‘End zone marker’ NYT Mini Crossword clue answer and hints

If you enjoy sports, you may know about a little area called the end zone and the end zone marker. But if not, you might be in a bit of a pickle with today’s NYT crossword clue.

“End zone marker” is a clue from the Aug. 14 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. If you aren’t sure what these are called—especially if you’ve never really watched NFL or football before—you’re in the right place for hints and the answer.

‘End zone marker’ NYT Mini Crossword clue Aug. 14 hints and answer

• Hint 1: It starts with a “P.”
• Hint 2: It’s one word.
• Hint 3: It rhymes with python.
• Hint 4: It ends with an “N.”

The answer to the “End zone marker” clue is “PYLON.“ Pylons are typically brightly colored, small rectangles that mark the endzone on a field in games like football. Once you get past these, you’ve scored a touchdown—the main way to score in the NFL.

NYT Aug. 14 Mini Crossword puzzle: All clues and answers

Across

• 1A Get some shut-eye — SLEEP
• 6A Like some difficult running paths — HILLY
• 7A Kind of chain you might wish to be off — EMAIL
• 8A “Same here!” — DITTO
• 9A Late riser, stereotypically — TEEN

Down

• 1D Remove, as a layer of snakeskin — SHED
• 2D Value that a function approaches, in math — LIMIT
• 3D Make extremely happy — ELATE
• 4D In the top 1% — ELITE
• 5D End zone marker — PYLON

NYT crossword clue ‘End zone marker’ difficulty

Every suggestion I could think of for this clue was wrong. That’s probably to be expected, considering that I don’t know a whole lot about American football. But if you do and happen to know about end zone markers, you’ll find this clue quite easy to solve. Regardless, I’d give this clue a difficulty rating of three out of five.

Best puzzles and word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

If you’ve finished the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle and are looking for others to play daily, try the mini crossword puzzles from the LA Times or the Washington Post. Strands and Spelling Bee from the NYT are also good alternatives if you’re after a word search or a spelling bee-type game.