‘XL’ NYT Mini Crossword clue answer and hints

When you hear the word “XL,” you likely think of the clothing size. But the sizing is actually entirely irrelevant to today’s NYT Mini Crossword, and that’s exactly why this clue had me completely stumped.

The answer for this one is likely entirely out of the realm of what you’d expect, so solving this one can be pretty tough. If you need help uncovering the answer for the “XL” clue on the Sept. 27 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle, here are some hints to assist you.

‘XL’ NYT Sept. 27 Mini Crossword hints

• Hint 1: It ends with the letter “L.”
• Hint 2: The solution usually means to be very good at something.
• Hint 3: My team keeps information organized using Microsoft “_____.”
• Hint 4: It sounds similar to “XL” when you say it aloud.

Don’t proceed until you’re ready to learn the answer because I’m about to reveal it.

‘XL’ NYT Mini answer

The solution to the “XL” clue on the Sept. 27 NYT Mini Crossword is “EXCEL.” When you say “XL” aloud, it sounds pretty similar to “EXCEL” which is why it’s the solution here. The definitions of these words are drastically different and the only connection is the way these two words sound.

‘XL’ clue difficulty rating

I always find sound clues trickier than most others on the NYT Mini Crossword because they require you to switch your thinking about the puzzle. Most hints are solved by finding a word that matches the phrase or definition of the clue, not by finding one that sounds similar, so it can be tough to remember that this is a possibility.

“XL” also doesn’t sound perfectly like the word “EXCEL,” and the missing “C” sound can easily deter you from making this connection at all. Considering all these factors, I’m giving this one a five out of five difficulty rating. It’s certainly one of the hardest clues I’ve seen on the NYT Mini Crossword.

All Sept. 27 NYT Mini Crossword answers

Across

• 1A Aptly named brand of road and mountain bikes — TREK
• 5A “CD” — SEEDY
• 6A “XL” — EXCEL
• 7A Make amends — ATONE
• 8A Alternative to Yahoo! or AOL — MSN

Down

• 1D Much political campaign outreach these days — TEXTS
• 2D Mission for a scout, for short — RECON
• 3D Garden with forbidden fruit — EDEN
• 4D Friend of Kenny, Stan, and Cartman on “South Park” — KYLE
• 5D Feature that some undergarments claim not to have (but it’s often just less noticeable) — SEAM

Games like the NYT Mini Crossword

There are plenty of other word games worth tackling once you finish today’s NYT Mini Crossword. A great place to start is the LA Times and the Washington Post. Both of these are similar puzzles to solve, and if you enjoy them, you can add completing them to your daily routine since there’s a fresh one to finish every day.

If you’re not up for another crossword, you might enjoy Strands or Spelling Bee. These are refreshing twists on the word game genre with unique types of challenges for you to tackle. In Strands, you need to find secret words to reveal the daily theme. Spelling Bee is, unsurprisingly, all about spelling and tasks you with making as many words as possible with seven letters.