‘Lover boy’ NYT Mini Crossword Puzzle clue answer and hints

When a man is someone’s lover, they’re sometimes called a lover boy, and this informal address is one of the more puzzling clues in today’s NYT crossword puzzle.

This particular clue is from the Sept. 25 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. And if you have no idea what a lover boy is or who this could be, this clue feels almost impossible to solve. But you’ll find the answer below.

‘Lover boy’ Sept. 25 NYT Mini Crossword clue hints and answer

• Hint 1: It starts with an “R.”
• Hint 2: It contains three vowels.
• Hint 3: It’s the name of a famous star-crossed lover.
• Hint 4: It ends with an “O.”

The answer to the “Lover boy” clue from the Sept. 25 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle is “ROMEO.” Romeo Montague was the original lover boy in one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet, a tragic love story about two star-crossed lovers.

All Sept. 25 clues and answers from the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle

Across

• 1A Toot one’s own horn — BRAG
• 5A “___Us one-down,” Netflix series whose contestants get engaged without ever seeing each other — LOVE
• 6A Says who? — SIMON
• 7A Didn’t just suspect — KNEW
• 8A Words exchanged at a wedding — I DO’S

Down

• 1D See five across — BLIND
• 2D Lover boy — ROMEO
• 3D Openly confesses — AVOWS
• 4D ___Z (Zoomers, by another name) — GEN
• 6D Compete in a Winter Olympics biathlon — SKI

How difficult was the clue ‘Lover boy’ to solve?

When I read this clue, I wasn’t sure if it was asking for someone well-known for being a lover boy or a synonym for lover boy. It wasn’t until I’d solved a few of the other crossword clues that I realized it was the former—Romeo. I think this would have been a tough clue to crack if you didn’t know anything about Romeo and Juliet or what a lover boy is. But it wasn’t impossible to solve, so I’m giving it a difficulty rating of four out of five.

Great games to play after the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle

If you enjoy playing mini-games, try two other mini crosswords from the LA Times and the Washington Post. These are released daily and can be quite challenging, much like the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. Or if you want to try a word-based game, these two from the NYT are a lot of fun: Strands and Spelling Bee.