The drops spell it out. Look at the circled letters, you see.
It spells “DROPS.” A shape clue. Standard procedure.
Stuck on today’s puzzle? You’re not alone. The letters in the teardrop shapes give away the theme. Just look closer. Need help with Wordle or Connections instead? We cover those too, over at CNET’s daily hints page.
The Clues and Answers
Across
1A : Unit of scissors, underwear, or AirPods
PAIR
Nothing tricky here. Basic plural unit.
5A : Rabbit relative
HARE
Bunny cousins. Distinct from the cottontail.
6A : The circled letters in this puzzle. e.g.
DROPS
This is the meta-layer. The shape dictates the word.
8A : Justice Sotomayor
SONIA
First name. Supreme Court.
9A : Letters in a Big Apple address
NYNY
State code doubled. N-Y, N-Y. Classic abbreviation trick.
Down
1D : High degrees, for short
PHDS
Doctorate plural. Academic shorthand.
2D : Quarterback Rodgers
AARON
Green Bay legend.
3D : A hardware store with a broken doORKNOB is an example of it
IRONY
Sell fixers but break the latch. Classic situational irony.
4D : Affix again. as the tail on the donkey
REPIN
Donkeys pin their tails. So do you, if it falls off. Or if you just attached it.
7D : “Hey, I just thought of …”
SAY
The preamble. “Say…” meaning “listen.”
Solving Strategy
What separates the quick solvers from the rest? It isn’t raw knowledge. It’s flow.
- Guess early. Mark it mentally, not permanently. Cross-referencing does the heavy lifting later.
- Jump the gaps. Stuck on Across 3? Look Down 4. Sometimes the down column solves itself, dragging the across words out of hiding.
- Watch for traps. The clue reads literally. It usually lies. If “donkey’s tail” sounds physical, the answer is linguistic. Secondary meanings are the game.
Do you actually think about the secondary meanings first? Or do you brute-force the grid?
There is no wrong way. Just get it filled in. 🧩
