Need help with the grid. Good. We got it.
Before you dive into the answers, know this: these hints exist to save your brain power for the big puzzles. Wordle. Strands. Connections. All of them. CNET handles the hints for the rest of the NYT puzzle ecosystem if you get stuck there. This is just about the Mini. The small one. The daily caffeine hit.
Ready? Here are the answers.
Across
1A. What someone might try to explain at great length? DREAM. Yeah, the abstract kind.
6A. Back in fashion. RETRO. Everything old is new again.
7A. Leftover stuff in a fire pit. ASHES. You just have to sweep it up.
8A. Sheds tears. WEEPS. Crying loudly or softly doesn’t matter, it’s weeping.
9A. Animal looking for a home. STRAY. Found one.
Down
1D. Pull a card. DRAWS. From a deck, presumably.
2D. The Great Meme ___. It was a thing. A movement to clean up the “brain rot” clogging social feeds. The answer? RESET. We needed a fresh start, didn’t we?
3D. Thin air, sort of. ETHER. Poetic, really.
4D. A classic dish from a Colombian cart. AREPA. Corn cake. Delicious.
