‘Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled’ NYT Mini Crossword clue Aug. 12 answer and hints

I’m a big fan of bags. I never leave the house without one because I feel lost when I’m not carrying some key items. One of the clues in today’s NYT Mini Crossword involves bags and asks you to solve “Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled.”

Although I love bags, I’m not a designer bag person, so this clue stumped me at first as I originally thought it was going to require some name-brand bag knowledge. Luckily for players, the solution for the “Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled” clue is a lot simpler than you might think, so here are some hints and the official answer to help you solve this one.

Aug. 12 ‘Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled’ NYT Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: It starts with the letter “F.”
• Hint 2: One of the most well-known League of Legends Esports competitors is “____R.”
• Hint 3: A word for “not real.”
• Hint 4: It rhymes with the word “BAKE.”

Stop here if you don’t want to know the answer just yet because I’m about to reveal it.

The solution to the “Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled” clue on the Aug. 12 NYT Mini Crossword is “FAKE.” When people seek out name-brand bags, the official name is a crucial part of the item they’re after, which means any bag that has the name misspelled is fake and not an authentic item from the official brand.

‘Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled’ clue difficulty rating

“FAKE” is a fairly easy word by itself, but guessing it based on the “Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled” clue is decently difficult. It’s not one of the toughest hints I’ve seen, but it’s also not one of the easiest, so I’m giving it a three out of five difficulty rating.

All NYT Mini Aug. 12 puzzle clues and answers

Across

• 1A Throws in the mix — ADDS
• 5A Plant life — FLORA
• 6A Chef’s garment — APRON
• 7A Informal term for avid supporters of Kamala Harris — K HIVE
• 8A Simplicity — EASE

Down

• 1D Letter before beta and gamma — ALPHA
• 2D Pulitzer-winning historian ___ Kearns Goodwin — DORIS
• 3D Did some chauffeuring — DROVE
• 4D All there, mentally — SANE
• 5D Like a designer bag with the company name misspelled — FAKE

Games like the NYT Mini Crossword

There are plenty of other word games you can work on once you finish today’s NYT Mini Crossword. Spelling Bee and Strands are great puzzles to try if you want to tackle some different types of word-based puzzles. You can also head over to the Washington Post or the LA Times if you want some fairly similar crosswords to complete.