‘Grains you’d rather not eat?’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

If your progress through today’s New York Times Mini Crossword puzzle has been halted by the “Grains you’d rather not eat?” clue, we’re here to help you out.

“Grains you’d rather not eat?” NYT Mini Crossword (Oct. 14) clue hints and answers

• Hint 1: It starts with a “S.”
• Hint 2: It ends with a “D.”
• Hint 3: It contains one vowel.
• Hint 4: It’s used to create glass.

The answer to the “Grains you’d rather not eat?” clue in the Oct. 14 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle is “SAND.” While grains are usually made into food, you don’t want to be snacking on sand—despite what any toddler may tell you.

All clues and answers from the Oct. 14 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle

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 difficult was the clue “Grains you’d rather not eat?”

Though my first thought immediately went to food, the fact that it specified something you wouldn’t want to chow down on was a big giveaway. With it only being a four-letter word, I quickly worked out the solution, so I’ll rate the difficulty of this clue two out of five.

Puzzles to try after today’s NYT Mini Crossword

If you’ve still got some time to kill and want to try out some other puzzles, the New York Times Strands and Spelling Bee puzzles are a great place to start. If you’d rather stick with Mini Crosswords, check out the LA Times and Washington Post.