The NYT Midi Crossword March 21, 2026 puzzle by Sid Sivakumar is solved below. The answers were grouped based on their orientation on the grid.
Across
- 1 & AND
- 4 Firework that doesn’t go off DUD
- 7 Lion’s warning ROAR
- 9 “Yep, noticed that” ISAW
- 11 Three-member band TRIO
- 12 One of the Obamas SASHA
- 14 Fish that’s also a color SALMON
- 16 Promotional fuss before a product launch HYPE
- 18 School with the Scroll and Key secret society YALE
- 19 Make a choice OPT
- 20 Ginormous BIG
- 22 Tie-___ shirt DYE
- 24 Federal intelligence group, for short NSA
- 25 “omg u r 2 funny!” LOL
- 26 Had on WORE
- 28 Low pair in poker TWOS
- 30 N.B.A. great with the nicknames “The Big Aristotle,” “The Big Cactus” and “The Big Shamrock,” among others ONEAL
- 32 Really hate ABHOR
- 34 “Rats!” CRAP
- 36 ___ Grey tea EARL
- 37 Palindromic Indian flour ATTA
- 38 Pre-___ (science-heavy undergrad track) MED
- 39 “That was a close one!” PHEW
Down
- 1 Dance, sculpture, etc. ARTS
- 2 Director/screenwriter Ephron NORA
- 3 Fictional newspaper that once employed Eddie Brock, in the “Spider-Man” universe DAILYGLOBE
- 4 Major Orlando attraction, familiarly DISNEYWORLD
- 5 Country with the most Olympic medals (3,100+) USA
- 6 – DASH
- 8 Oblong tomato type ROMA
- 10 Incredulous question … or, when read phonetically, a description of each circled letter in this puzzle? WHYONEARTH
- 13 They’re launched from a home screen APPS
- 15 Up there in years OLD
- 17 Datum in a “landing soon” text ETA
- 20 Sandwich known by its initials BLT
- 21 State between Minnesota and Missouri IOWA
- 23 Long stretch of time EON
- 27 Highlights section after a football game, maybe RECAP
- 29 Fake SHAM
- 31 “Better ___ than never!” LATE
- 33 Mine removal ORE
- 35 What a dog “shakes” with PAW
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.