5-letter crossword answers: clues H to L

7,709 NYT Crossword and Mini clues in our archive have a 5-letter answer. This page lists clues H to L (page 6 of 13). The clue text is shown and the answer is not. Open a clue for its length, a first-letter hint and then the answer.

Length means the number of squares. In a few puzzles one square holds several letters (a rebus), so a clue can be listed under a shorter length than its answer's spelling. Clues are sorted A to Z, and a clue that has had answers of different lengths appears under each. Looking for the answers that come up most? See the most common NYT crossword answers.

• Humming
• Hungarian sheepdogs
• Hunter in the night sky
• Hunter with a belt made of stars
• Hurdles or high jump, e.g.
• Hurricane or mudslide
• Hurried
• Husk of wheat
• Hybrid cat
• Hybrid tennis attire
• Hypercompetitive and driven, say
• Hypnotized
• Hypothetical (one hopes!) global conflict, for short
• Hägar the Horrible's dog
• "I can handle that for you"
• "I can't believe that price" bargain
• "___ I compare thee to a summer's day?": Shak.
• "I didn't do it!"
• "I didn't expect that!"
• "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it." (1994)
• I I I
• "I love you," in Spanish
• "I wanna have that!"
• "I was angry with my foe: / I told it not, my ___ did grow": William Blake
• "I wish I could ___ that!"
• "I'll ___ it"
• "I'll ___ it" ("Fine, I guess")
• "I'll bring home the turkey if you bring home the ___" (Weezer lyric)
• "I'll have the ___" (frequent customer's order)
• "I'll pass"
• "I'll take another card"
• "I'm at your disposal"
• "I'm available to help"
• "I'm flattered!"
• "I'm outta here!"
• "I'm serious!," in slang
• "I'm sleepy" signals
• "I, Robot" author Asimov
• Ice cream parlor offerings
• Ice cream purchase
• Ice, in bartending lingo
• Icon on a flight map
• Identical siblings
• Idles, with "around"
• Idly doodling, maybe
• Idly pluck, as a banjo
• Idyllic places
• "If only!"
• Igneous rock that makes up most of Venus's surface
• Ignited again
• Illegal activity generating considerable interest?
• Illuminated from below
• Image Awards org.
• Immodest outburst
• Immune system agent
• Impatient
• Implied
• Important blood line
• Important creatures in Inuit culture
• Imported beverage brand
• Impoverished
• "Impression, Sunrise" painter
• Improvise, as a speech
• Improvised
• In a cheery manner
• In a fitting way
• In a most unusual way
• In a strange way
• In all respects
• In an appropriate way
• In arrears
• In base eight
• In bronze medal position
• In check
• In itself
• #, in music
• "In my estimation …"
• In need of a shave
• In need of patching, perhaps
• In need of tightening, maybe
• In opposition to everyone else
• In poor condition
• "In some bad news ..."
• In tandem
• In the air
• In the company of
• In the cooler
• In the countryside
• In the know
• In the majority?
• In the morning, a food; in the evening, a speech
• In the open
• In unison
• In-your-face
• Inauthentic
• Inception
• Inch (up)
• ___ incognita
• Increase, as interest
• Increased
• Incredible bargain
• Incredibly bad
• Indian megacity of 16+ million
• Indian or Pakistani
• Indian princes
• Indian yogurt dish
• Indiana governor Mike
• Indiana pro athlete
• Indicated
• Indication of having hit rock bottom
• Indicator of difficulty in Connections
• Indie rock singer ___ O
• Indigenous people at the center of 2023's "Killers of the Flower Moon"
• Indigenous people of the Great Lakes
• Indignant retort
• Individualist
• "Indubitably!"
• Inducing goose bumps
• Industrial cutter
• Indy racer Al or Bobby
• Infant discomfort
• Info collected by a spy
• Informal hoops game
• Information gathered by a spy
• ___ Ingebrigtsen, track gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics
• Inherently
• Initiate small talk, say
• Inner tube?
• Innermost moon of Neptune
• Innocent sorts
• Insects responsible for virtually all fig pollination
• Inside information, informally
• "Inside Out" emotion whose head bursts into flame
• "Inside Out" girl
• Insider, in spy lingo
• Instructions
• Instrument accompanying many a singalong
• Instrument in a baseball stadium
• Instrument in bluegrass music
• Instrument in the bluegrass classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"
• Instrument on which reveille is played
• Instrument once known as a "toy trumpet"
• Instrument that buzzes
• Instrument that's held at about a 45-degree angle from the player's body
• Instrument that's held horizontally while playing it
• Instrument with keys
• Instruments in chamber groups
• Insulting talk, informally
• Insurance company whose mascot helped to solve a crossword in a 2025 ad
• Insurance company whose mascot is a duck
• Insurance filing
• Intel-gathering mission
• Intellectual gathering
• Intellectual thoroughness
• "Intelligence is the ability to ___ to change": Stephen Hawking
• Interior design
• Interior style
• Interloper whom no one seems to know, informally
• Internal turmoil
• International agreements
• International intelligence community?
