‘Assistance in a Crime’ NYT Mini Crossword August 4 Answers and Hints

One of the trickiest clues from the August 4 New York Times Mini Crossword concerns illegal activities, and features a word not commonly used in everyday conversation.

If you’re one of the many Mini Crossword players who couldn’t solve all three puzzles today, read on for some tips and the solutions you need for Sunday’s puzzle.

‘Aid in a Crime’ NYT Mini Crossword hints and answers

• Tip 1: The word begins with an A.
• Tip 2: If you change the last letter, you get a boy’s name.
• Tip 3: The second letter of the word is a B.
• Tip 4: Help and ___.

This is your last chance to fix this yourself before we announce the fix!

The answer to the question ‘three down’ in the NYT Mini Crossword of August 4 is:ABT date.” Merriam-Webster defines the word as “to actively support and encourage something” or “to aid or support someone in achieving a goal.” Most commonly used in reference to criminal intent, “abet” is a short but sweet crossword clue.

‘Assisting in a Crime’ NYT Mini Crossword Difficulty Level

Unless you’re the lawyer type, you’d be forgiven for not coming across this word in the wild very often. It’s a somewhat old-fashioned, wooden-sounding word that rarely stands alone (I often come across it as part of the phrase “aiding and abetting,” if I come across it at all), so we call it a three out of five on the difficulty scale.

NYT Mini Crossword (August 4) Answers

If you are looking for the full range of solutions, you will find here:

About

• 1A The first blank space in this sentence: From ____ to ____ — HEAD
• 5A “The Hobbit” Hobbit — BILBO
• 6A A 16th place beats a 1st place, for example — ANGRY
• 7A Feeling of ill will — RESENTMENT
• 8A The second blank in this sentence: From ____ to ____ — TOE

Down

• 1D Creature that can hold its breath underwater for up to 30 minutes — HIPPOPOTAMUS
• 2D Name that sounds like the twelfth and third letters of the alphabet — ELJE
• 3D Aiding in a Crime — ABT date
• 4D Pour love (on) — AWESOME
• 5D Opposite the boom period, on Wall Street — BUST

How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

Looking for more word game action? Check out the LA Times and Washington Post crosswords for a quick fix. As for other New York Times word games, we highly recommend Strands and Spelling Bee to start with.