NYT Midi Crossword Clue · Across · 30-A
Popular high school sport, for short ... or a description of the circled squares in this puzzle
Tap each tile to reveal the answer
Stuck? Tap one tile at a time for a gentle nudge, or reveal the full answer.
Letters
2
Direction
Across
Clue #
30
Starts with
X
Ends with
C
Vowels
0
About this clue
The clue “Popular high school sport, for short ... or a description of the circled squares in this puzzle” appeared in the New York Times Midi Crossword on Sunday, March 8, 2026, at position 30-A. The answer is a 2-letter word that starts with X and ends with C.
This puzzle was titled “Cross-Country Meet” and constructed by Ian Livengood.
The Midi Crossword sits between the lightning-fast Mini and the full daily, so its cluing tends toward punny misdirection rather than obscure trivia. The vowel pattern is balanced, suggesting a common English word.
How to solve this clue
If you're stuck on this Midi clue, here are angles that often help:
- Crosscheck with the perpendicular entries. Fill the Down entries that cross this one and the letters will usually reveal the answer.
- Watch for the puzzle title. Midi puzzles usually carry a small theme — long Across entries that share a wordplay link.
- Mind the part of speech. Singular clue takes a singular answer; past tense takes -ED or an irregular past form.
- Short answers recur. Three- and four-letter entries often repeat across thousands of NYT puzzles — abbreviations, articles, and short proper nouns.
- Trust your first instinct. If a clue feels easy in the Midi, it usually is — the puzzle is designed to be solvable in three to five minutes.