‘With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

To solve one of today’s NYT Mini Crossword clues, you have to connect two answers from the puzzle. The “With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection” hint can be tricky to solve because of this.

Connecting clues like this one always makes the puzzle a lot trickier. If you want the answer, it’s essential to solve both, so here are some hints and the solution for the “With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection” clue on the Nov. 1 NYT Mini Crossword.

‘With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection’ Nov. 1 NYT Mini Crossword hints

• Hint 1: It starts with the letter “W.”
• Hint 2: On its own, this word refers to simple beauty.
• Hint 3: It ends with the letter “I.”
• Hint 4: It rhymes with “BOBBY” and “HOBBY.”

I’m going to reveal the answer now, so make sure you have your best guess before reading on.

‘With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection’ NYT Mini answer

The solution for the “With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection” clue on the Nov. 1 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle is “WABI,” which pairs with the five down clue “SABI.” Together, these words make “WABI-SABI,” a Japanese worldview that admires accepting imperfection.

‘With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection’ clue difficulty rating

Clues that require two different hints to solve them are always quite tricky. This one is especially tough unless you’re familiar with the specific Japanese philosophy.

I had no idea what the answer was for either connecting clue, so this one really stumped me. It’s a very clever and tricky hint to solve, so I’m giving it a full five out of five difficulty rating since I can’t see it getting much harder than this.

All Nov. 1 NYT Mini Crossword clues and answers

Across

• 1A With 5-Down, rhyming Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection — WABI
• 5A Sneaker bottoms — SOLES
• 6A Typeface similar to Helvetica — ARIAL
• 7A Piece of grass — BLADE
• 8A Personal items checked by bouncers — IDS

Down

• 1D Disney _____ — WORLD
• 2D Pen name — ALIAS
• 3D Pearl in a pearl necklace, e.g. — BEAD
• 4D Bit of land in the ocean — ISLE
• 5D See 1-Across — SABI

Best games like the NYT Mini Crossword

The word game fun doesn’t have to end after you finish today’s NYT Mini Crossword. There are plenty of other great word games worth playing like the LA Times and the Washington Post. You also might consider trying Strands and Spelling Bee if you want something different from the classic crossword puzzle.