NYT Mini Crossword Answers: Thursday, September 4, 2025

The New York Times Mini Crossword for Thursday, September 4, 2025, offers another delightful quick puzzle experience with a nice mix of geography, pop culture, and wordplay. Here are all the answers to help your complete today’s grid.

Across Clues and Answers

1A – National park in the Canadian Rockies
Answer: BANFF

6A – Elevator choice
Answer: FLOOR

7A – Means of transport in Seattle, San Francisco and New York
Answer: FERRY

8A – Unlikely chef in a 2007 Pixar film
Answer: RAT

9A – “Honor ___ father …”
Answer: THY

Down Clues and Answers

1D – Closest pal, informally
Answer: BFF

2D – Text notification, e.g.
Answer: ALERT

3D – Jones who sang “Come Away With Me”
Answer: NORAH

4D – Number of thieves faced by Ali Baba
Answer: FORTY

5D – Loose item at the bottom of a fast-food bag, perhaps
Answer: FRY

Puzzle Highlights

Today’s Thursday puzzle strikes an excellent balance between accessibility and challenge. The grid features a diverse range of references:

• Geography: BANFF National Park represents one of Canada’s most famous natural landmarks in the Rocky Mountains
• Transportation: FERRY connects three major coastal cities known for their water transit systems
• Pop Culture: The RAT reference cleverly points to Remy from Pixar’s “Ratatouille” (2007)
• Music: NORAH refers to jazz singer Norah Jones and her breakthrough album
• Literature: The FORTY thieves from the classic Ali Baba tale

About the Mini Crossword

The NYT Mini Crossword is a condensed 5×5 version of the traditional crossword puzzle, designed for quick daily solving. Released at 10 PM ET on weekdays and 6 PM ET on weekends, it provides the perfect bite-sized mental workout.

The puzzle follows a weekly difficulty progression, with Monday being the easiest and Saturday featuring the most complex wordplay. Thursday puzzles like today’s typically offer moderate challenge with clever clues that reward both general knowledge and lateral thinking.