5-letter answer to Best of the best in NYT Midi Crossword October 4 2026 is ELITE.
Stuck on a clue? We post answers every day, so you won’t be stuck long.
How much help you get is up to you
I want it outright. Go to the Answers and Hints section and tap the tiles. The word reveals one letter at a time so you can stop the moment it clicks.
I want to work it out by myself. There are three layers of hints: a hint, meaning and explanation. They open separately. If the explanation is all you want, take that and leave the other two closed.
The FAQ is worth a look either way. It covers why an answer works rather than just what it is. That’s how you start recognizing crosswordese, the small pool of words constructors reach for when a grid gets tight. Those are the clues you’ll fill in on sight next time.
Read the title before you read a clue
Every Midi carries a title pointing at that day’s theme. Titles are normally a Sunday thing at the Times, so weekday solvers aren’t in the habit of looking. Look. It’s free information sitting above the grid and on a puzzle this small a theme hint can hand you two or three long answers before you’ve solved anything.
Rules the Daily won’t break and the Midi will
In the full crossword, two-letter answers are banned outright and the same word never appears twice in one grid. Puzzle editor Ian Livengood has said the Midi may do both. Grids are sometimes asymmetrical too. That matters if you learned to solve the Daily. A slot that looks two squares wide isn’t a mistake and spotting a word you’ve already filled elsewhere doesn’t mean you’ve gone wrong.
