‘Tended to, as a squeaky wheel’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

Taking care of something can be an enjoyable endeavor—if you know how to take care of it, that is. As “tended to, as a squeaky wheel” is one of today’s NYT crossword clues, knowing how to tend to something like that might not be obvious.

This squeaky clue’s six across in the Sept. 18 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle. And if you’re wondering what the answer is, you’ll find it below.

‘Tended to, as a squeaky wheel’ NYT Mini Crossword clue Sept. 18 hints and answer

• Hint 1: It contained three vowels.
• Hint 2: It starts with an “O.”
• Hint 3: It ends with a “D.”
• Hint 4: It rhymes with boiled.

The answer to the “Tended to, as a squeaky wheel” clue from the Sept. 18 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle is “OILED.” Typically, when something squeaks, it’s either ridiculously clean or needs a bit of oil. If you’ve already oiled the object that was squeaking (like a wheel), that means you’ve already oiled it, which is how it ties in with today’s crossword clue.

All Sept. 18 clues and answers from the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle

Across

• 1A Doc treating a dachshund — VET
• 4A “Nice going!” — BRAVO
• 6A Tended to, as a squeaky wheel — OILED
• 7A Drop a few bucks — SPEND
• 8A Last word before the starting pistol goes off—SET

Down

• 1D Parking pro — VALET
• 2D Divisible by two — EVEN
• 3D Mary___Lincoln, first lady of the 1860s — TODD
• 4D Mr. Burns’s relationship to Homer Simpson — BOSS
• 5D Ready for picking — RIPE

How difficult is the NYT crossword clue ‘Tended to, as a squeaky wheel’?

Today’s crossword clue wasn’t all too difficult, and you could solve it after completing some of the surrounding crossword clues. But right off the bat, it may have stumped a few NYT players because of how strangely this clue was phrased or because they weren’t sure what they’d need to do to fix a squeaky wheel. While it wasn’t impossible to solve, it was a tricky one, which is why I’m giving it a difficulty rating of three out of five.

Best games to play after completing today’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle

If you’ve finished today’s crossword puzzle and want to try more mini crosswords, try the ones offered by the LA Times or the Washington Post. But if you would like to try a word-based game, like a word search or a spelling challenge, then try Strands or Spelling Bee.