The NYT Mini Crossword for Saturday, August 1, 2026, is solved below. All eight Across and eight Down answers are listed with their clues. The grid’s most talked-about entry today is 6-Down: “Anthropic’s A.I. assistant” – the answer is CLAUDE.
NYT Mini Crossword Across Answers – August 1, 2026
1-Across: “Coffee choice before bed” – DECAF.
The choice for those who want the ritual without the insomnia. Decaf removes roughly 97 percent of caffeine during processing.
6-Across: “Recurring bug?” – CICADA.
The question mark signals wordplay: a cicada is literally a bug, and it recurs on fixed schedules – either annually or on the famous 13- and 17-year prime-number cycles of the periodical species. A neat double meaning.
7-Across: “California’s most valuable crop, just barely edging out grapes” – ALMONDS.
California produces about 80 percent of the world’s almond supply, primarily in the Central Valley. The crop surpassed wine grapes in cash receipts several years running, though the margin narrows in drought years.
8-Across: “Fist pound” – DAP.
A dap is a fist bump or pound, originating in African American culture and entering widespread use across sports, workplaces, and everyday greetings.
9-Across: “Back of a soccer goal” – NET.
The netting at the back of a goal serves both to confirm a score and to stop the ball. No net, no goal celebration.
10-Across: “Carefully thought (over)” – MULLED.
As in “mulled it over” – to consider something slowly and thoroughly, the same root that gives mulled wine its name (simmered slowly with spices).
12-Across: “Brain sparks” – IDEAS.
Clean and efficient: ideas are what the brain produces when it fires.
13-Across: “Something that might end after ‘Pencils down!'” – TEST.
The classroom command that marks the end of an exam.
NYT Mini Crossword Down Answers – August 1, 2026
1-Down: “Indentations at the end of a smile” – DIMPLES.
The small hollows that appear on cheeks during a smile, caused by a variation in the zygomaticus major muscle. Considered a dominant genetic trait.
2-Down: “‘Green’ prefix” – ECO.
As in eco-friendly, eco-system, eco-tourism. The prefix signals environmental consciousness or natural origin.
3-Down: “Film festival with the Palme d’Or” – CANNES.
The Cannes Film Festival, held annually on the French Riviera, awards the Palme d’Or as its top prize. Past winners include Parasite, Pulp Fiction, and Apocalypse Now.
4-Down: “No ___ sugar (product claim)” – ADDED.
The “no added sugar” label means no sugars were introduced during processing, though the product may still contain natural sugars.
5-Down: “Speedy” – FAST. Straightforward.
6-Down: “Anthropic’s A.I. assistant” – CLAUDE.
Anthropic’s AI assistant, launched in 2023 and named after the information theorist Claude Shannon. The clue is a rarity in the Mini – a proper noun answer that names a current AI product directly.
7-Down: “Own up to” – ADMIT.
To admit something is to acknowledge it as true, from the Latin admittere – to allow in.
11-Down: “Back muscle, for short” – LAT.
Short for latissimus dorsi, the broad muscle running along the mid to lower back, critical for pulling movements like rowing and pull-ups.
For previous Mini Crossword solutions, see NYT Mini Crossword answers for July 31, 2026 and NYT Mini Crossword answers for July 29, 2026.
