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Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, March 31

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 31.

Headshot of Gael Cooper
Headshot of Gael Cooper
Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
NYT Mini Crossword game

Need the answers for today's NYT Mini Crossword?

 James Martin/CNET

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today's Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

I was so stumped by one clue in today's Mini Crossword that I wondered if the vaunted New York Times had made a typo. (Spoiler: They did not, and I eventually figured out 2-Down.) Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let's get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

completed-nyt-mini-crossword-puzzle-for-march-31-2026.png

The completed NYT Mini Crossword for March 31, 2026.

 NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: "Paradise" or "Lost"
Answer: SHOW

5A clue: Hawaiian island with the famous Road to Hana
Answer: MAUI

6A clue: ___Zeneca (pharma company)
Answer: ASTRA

8A clue: "Stainless" metal
Answer: STEEL

9A clue: One half of a centaur
Answer: HORSE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Massive success
Answer: SMASH

2D clue: Must
Answer: HASTO

3D clue: ___ boroughs (term for the non-Manhattan parts of New York City)
Answer: OUTER

4D clue: Electrician's specialty
Answer: WIRES

7D clue: Bar beverage
Answer: ALE