• International Longshoremen's Association, e.g.
• Internet giant with a purple logo
• Interprets
• Intimate
• Intimidate, with "out"
• Intimidated
• Intl. group formed in 1945
• Intrinsically
• Intro course?
• Inuit for "house"
• Inundates with junk mail
• Inventor Nikola
• Inverse of kilo-
• Invite to enter
• iPhone setting that reduces distractions
• Iranian money
• Iridescent jewelry material
• Iridescent shell material
• Iris settings
• Iron ___ (rust)
• Irreverence, of a sort
• Irreverent
• Irritable
• Irritate
• Irritated
• Irritating "cloud"
• Is awesome, in slang
• Is gaga for
• Is immersed
• "___ is just another defense against the universe": Mel Brooks
• Is really bad, in slang
• Is really good, in modern slang
• Is released, as an album
• "Is this seat ___?"
• Is totally awesome
• "___ is where a guy gets stabbed in the back, and instead of dying, he sings": Robert Benchley
• Is without
• ___ Isaac, Dr. Frankenstein portrayer in Guillermo del Toro's "Frankenstein"
• Islam's largest branch
• Islamic equivalent of kosher
• Islamic rulers
• ___ Island (smallest U.S. state)
• ___ Island (U.S. state)
• Island country that's an anagram of TAHITI minus T
• Island greeting
• Island home of what may be the world's oldest living olive tree (2,000+ years)
• Island off the coast of Venezuela
• Island that's the world's third-smallest country, after Vatican City and Monaco
• Island where parts of "Jurassic Park" were filmed
• Isolated
• Israeli politician Dayan
• Issue for a dehydrated muscle
• "It ___ Me" (2000 Shaggy hit)
• It always wins, they say
• It borders Canada for 45 miles
• It can become amber
• It comes from the heart
• It comes in black and green varieties, depending on ripeness
• It comes with a parting of the ways
• It comes with wings on the side
• It doesn't include the Apocrypha
• It goes on top
• It has eight players
• It has more than 4,000 islands off its coast
• It includes a series of stations
• "It is not enough to be industrious; ___ the ants": Henry David Thoreau
• It keeps a narrow passage passable
• It may be added to coffee or corn
• It may be mental
• It may come with attachments
• It may elicit a blessing
• It may follow deuce
• It means slow (not big!) in music
• It might be dramatic or cosmic
• It might be marked with an X
• It might bring you to tears
• It might raise a bunch of dough
• It often has four legs
• It takes a bow in a concert hall
• It turns when driven
• "It was the ___ I could do"
• It's a celebration
• It's a good thing
• It's a matter of degrees
• It's a start!
• It's a steal!
• It's a trap!
• It's a wrap
• It's all there in black and white
• It's always greener on the other side of the grid
• "It's boiling in here!"
• It's bubbling below the surface
• It's clearly recyclable!
• It's different from randomness, mathematically
• "It's impossible for me to do that"
• It's in a pickle
• It's in your head
• It's in your jeans
• It's kept by a metronome
• It's nicknamed "Land of the Morning Calm"
• It's not nice to walk in this
• It's of use
• It's often rapped but never spoken
• It's often set on the stove while cooking
• It's perfect for some musicians
• It's plum dried out!
• "It's the Hard-Knock Life" musical
• It's unlikely to happen again
• *It's used to scrub in the tub
• It's worth remembering!
• Italian "Paul"
• Italian author of "Inferno," "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso"
• Italian city known for its cheese
• Italian city that's hosting part of the 2026 Winter Olympics
• Italian city where "The Taming of the Shrew" is set
• Italian city with a fashion week
• Item for a painter or hairstylist
• Item in a drafts folder
• Item in a list on the fridge, maybe
• Item on a rack
• Item worn over the shoulders
• Its capital is Sanaa
• Its license plates read "Famous Potatoes"
• Itsy-bitsy
• Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great
• Ixnays from Irkutsk
• Jack ___
• Jack ___, five-time "S.N.L." host
• Jack ___, six-time "S.N.L." musical guest
• Jack up
• "Jackie Brown" star Pam
• "___ Jacques"
• "___ Jacques" (children's song)
• Jadedness
• Jailed New York crime boss
• Jake's love in "The Sun Also Rises"
• Jalapeño topper
• Jalopy
• Jam band with a Ben & Jerry's flavor
• James Talarico's state
• Jane who received a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
• Japanese beer brand
• Japanese bread crumbs
• Japanese camera brand
• Japanese camera giant
• Japanese comic style
• Japanese dog
• Japanese graphic novels
• Japanese healing discipline
• Jarringly sensational
• Jasmine's tiger companion in "Aladdin"
• Jason Seaver or Ward Cleaver, notably
• Java tea
• Jay Gatsby's obsession in "The Great Gatsby"
• Jayson of the Boston Celtics
• Jazz Age Disney princess
• Jazz musician Jamal
• Jazz singer Carmen
• "Je ___" (French "I love you")
• "Jeepers creepers!"
