Below is the complete solution for the NY Times crossword puzzle from October 21, 2023. Will Shortz revised this puzzle while Kelly Morenus wrote the original.
NYT ACROSS CLUES
| Stores with fixed costs? | REPAIRSHOPS |
| What might be sought before a major decision | SECONDOPINION |
| 1998 rap hit by Big Pun (feat. Joe) | STILLNOTAPLAYER |
| Shortcut, of a sort | CANAL |
| Like many attics | MUSTY |
| N.C.A.A. women’s basketball champs of 2023, for short | LSU |
| Settled | ALIT |
| Modern way to pay | VENMO |
| ___ Domino | FATS |
| Son of, in Hebrew | BEN |
| Ships | SENDS |
| Some beach fliers | KITES |
| Chick with multiple Grammys | COREA |
| World Trade ___ (fixture of Hong Kong or Toronto) | CENTRE |
| Trading off? | EMBARGO |
| Least robust-looking | WANNEST |
| Get it? | YOUSEE |
| Cancels | VOIDS |
| Word often accompanied by an arrow | ENTER |
| Haka dance performers | MAORI |
| Home, spun? | WEB |
| A bunch | LOTS |
| Astronaut Cooper, informally | GORDO |
| Cocktail fruta | PINA |
| Corp. debut | IPO |
| Kind of badge | MERIT |
| Coastal formations | DUNES |
| Reprimand to one who spoke too soon | DONTINTERRUPTME |
| Nonessential, as spending | DISCRETIONARY |
| I HAVE to have this — whatever it costs | TAKEMYMONEY |
NYT VERTICAL CLUES
| Curb, as spending | REININ |
| Sparkle | ECLAT |
| Sample, say | POLL |
| ___ Radcliffe, pioneer in Gothic fiction | ANN |
| 1781 Mozart opera seria | IDOMENEO |
| Jeffersonian design at the heart of the University of Virginia | ROTUNDA |
| Some contractions | SPASMS |
| Aware of, informally | HIPTO |
| Sole | ONLY |
| ___ mater | PIA |
| Vegan coffee order | SOYLATTE |
| Lacking creativity | STALE |
| Ones who build their homes bit by bit | NESTERS |
| One crossing the line? | SCAB |
| Autumn hue | RUSSET |
| Cusp | VERGE |
| Many Laplanders | FINNS |
| More irritated | SORER |
| Ibram X. ___, author of “How to Be an Antiracist” | KENDI |
| Concerns for a linguist | CASES |
| City with the oldest metro system in Africa | CAIRO |
| Blinker | EYELID |
| Tech support? | MONOPOD |
| “Shut your pie hole!” | BUTTONIT |
| Feature of a Craftsman home | WOODTRIM |
| Magazine that originated the words “payola” and “striptease” | VARIETY |
| Post-___ | MORTEM |
| Bleak | WINTRY |
| “Man has no greater ___ than himself”: Petrarch | ENEMY |
| Foundation | BASE |
| Mystery, e.g. | GENRE |
| Ones going through a stage | PUPAE |
| Bandmate of Keith and Brian | MICK |
| Country duo Brooks & ___ | DUNN |
| Inspection org. | TSA |
| Joey of children’s literature | ROO |
The order of appearance for each clue is followed. Open the hint link to see all of our potential solutions if the answers below don’t solve a certain puzzle. New York Times crossword puzzles are entertaining and difficult to complete. The Daily NYT Puzzle can be extremely difficult to solve at times. You can always rely on our crossword player community to help you out with puzzle solving, so keep our website bookmarked or in mind when you need a little assistance. You can find the solutions to earlier New York Times crossword puzzles that have been released in recent days or weeks in addition to today’s puzzles.