___ ghanouj”: The first word of the name of the dip.
Full answers
Stop here if you do not want the solutions revealed. Forbes’ July 12, 2025 guide gives the following answers; The Word Finder’s dated page corroborates the clue set and answer patterns (Forbes; The Word Finder).
Across answers
- 1A: CUBA
- 5A: LANES
- 6A: SO MUCH
- 7A: BLUESKY
- 8A: AUDREY
- 9A: BREAD
- 10A: APRS
Down answers
- 1D: CAMERAS
- 2D: UNUSED
- 3D: BECKY
- 4D: ASHY
- 5D: LOUDER
- 6D: SLURP
- 7D: BABA
What to know about this puzzle
The date matters: this answer guide is for the July 12, 2025 Mini, not the full-size NYT crossword published that Saturday. The Word Finder describes the Mini format as 5×5 Sunday through Friday and 7×7 on Saturdays; that is a general format description, not an independently confirmed grid measurement for this edition.
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Forbes contributor Kris Holt reported completing this Mini in 2:05 and said the first Across pass yielded CUBA, BLUESKY and AUDREY. That is Holt’s personal solve time and experience, not a benchmark for how long the puzzle should take. Holt also thought the 7A clue might generalize too broadly about the platform; that is an opinion about the wording, not part of the answer key.
Forbes reported in July 2025 that the Mini was free to play on the NYT website or NYT Games app, while access to its archive of earlier puzzles required an NYT Games subscription. Those are historical access terms, not a statement of current availability or pricing.
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