Certain sports bets – NYT Crossword Mini clue answer (April 3)

I’m not a betting man, so I was completely stumped when I landed on this NYT Mini Crossword clue. I don’t know anything about bets, let alone “certain sports bets.” I’d love to say I somehow worked out the answer with pure brain power, but I didn’t. I ended up having to do some research for this article—but can you blame me?

Certain sports bets – NYT Mini Crossword hints

• Hint 1: Associated with numbers.
• Hint 2: It starts with an “O.”
• Hint 3: Also known as “total bet.”
• Hint 4: ____-under.

Certain sports bets – NYT Mini Crossword answer

Did you get it yet? The answer to seven across in the April 3 NYT Mini Crossword is “OVERS.”

An over-under is a common type of bet used in all forms of sports. It’s a bet whether a stat, like goals, will be higher or lower than a pre-agreed value. In the case of the crossword, overs refers to bets over that value.

It honestly took a while to get my head around this one. “Overs” sounded vaguably familiar in the back of my mind, but I didn’t know anything about it. This NYT Mini clue is probably a walk in the park if you’re a seasoned better, but the same can’t be said for anyone else.

All April 3 NYT Mini Crossword clues and answers

Want help with the rest of the April NYT Mini Crossword clues? We have all the answers.

Across

• 1A Hit the ___ (go to bed) — SACK
• 5A Misleading name for a sub/shish kebab restaurant? — SUSHI
• 6A Misleading name for a taco/pasta restaurant? — TAPAS
• 7A Certain sports bets — OVERS
• 8A Cooped (up) — PENT

Down

• 1D Almost *too* sophisticated and charming — SUAVE
• 2D Upscale Colorado skiing destination — ASPEN
• 3D Word after bar or pie — CHART
• 4D Smooch — KISS
• 5D Word on an eight-sided traffic sign — STOP