The NYT Mini Crossword answers for Tuesday, July 21, 2026 are here, solved and explained. Today’s grid leans medium: KNICK rewards New York sports fans, while SIKHS and HO CHI test knowledge outside the usual crossword vocabulary.
NYT Mini Crossword Across Answers – July 21, 2026
1-Across (5 letters): SIKHS – “Roughly 20 million people in India, religiously.” Followers of Sikhism, one of the world’s largest religions, founded in the Punjab region in the 15th century.
6-Across (5 letters): I KNOW – “No need to remind me.” A casual phrase implying the speaker is already aware.
7-Across (5 letters): GEICO – “Insurance company whose mascot helped to solve a crossword in a 2025 ad.” The Government Employees Insurance Company, known since the 1990s for its gecko mascot.
8-Across (5 letters): MACHO – “Ultra-masculine.” Borrowed from Mexican Spanish “macho” (male), the word entered English slang by the early 1970s.
9-Across (5 letters): ASK IN – “Invite to enter.” To ask someone to come inside.
NYT Mini Crossword Down Answers – July 21, 2026
1-Down (5 letters): SIGMA – “Greek ‘S’.” The 18th letter of the Greek alphabet; in statistics, the symbol for standard deviation.
2-Down (5 letters): IKEAS – “Swedish furniture stores.” Plural of IKEA, the flatpack furniture giant founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943.
3-Down (5 letters): KNICK – “2026 N.B.A. champion.” Short for the New York Knickerbockers.
4-Down (5 letters): HO CHI – “Vietnamese revolutionary ___ Minh.” Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Minh independence movement and served as president of North Vietnam.
5-Down (5 letters): SWOON – “Faint after eye contact with one’s crush, say.” To lose consciousness briefly from intense emotion.
Yesterday’s Mini Crossword (July 20) featured PING, SONAR, OBAMA, MONEY, and EXES across.
For more of today’s NYT puzzle answers, see our guides for Wordle #1858 and NYT Connections #1136.
