‘Monocle’s middle’ today’s NYT Mini hints and answers (Aug. 2)

Today’s NYT Mini clue, “Monocle’s middle,” immediately made me think of the Monopoly man. Who else wears a monocle so spectacularly? Monocles aren’t a fashion staple nowadays, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get the answer to this clue.

‘Monocle’s middle’ NYT Mini hints

Before I give away the answer, I’ll give you another chance to solve it yourself.

• Hint 1: A camera has one of these.
• Hint 2: Glasses have two of these.
• Hint 3: The glass part of the monocle.
• Hint 4: Begins with an “L.”

‘Monocle’s middle’ NYT Mini answer

The answer to the Aug. 2 NYT Mini clue, “Monocle’s middle,” is “LENS.” According to the lovely folks at Merriam-Webster, a lens is a “piece of transparent material (such as glass) that has two opposite regular surfaces either both curved, or one curved and the other plane, and that’s used either singly or combined in an optical instrument for forming an image by focusing rays of light.”

That’s a very long description—I just know it as the glass parts of my glasses. In a monocle, however, there’s just one lens. A camera, too, can have a lens—some of which are very expensive.

‘Monocle’s middle’ clue difficulty rating

I got the answer to this clue almost immediately, mainly because I wear glasses and contact lenses. I put lenses in my eyes daily—I’m more than happy touching my gooey eyeballs.

Even if you don’t wear glasses or contact lenses, you can likely clock the answer fairly quickly. So, I’m giving this clue a one out of five difficulty rating.

Other NYT Mini Aug. 2 answers and hints

With that out of the way, you need to tackle the other Aug. 2 NYT Mini clues. Make sure to check out our hints and answers for “W.S.J. or WaPo competitor,” “Reach across,” “Sides in a historic tennis battle,” and “Glorify.”

How to play word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

If you’ve finished today’s NYT Mini Crossword, you need to try out some other word games—because who actually does work on a Friday? You can play more crosswords at the LA Times and the Washington Post or try out the NYT’s Strands and Spelling Bee word games for something different. I also highly recommend The Atlantic‘s daily crosswords, which get increasingly difficult as the week progresses.