‘Feeling of ill will’ NYT Mini Crossword Aug. 4 answer and hints

The Aug. 4 edition of the New York Times Mini Crossword turned out to be a real brain-teaser, and one of the more challenging clues involved some seriously negative thoughts, so no wonder the good folks of word game land struggled to figure it out.

If the “Feeling of ill will” clue stumped you in the Aug. 4 New York Times crossword, here are some pointers and the solution to help you out.

‘Feeling of ill will’ NYT Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: The word starts with the letter S.
• Hint 2: Another definition is “to treat maliciously.”
• Hint 3: “In ___ of” is a phrase you use with this word, albeit with a different meaning.
• Hint 4: Eject something from the mouth, then add one letter.

Are you still unsure of the answer? Spoiler warning: this is your last chance to turn back before we reveal the solution below.

The answer to seven across in the Aug. 4 NYT Mini Crossword is “SPITE.” The crossword today seems to have directly used the primary yMerriam-Webster definition to formulate the clue, which is where we have also looked to formulate our additional hints for this one.

‘Feeling of ill will’ NYT Mini Crossword difficulty rating

Call me a word game whiz, but I’m giving this one a mere one out of five for the difficulty rating. Spite is a fairly common word, and finding any of the letters involved will make it a significantly easier challenge to solve. It relies on no lexical knowledge or special subject matter expertise.

NYT Mini Crossword (Aug. 4) answers

Here are all the other answers for today’s New York Times Mini Crossword:

Across 

• 1A The first blank in this phrase: From ____ to ____ — HEAD
• 5A “The Hobbit” Hobbit — BILBO
• 6A A 16 seed beating a 1 seed, e.g. — UPSET
• 7A Feeling of ill will — SPITE
• 8A The second blank in this phrase: From ____ to ____ — TOE

Down

• 5D Opposite of boom, on Wall Street — BUST
• 1D Creature able to hold its breath underwater for up to 30 minutes — HIPPO
• 2D Name that sounds like the twelfth and third letters of the alphabet — ELSIE
• 3D Help with a crime — ABET
• 4D Pour love (on) — DOTE

How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

Looking for more crossword fun? Large newspapers like the LA Times and the Washington Post have got you covered. For other sorts of word game experiences, Strands and Spelling Bee, both courtesy of the New York Times, are also good fun.