The NYT Midi Crossword May 21, 2026 puzzle by Ian Livengood is solved below. The answers were grouped based on their orientation on the grid.
Across
- 1 Shape of a poker chip or tiddlywink DISK
- 5 Feminine family nickname SIS
- 8 Folk singer Guthrie ARLO
- 9 “I ___ What You Did Last Summer” (2025 film) KNOW
- 10 State whose official cuisine is gumbo LOUISIANA
- 12 Liverpool’s land: Abbr. ENG
- 13 Surprising plot development TWIST
- 14 Swing one’s limbs around erratically FLAIL
- 16 “Nice one!” SWEET
- 18 Mediocre, in Gen Z slang MID
- 21 Saxophone-playing daughter on “The Simpsons” LISA
- 22 Fast-swimming shark MAKO
- 23 Chooses (to) OPTS
- 24 “A Room With a ___” VIEW
- 25 Toward sunset WEST
- 26 Blueprint PLAN
Down
- 1 Racer ___ Earnhardt Jr. DALE
- 2 Mass-produced metal starting around 1200 B.C. IRON
- 3 Intense, high-scoring baseball games SLUGFESTS
- 4 Fish in a Japanese pond KOI
- 5 Postal delivery, colloquially SNAILMAIL
- 6 Charged particles IONS
- 7 Whack, as a fly SWAT
- 9 Fuzzy fruit KIWI
- 11 Nurse’s “On the double!” STAT
- 15 Most’s opposite LEAST
- 16 With 20-Down, “Don’t go so fast!” … or how you might describe the shaded squares? SLOW
- 17 Towel (off) WIPE
- 19 Big name in minimalist furniture IKEA
- 20 See 16-Down DOWN
- 22 Award for Giannis Antetokounmpo in ’19 and ’20 MVP
MINI Clues are grouped in the order they appeared in the puzzle and If the answers above do not solve a specific clue just open the clue link and it will show you all the possible solutions that we have for that clue.