‘Book character who wears a red-and-white-striped shirt’ NYT Crossword (July 24) answers and hints

Today’s NYT Mini clue’s difficulty will depend on where you live. Most people know who the “book character who wears a red-and-white-striped shirt” is, but he has different names around the world.

It’s funny this has come up, as recently, the Dot team discussed the variations of this character. Fortunately, that means I can help you find the solution easily.

‘Book character who wears a red-and-white-striped shirt’ NYT Mini Crossword solution and hints

Before I give you the solution, here are a few hints to help you solve the clue yourself.

• Hint 1: The main character of a book series that requires you to locate him in various scenarios.
• Hint 2: Remember the NYT is based in the USA, so it’s the North American name for this character.
• Hint 3: He’s called “Wally” in the U.K.
• Hint 4: Begins with a “W.”

Don’t scroll any further if you don’t want the answer to this clue.

The answer to the NYT Mini clue “book character who wears a red-and-white-striped shirt” is (drum roll) “WALDO.” Yes, in the USA and Canada, our stripey friend is called Waldo, but his name differs depending on where in the world you live.

In several countries, including the U.K., Australia, and Brazil, he’s Wally, in Denmark he’s Holger, and in France, he’s Charlie. It would take a while to go through all the name variations, but you can see them all here.

Wherever you are, you likely spent some time as a child trying to find him among crowds in circuses, at the beach, and even at parades. Martin Handford’s series of children’s books have spread globally since the first book’s debut in 1987, even resulting in a ’90s TV show. What a trip down memory lane.

Full answers for the July 24 NYT Mini Crossword

Across

• 1A Book character who wears a red-and-white-striped shirt — WALDO
• 6A With 7-Across, fried appetizer that’s appropriate for the Olympics? — ONION
• 7A See 6-Across — RINGS
• 8A Academic acronym — STEM
• 9A “And there you have it!” — TADA

Down

• 1D Least favorable — WORST
• 2D She’s like an older sister to Maria in “West Side Story“ — ANITA
• 3D Like index cards, typically — LINED
• 4D Belief that’s not to be questioned — DOGMA
• 5D Carry-___ (some luggage) — ONS

‘Book character who wears a red-and-white-striped shirt’ clue difficulty rating

If you’re in North America, this is probably a very easy clue for you to solve. You may have a harder time if you’re in another country where Waldo is not the name used for this character. I happened to know he was called Waldo in the USA, so this was a one out of five difficulty for me, but if you’ve never heard of Waldo before, it’s probably a two out of five.

Now we just have to find him.

How to play more crosswords after solving the NYT Mini

If you’re not immediately looking up Where’s Waldo? books and puzzles to try and solve them, you should try out NYT’s other word games: Strands and Spelling Bee. Alternatively, head over to the  the LA Times and Washington Post to complete their daily crosswords.