‘Paid for a poker hand’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

Have you ever visited a casino and played Poker? Today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue, “Paid for a poker hand,” asks you to find the money you’d spend at the start of the rounds in the Casino to start the games of Poker.

If today’s NYT Mini Crossword clues are hard to beat, you can use our hints and answers below to breeze through the word games. 

‘Paid for a poker hand’ NYT Oct. 15 Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: The answer describes something you do before the cards get dealt.
• Hint 2: The five-letter solution refers to a small contribution or stake to start a game of Poker.
• Hint 3: It starts with the letter “A.” 
• Hint 4: The solution also rhymes with the word planted, which is related to betting.

Let’s jump in and reveal the answer.

The answer to nine across in the Oct. 15 New York Times Mini Crossword is “ANTED.” In Poker, the ante refers to a small amount of money that all players must put into the pot before dealing the cards. This serves as a basic stake in the game after which players put their bets to raise the stakes. As the clue states that you have already “paid” for it, the answer becomes “Anted,” which is the past tense of the word.

‘Paid for a poker hand’ NYT Mini Crossword difficulty rating

I haven’t tried my hand at Poker, but I’m familiar with some of the technical terms of the game and how it’s usually played with high stakes. If you haven’t been to the Casino, it might be hard to guess the word as it’s quite a niche term related to Poker terminology. So, I’d give it a four out of five for difficulty.

NYT Mini Crossword (Oct. 15) answers

Across

• 1A Shrimp ___ (garlicky entree) — SCAMPI
• 7A “Wow, so fancy!” — OH LA LA
• 8A Disney’s take on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen” — FROZEN
• 9A Paid for a poker hand — ANTED

Down

• 1D Common place to find a lost TV remote— SOFA
• 2D With 4-Down, farm attraction in autumn months — CORN
• 3D Tons and tons — A LOT
• 4D See 2-Down — MAZE
• 5D Begged — PLED
• 6D McKellen who played Gandalf — IAN

How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

If the NYT Mini Crossword word games are proving too difficult, you can improve your skills with the LA Times and Washington Post puzzles. However, if you’re looking for a fresh challenge, you can give Strands and Spelling Bee a go.