‘Purple flower that symbolizes one’s first love’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

Are you familiar with different flower types and what they signify? I love gardening, but I have to admit today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue, “Purple flower that symbolizes one’s first love,” really made me think about the flower that stands for first love—not the iconic rose flower, which is usually associated with love.

If today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue has you scratching your head, our hints and solutions are here to help you breeze through the puzzle.

‘Purple flower that symbolizes one’s first love’ NYT Oct. 21 Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: The answer is the flower whose bloom is short-lived, typically lasting only a few weeks in spring.
• Hint 2: The five-letter solution is a flower with a sweet and floral scent, which is used to make perfumes or candles.
• Hint 3: It starts with the letter “L.”
• Hint 4: The solution is a flower popular in colder climates because it can withstand low temperatures.

Let’s jump in and reveal the answer.

The answer to six across in the Oct. 21 New York Times Mini Crossword is “LILAC.” According to floriography, the language of the flowers, lilacs, especially in purple, stand for first love, which fits perfectly with the clue in hand. White lilacs symbolize purity, love, and youthful innocence in many cultures.

‘Purple flower that symbolizes one’s first love’ NYT Mini Crossword difficulty rating

Even though I enjoy gardening, I don’t find myself planting a lot of lilas here, so I wasn’t aware that the purple variant of the delicate but sweet flower stands for first love. However, if you’re good with floriography, you should be able to answer the clue in no time. So, I’d give it a three out of five for difficulty. 

NYT Mini Crossword (Oct. 21) answers

Across

• 1A Toe — (goofy term for a pad on a cat’s foot) — BEAN
• 5A Tummy — BELLY
• 6A Purple flower that symbolizes one’s first love — LILAC
• 7A Matures, as cheese — AGES
• 8A Feathery farm female — HEN

Down

• 1D “Sad” color joked about in viral TikTok videos — BEIGE
• 2D Comedian DeGeneres — ELLEN
• 3D “‘Tis a pity!” — ALAS
• 4D Home o’ MoMA — NYC
• 5D Just kinda meh — BLAH

How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

If the NYT Mini Crossword word games feel like a roadblock, the LA Times and Washington Post will help you push through by trying out different crosswords. However, you can also try Strands and Spelling Bee, which are great to increase your vocabulary.