‘Top-flight athlete’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

Do you love watching baseball or basketball closely and cheer your icons passionately? Today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue “Top-flight athlete” tests your knowledge on various fronts such as sports’s highly rated players and even an elusive Air Force program. 

If you’re struggling with the clue, here are today’s hints and answers for the NYT Mini Crossword on Sept. 7 to easily answer the crossword. 

‘Top-flight athlete’ NYT Sept. 7 Mini Crossword hints and answer

• Hint 1: The answer is a player who makes it to the special team of top performers in sports such as Baseball and Basketball.
• Hint 2: The seven-letter solution is a combination of two words making up a phrase, usually separated by a hyphen.
• Hint 3: It starts with the letter “A.”
• Hint 4: The solution’s one of the words is related to astronomy.

Let’s stop flying high in the glory and reveal the answer. 

Did you see it coming? The answer to five down in the Sept. 7 NYT Mini Crossword is “ALLSTAR.” The clue “Top-flight athlete” has two clues hidden in it for you to guess. One is the obvious “top athlete” part which refers to the athlete who has been recognized for outstanding performance in their sport, often being selected for an “All-Star” team or event, such as the NBA or MLB All-Star Game.

However, the next part of “top flight” points towards the elite pilots in the Air Force, specifically those in the “Top Gun” program, which refers to the best of the best, denoting the “All-Star” roster of fighter pilots. 

‘Top-flight athlete’ NYT Mini Crossword difficulty rating

Saturday’s NYT Mini Crossword is often the hardest one to crack and this clue is a testament to that fact. The clue takes you for a spin with that flight word in there but, if you stay clear of its clever way of making you overlook the top athlete part then you should be on the right track. I’d give it a four out of five for difficulty.

NYT Mini Crossword (Sept. 7) answers

Across

• 1A Gross thing to find stuck under a desk— GUM
• 4A New ___ (browser button)— TAB
• 7A Common lunch hour— ONE
• 8A Ex-QB Manning— ELI
• 9A The dad in the “That’s my dad!” moment from the 2024 Democratic National Convention— TIM WALZ
• 11A Nail polish layers — COATS
• 12A Many top 10 Billboard songs— POP HITS
• 14A 401(k) alternative, in brief— IRA
• 15A One may read “You Are Here”— MAP
• 16A Conclude— END
• 17A What each of Taylor Swift’s albums represents, to Swifties— ERA

Down

• 1D Acquired— GOT
• 2D Mythical creature that’s a national symbol of Scotland— UNICORN
• 3D Accessory for notes and doodles— MEMO PAD
• 4D Afternoon break for a cuppa— TEA TIME
• 5D Top-flight athlete— ALLSTAR
• 6D Slang for the entertainment industry, with “the” — BIZ
• 10D Baby’s cry — WAH
• 12D Circular kind of chart — PIE
• 13D “Me day” destination — SPA

How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword

Do you enjoy spending your mornings solving word games like the NYT Mini Crossword? Then you should consider solving the LA Times and the Washington Post. However, if you are bored with crosswords then Strands and Spelling Bee, are great options to boost your vocabulary.