‘Respectful denial’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

For today’s “Respectful denial” NYT Mini Crossword puzzle, you need to come up with a polite way of refuting something or someone. This can be tough to do, so unsurprisingly, this is a pretty tricky clue to solve.

This clue is two down and five letters long, which means solving it is sure to help you work through the rest of the puzzle, too. If you’re having trouble decoding the answer for the Sept. 6 “Respectful denial” clue, here are some hints and the official answer to help you solve it.

‘Respectful denial’ NYT Mini Crossword clue Sept. 6 hints

• Hint 1: It’s technically two words but is written as one for this puzzle.
• Hint 2: The first word is two letters and the second word is three letters.
• Hint 3: The first word is “NO.”
• Hint 4: An anagram for the solution is “IRONS.”

Stop here until you’re ready to learn the answer to this clue, because I’m going to reveal it now.

‘Respectful denial’ NYT Mini answer

The answer to today’s “Respectful denial” NYT Mini Crossword clue is “NOSIR.” This is a fancy and polite way of denying or disagreeing with something, which makes it exactly the “Respectful denial” we’re looking for.

‘Respectful denial’ clue difficulty rating

It’s always quite tricky to solve crossword clues when the solution is two words, but it doesn’t tell you that. And even if you do realize it’s two, it can still be a pretty tough one to solve, so I’m giving this NYT Mini Crossword clue a four out of five difficulty rating. It’s one of the tougher ones I’ve seen.

All Sept. 6 NYT Mini Crossword clues and answers

Across

• 1A Pioneering video game in which you sliter around and eat apples — SNAKE
• 6A Mailing alternative to a home address — POBOX
• 7A Grammy winner Hayes — ISAAC
• 8A Words on a book’s spine — TITLE
• 9A Bona fide — REAL

Down

• 1D ___valve (Drainage feature on a brass instrument) — SPIT
• 2D Respectful denial — NOSIR
• 3D Subside — ABATE
• 4D Animal whose closest living relative is the wombat — KOALA
• 5D Microsoft’s alternative to Google Sheets — EXCEL

Games like the NYT Mini Crossword

The word game fun doesn’t have to end when you finish filling out today’s NYT Mini Crossword because there are plenty of other puzzles like it. If you want to work on some other crosswords, you may enjoy the LA Times or the Washington Post. You can also mix things up by trying a different type of word game like Strands or Spelling Bee for a fresh experience.