Spoilers: Here are the clues and answers for the Saturday, December 13, 2025 NYT Mini Crossword. The original title does not specify a year; this answer key is for the 2025 puzzle.
December 13, 2025 NYT Mini answers
The answer report describes this as an unusually large Mini with a tennis throughline. In the linked entries, 11-Across and 12-Across combine to form “gets in order,” while 12-Across and 14-Across complete the phrase about what a tennis champion might win a match in.
Across
| Number | Clue | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Field trip vehicle | BUS |
| 4 | Peter’s antagonist, in a musical tale | WOLF |
| 8 | “Keep me posted,” in texts | LMK |
| 9 | Opera solo | ARIA |
| 10 | ___Pen (emergency device) | EPI |
| 11 | With 12-Across, gets in order | SETS |
| 12 | With 14-Across, what a tennis champ might win a match in | STRAIGHT |
| 14 | See 12-Across | SETS |
| 15 | “A long time ___ in a galaxy far, far away …” | AGO |
| 16 | Shy and gentle | MEEK |
| 17 | Prefix with apology or answer | NON |
| 18 | Comes to a close | ENDS |
| 19 | Have to pay | OWE |
Down
| Number | Clue | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Goodness gracious!” | BLESS ME |
| 2 | Indefinitely many, informally | UMPTEEN |
| 3 | Avoided, as an issue | SKIRTED |
| 4 | “Now, where ___?” | WAS I |
| 5 | Green topping at a pizza parlor | OREGANO |
| 6 | John who played Churchill on The Crown | LITHGOW |
| 7 | Sneaky trick to “pull” | FAST ONE |
| 13 | Doesn’t just assume one has permission | ASKS |
The source answer report renders 8-Across as “LMK0”; the answer is shown here as LMK, the texting abbreviation that fits the clue. See the Forbes answer report for the dated puzzle and its answer list.
How to play or find this Mini
The New York Times describes the Mini as a grid where players fill white squares with letters to make crossing words or phrases from Across and Down clues. Its Mini Crossword help page explains access and play options. The daily puzzle appears the evening before its publish date: weekday and Saturday Minis at 10 p.m. Eastern, and Sunday’s at 6 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
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