‘Coverage of the Summer Olympics?’ NYT Mini Crossword clue answer and hints

It has been more than a week since the Summer Olympics finished up, but the New York Times is rolling back the clock with the latest clue in the Mini Crossword, asking players to guess what word corresponds with “Coverage of the Summer Olympics?”

“Coverage of the Summer Olympics?” is a hint for the seven-letter across word in the Aug. 24 Mini Crossword, and if you think this clue is relatively difficult, you’re correct. This hint is pretty misleading (hence the question mark at the end) and will require you to think a bit outside the box.

“Coverage of the Summer Olympics?” Aug. 24 NYT Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: Has nothing to do with news.
• Hint 2: Is a piece of headwear.
• Hint 3: Is waterproof.
• Hint 4: Is used by Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky.

If you’re still trying to decode this tough word, then avoid reading ahead before you solve the puzzle. When you’ve gotten sick of guessing, then check out the answer for the 9A “Coverage of the Summer Olympics?” hint, along with the rest of the answers for the entire Aug. 24 Mini Crossword.

The answer for 9A “Coverage of the Summer Olympics?” is SWIMCAP. This clue involves wordplay (as indicated by the question mark) and is the sort of challenging riddle you will only find in the Saturday edition of the NYT Mini Crossword, which is a smidgen tougher than the ones during the rest of the week. A swimcap is a tight cap that swimmers wear to cover their hair and cut down on resistance as they compete. It allows them to move faster in the water with the water flowing past their head.

NYT Mini Crossword (Aug. 24) answers

Across

• 1A Eight: Prefix — OCTO
• 5A Got stuck, as a video — FROZE
• 7A Over 90 percent of Maine and 80 percent of New Hampshire — FOREST
• 9A Coverage of the Summer Olympics? —SWIMCAP
• 11A Like residents of Kathmandu — NEPALI
• 12A Casually drink — SIPON
• 13A The “1” of $0.01 — CENT

Down 

• 1D Turn-___ (unattractive qualities) — OFFS
• 2D Symbol in the Budweiser and Corona logos — CROWN
• 3D Defeated party in the recent U.K. elections— TORIES
• 4D Popular weight loss drug — OZEMPIC
• 6D Ford S.U.V. — ESCAPE
• 8D Eagle’s claw — TALON
• 10D Ice cream purchase — PINT

“Coverage of the Summer Olympics?” NYT Mini Crossword difficulty rating

Most people who would read this clue would immediately turn toward news coverage, especially with no specific sport being mentioned. Again, the clue is in the question mark that you must think outside the box. Additionally, a “coverage” wouldn’t usually be considered a hat in most situations, making this hint difficult enough to warrant a four out of five difficulty rating.