• "Jeez!"
• Jelly you wouldn't pair with peanut butter
• Jessica who won an Oscar for "Driving Miss Daisy"
• Jeter in Cooperstown
• Jeter in the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Jeter whose #2 was retired by the Yankees
• Jeweler's magnifying glass
• Jeweler's unit
• Jilt
• Jim Croce's ___ Brown, who is "meaner than a junkyard dog"
• Jimmy Fallon's house band, with "The"
• Joan of Arc, for one
• Job for a stage assistant, maybe
• Job for Mrs. Doubtfire
• Job that requires a lot of memorization
• Jobs for body shops
• Jockey's handful
• Joel follows it
• John ___, singer with the hit albums "Perfectly Good Guitar" and "Mystic Pinball"
• John from Britain
• John who painted "Backyards, Greenwich Village"
• John who wrote "BUtterfield 8"
• John with some ground-breaking inventions
• ___ Johnson, former Prime Minister of the U.K.
• Join in marriage
• Joined teams (with)
• Jointly manage
• Joke with
• ___ Jones, author of "How We Fight for Our Lives"
• Jong who wrote "Fear of Flying"
• Jorts material
• Joseph called "Father of the Symphony"
• Josh ___, 2024 N.F.L. M.V.P.
• Jost of "Saturday Night Live"
• Jotted (down)
• Journeys by foot
• Joust weapon
• Jousting weapon
• JPEG or PNG
• Judge of diamond value?
• Juicer's "juice"
• Julia ___-Dreyfus of "Veep"
• Juliet, Ophelia and Desdemona, to an astronomer
• Julio ___ Chávez (boxing legend)
• "Julius Caesar" role
• Jumbo
• Jumbo shrimp
• Jump ___ (horror movie staple)
• Jump and shout for joy
• Jump for joy
• "Jumping Jehoshaphat!"
• Junípero ___, founder of the San Francisco Mission
• "Jurassic Park" insect casing
• Just beat
• Just getting started with
• Just now
• Just peachy
• Just peachy ... or a hint to the two letters that appear most often in this grid
• Just sat around
• Just silly
• Justice Kagan
• Justice Sotomayor
• Justice who's the subject of the 2026 biography "Revenge for the Sixties"
• Kagan on the Supreme Court
• Kaitlin of "Hacks"
• Kayak alternative
• Keep
• Keep busy
• Keep coming up
• Keep from leaving port through low visibility
• Keep full, as shelves
• Keep Off ___ (beach sign)
• Keeps hydrated, as vegetables in the produce aisle
• Keeps the engine on while parked
• Kemper of "The Office"
• Keto and Paleo, for two
• Key of Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag"
• Key's longtime partner in sketch comedy
• Khaki alternative
• Kick back
• Kick out
• Kicks off, as a concert
• Kid
• Kid's comeback
• Kidney-related
• Killer whales
• ___ Kim, Olympian whose name aptly rhymes with "snowy"
• Kind of "touch" that A.I. lacks
• Kind of acid
• Kind of acid that is the building block for a protein
• Kind of bar that's hard to pass
• Kind of bean in a burrito
• Kind of belly button that 10% of the world has
• Kind of board
• Kind of board whose name is trademarked by Hasbro
• Kind of bored
• Kind of cavity
• Kind of code
• Kind of dish
• Kind of dish for culturing micro-organisms
• Kind of duty
• Kind of fever
• Kind of figure
• Kind of fund
• Kind of gear for diving
• Kind of juice in a French 75 cocktail
• Kind of mushroom that comes in a bundle
• Kind of nerve that connects to the eye
• Kind of orange
• Kind of patio that shares its name with a Hawaiian island
• Kind of photography lens for a close-up
• Kind of pipe or patch
• Kind of steak with a letter in its name
• Kind of sweater
• Kind of tea
• Kind of wind … or an alternative to wind
• Kinda boring
• Kindle download
• King ___ (venomous snake)
• King with a golden touch
• Kinkajou cousin
• Kirin competitor
• Kitchen appliance with burners
• Kitchen brand
• Kitchen gizmo
• Kite feature
• Klondike territory
• Knight's protection
• Knight's wear
• Knighthood, for one
• Knightley of "Bend It Like Beckham"
• "Knock my socks off!"
