NYT Crossword Answers for May 6, 2025

Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky Clues

TUESDAY PUZZLE — Some puns roll right off the tongue, light as air and witty as anything. Others feel so heavy-handed and strained that you almost resent yourself for understanding them. Today’s carnival-themed crossword, constructed by Enrique Henestroza Anguiano, walks the tightrope between these two extremes. The wordplay that solves the puzzle is certainly silly — I might even call it pure fluff — but the grid is well worth the groan.

Today’s Theme

The circled letters represent a certain [Carnival confection … or, when re-parsed, a hint to what appears three times in this puzzle]. We’ve got to solve a few regular clues in order to fill those letters in (emphasized in bold here). 18A’s [Orange-colored fruit pastry] is an APRICOT TART, and a [Mistake in logical reasoning] at 21A is called a FALLACY. Solve another pair of stacked clues, like 49A and 52A, and you’ll see that the pattern repeats itself. A [Dairy product with curds] is COTTAGE CHEESE and [Looks that might send a chill down one’s spine] are ICY STARES.

What could these strange little cones of COTT/CY mean? Get this: The carnival confection at 62A is COTTON CANDY. When re-parsed, it explains how the letters C-O-T-T can be found ON top of the letters C AND Y.

I prefer to call this treat “candy floss” because the second part of the term reads as a dentist’s caveat for the first.

Tricky Clues

58A. Since when is a [Disposable coaster at a bar] not called a coaster? Today I’m learning that it can also be called a BEER MAT. I’ve heard of a bar mat. Are we sure we’re not talking about that?