‘Ancient sailors used them to navigate’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

Have you ever been lost in the sea? Today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue, “Ancient sailors used them to navigate,” asks you to find the reliable form of navigation that works best at night. 

If today’s NYT Mini Crossword clues are hard to solve, then you can use our hints and answers below to easily breeze through the word game.

‘Ancient sailors used them to navigate’ NYT Oct. 14 Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: The answer is used to predict future events through astrology.
• Hint 2: The five-letter solution is celestial objects visible at night.
• Hint 3: It starts with the letter “S.” 
• Hint 4: The solution forms recognizable constellations like Orion or the Big Dipper.

Let’s jump in and reveal the answer.

The answer to one across in the Oct. 14 New York Times Mini Crossword is “STARS.” In ancient times before compasses were a thing, sailors relied heavily on celestial navigation. By tracking the movement of stars across the sky, sailors could estimate latitude and maintain their course over long ocean voyages. Keeping the stars/ constellations as their reference points was especially useful at night or when no land was in sight.

The North Star (Polaris), in particular, was important for navigation in the Northern Hemisphere because it remains almost fixed in the sky, directly above the Earth’s North Pole, making it a reliable indicator of the north direction.

‘Ancient sailors used them to navigate’ NYT Mini Crossword difficulty rating

When I read the clue, my mind immediately went to the compass, which was a reliable way of navigation in the seas. After getting it wrong after the first guess, I solved the rest of the puzzle to figure out that the navigation method was even older than I had anticipated. This might’ve also caught many by surprise if they were not familiar with marine history. So, I’d give it a three out of five for difficulty.

NYT Mini Crossword (Oct. 14) answers

Across

• 1A Ancient sailors used them to navigate — STARS
• 6A One traveling at the speed of flight? — PILOT
• 7A Basketball stadium, e.g. — ARENA
• 8A Dallasite or Houstonian — TEXAN
• 9A Grains you’d rather not eat? — SAND

Down

• 1D Little fight — SPAT
• 2D Rubber rings — TIRES
• 3D Amazon device voice — ALEXA
• 4D Actress Saoirse of “Lady Bird” and “Little Woman” — RONAN
• 5D Spot for witness testimony — STAND

How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

If the NYT Mini Crossword word games are making you sweat, then you can try your hands at the LA Times, and Washington Post puzzles will help sharpen your vocabulary. We also recommend Strands and Spelling Bee if you want to try something different.