Rooney of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo NYT Crossword clue hints and answers

“Rooney of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” is a very media-based clue in the July 18 NYT Mini Crossword, and if you don’t know the film, you’ll get burned.

The NYT Mini Crossword word game hopes you’ve seen the film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. If you have, it makes the “Rooney” clue much easier in this puzzle.

Rooney of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo NYT July 18 Crossword solution

• Hint 1: Rhymes with a popular fashion brand.
• Hint 2: Of the four letters, two are the same. 
• Hint 3: The first name rhymes with an action hero and video game heroine.
• Hint 4: It begins with an “M.”

That’s about as close as I can get you to the finishing line without giving away the answer, so here’s the final solution.

The answer to four down for the July 18 NYT Mini Crossword is “MARA.” Again, if you haven’t watched the English version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the likelihood of you knowing Rooney Mara is slim—and even then.

Regardless, Lisbeth Salander is one of the main characters in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and as you might have guessed, she is played by Mara Rooney!

All July 18 NYT Mini Crossword answers

Across

• 1A “Well, that’s odd …” — HUH
• 4A What a D.J. is in charge of — MUSIC
• 6A ___ acid (protein building block) — AMINO
• 7A Total stranger, in slang — RANDO
• 8A Beef variety for a hamburger — ANGUS

Down

• 1D Word with nature or pretzel — HUMAN
• 2D Taking advantage of — USING
• 3D Like the deities Shiva and Ganesha — HINDU
• 4D Rooney of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” — MARA
• 5D Sounds from a dovecote — COOS

Difficulty of July 18 NYT Rooney of ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ clue

I’ve heard so much about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but I have never read the book, nor watched the film (or miniseries). If you’re like me, the difficulty is four stars and even touching five. Given that it’s the start of several other clues, this can ultimately hurt you or set you up for the rest of the crossword.

How to play more crosswords and puzzles like NYT Mini, explained

Now that the stress of this clue is done, you can get dialed into some other puzzles. The LA Times and Washington Post do this very nicely, and for a little bit extra, be sure to try out Strands and Spelling Bee, too, if you haven’t already.