• Knock the socks off
• Knocked back a few
• Knot again
• Knowledgeable, and proud of it
• "___ Knows" (rhyming ad slogan)
• Knuckle-cracking or clipping nails in public, to some
• Kofi ___, former secretary general of the United Nations
• Koran's Almighty
• Korean barbecue rib dish
• Korean city that hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Krypton and xenon
• Kuwaiti currency
• "L'Orfeo" or "Idomeneo"
• À la ___
• "La Tulipe Noire" novelist, 1850
• Lab label
• Lab work
• Labors like the Seven Dwarfs
• Lacked an alternative
• Lacking sense
• Lacks
• Laffy ___, candy with a rhyming name
• Laid off
• Lair
• Lake in the homeland of the Washoe people
• Lake that's home to the world's largest freshwater island
• ___ Lama
• Land of Seoul and Pyongyang
• Land of Spot
• Land on the northern edge of Mount Everest
• Land rover
• ___ lander (moon vehicle)
• Landscape photographer Adams
• Lane in Superman movies
• Language from which we get "cosmos" and "democracy"
• Language in which "maunga roa" means "long mountain"
• Language of the Vikings
• Language spoken in Kuala Lumpur
• Language that gave us the words "democracy" and "philosophy"
• Laptop mode
• Large and muscular
• Large brass instruments
• Large drum played by hand
• Large flightless birds
• Large ocean ray
• Large quantity at a pot dispensary
• Large safari sight
• Large size at Starbucks
• Large spread
• Large stringed instrument
• Large venue for a comedian
• Largest Bengali-speaking city in the world
• Largest island of Greece
• Largest zodiac constellation
• Larry ___, longtime owner of the Cleveland Guardians
• ___ Larsson, author of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
• Last Greek letter
• Last in the batting order
• Last multiple-choice option, often
• Last stage of an insect's development
• Late actress Catherine of "Schitt's Creek"
• Late singer Bryson
• Late spring or early summer bloom
• Late time to stay up on a weekday
• Late-evening beverage request
• Lauder of cosmetics
• Laughing head or a thumbs up, e.g.
• "Laughing" beast
• Launch
• Lavender or lilac
• Lavishes love (on)
• Law school class
• Lawn bowling game
• "Lay it on me"
• Lay out
• Layer wrapping Earth
• ___ layer, part of Earth's atmosphere
• Lazy ___
• Le contraire de "après"
• Lead, as a meeting
• Lead-in to dollar or chemical
• Lead-in to grid or play
• Lead-in to know or care
• Leader of the Afrofuturistic jazz collective Arkestra for almost four decades
• Leader of the Chipmunks, in an old novelty group
• Leader of the pack
• Leader of the Pussycats, in comics and film
• Leader ousted in 1955
• Leads off
• Leaf on a sushi tray
• Leafs (through)
• Leafy lunch
• Leafy lunch order
• Leans
• Leaps for Michelle Kwan
• Leave alone
• Leave behind, informally
• Leave no ___ (camping tenet)
• Leave red-faced
• Leave speechless
• Leave stunned
• Leaves shocked
• Leaves the slip, perhaps
• Leftmost star of the Summer Triangle
• Leftover morsel of food
• Leftover piece of fabric
• Leftovers
• Leg muscle that can be "pulled," informally
• Legal setting
• Legally prohibit
• Legend, e.g.
• Legendary snake exterminator, familiarly
• Legendary vigilante who cuts a "Z" with his sword
• Leisurely evening walk
• Lemon or lychee
• Lengthy pitch
• Lengthy sheet for a complicated board game, perhaps
• "Les Misérables" setting
• Less candid, perhaps
• Less incompetent
• Less injurious
• Less likely to bite, perhaps
• Less off-the-wall
• Less risky
• Less sweet, as a wine
• Less than milli-, more than nano-
• Lesser-played part of a 45
• Let down
• Let float, as a currency
• "Let It Go" singer Menzel
• "Let me rephrase that ..."
• Let up
• "Let's do this thing"
• "Let's do this!"
• "Let's go, muchacho!"
• Lethargy
• Lets
• Lets up
• Letter after Alfa, in the NATO phonetic alphabet
• Letter after Sierra

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