‘Olympic sport from Japan’ NYT Crossword clue hints and answers

With so many Olympic sports from Japan, the July 12 NYT Crossword might just seem next to impossible. If you have no idea about sports, the Olympics, or Japan’s sports in the Olympics, then you’re in the right place—let’s figure out today’s tricky crossword together.

The clue for this crossword, “Olympic sport from Japan,” gives us an excellent hint for narrowing down the sports and even the sports category we should look at to solve it. Being a fan of this sport, I knew I had this one in the bag.

‘Olympic Sport from Japan’ NYT Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: It begins with a “J.”
• Hint 2: It contains two vowels.
• Hint 3: It’s practiced in over 200 nations.
• Hint 4: It’s an unarmed sport.

Spoiler warning: If you’re still stumped after these clues, I’ve dropped the solution below. Please don’t read on if you’re still trying to guess the answer.

The solution to “Olympic Sport from Japan” is “JUDO.” Judo is an incredibly popular unarmed combat sport worldwide that originated in Japan in the late 19th Century. If sports aren’t your cup of tea, you may not know about this one. With this solution solved, you can continue working on the other challenging crossword clues.

All clues and answers for the July 12 NYT Crossword puzzle

Across

• 1A Bad thing to drop while riding a chairlift — SKI
• 4A Batman’s archenemy — JOKER
• 6A What a cartoon character might grab onto if they’re swallowed whole — UVULA
• 7A Big name in PCs — DELL
• 8A “For Your Eyes___” (1981 Bond film) — ONLY

Down

• 1D Prop for Hamlet when he says, “Alas, poor Yorick!” — SKULL
• 2D Grace who starred in three Hitchcock films — KELLY
• 3D Savings plan options, for short — IRA
• 4D Olympic sport from Japan — JUDO
• 5D Place for roasting — OVEN

Olympic sport from Japan: How challenging was this to solve?

As soon as I saw this clue, I knew it had to be some form of martial arts. With only four letters, my first thought was Judo. I follow the competitive scene less than I used to, but I knew it was in the Olympics. This clue was on the easy end, and I’d give it a difficulty rating of one out of five. For those unfamiliar with Judo, the Olympics, or sports from Japan, this would have been a doozy and a solid three out of five in difficulty.

Great games to play after solving the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle

Now that you’ve solved the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle, you can enjoy more mini-crosswords like this one from the Washington Post or the LA Times. They reset daily and are just as fun and challenging as the NYT’s Mini Crossword puzzle. But if you want to stretch your vocabulary or boost your creativity, try Spelling Bee or Strands from the NYT, as they’re fun, challenging, and a great way to stretch your brain’s creative muscles.