Gaping Hole NYT Crossword: Why This Clue Is Such a Headache

You’re staring at your phone, the blue cursor is blinking, and you’ve got three letters filled in but nothing is clicking. We've all been there. The gaping hole nyt crossword clue is one of those classic New York Times curveballs that makes you want to toss your device across the room. It sounds so literal. You start thinking about sinkholes, or maybe a literal abyss, or that weird feeling in your stomach when you realize you forgot to pay the electric bill. But in the world of Will Shortz and Joel Fagliano, words rarely mean what they seem to mean at first glance.

The NYT crossword thrives on ambiguity. It’s a game of synonyms that live in the peripheral vision of your vocabulary. When you see "gaping hole," your brain likely jumps to "CAVERN" or "CHASM." Those are fine words. They just rarely fit the grid when this specific clue pops up on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. Most of the time, the answer is far more mundane, yet frustratingly elusive.

The Usual Suspects for Gaping Hole

The most common answer for a gaping hole nyt crossword clue is ABYSS. It’s five letters. It’s elegant. It’s dramatic. It fits perfectly into those tight corners of the Monday or Tuesday puzzles. But wait. Sometimes the puzzle wants to be a bit more "crossword-y." That’s when you get YAWN.

Think about it.

When you yawn, your mouth becomes a gaping hole. It’s a bit of a "groaner" clue, which is a staple of the NYT style. If the clue is "Gaping hole?" with a question mark, you can almost bet your Sunday subscription that it's a play on words rather than a geological feature. The question mark is the editor's way of winking at you. It means: "Hey, don't take this literally, I'm being a bit of a prankster here."

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Then there's HIATUS. This one shows up when the "hole" is metaphorical—a gap in time or a break in a series. If you’re looking at a six-letter word and "YAWN" or "ABYSS" isn't working, check your crosses for that 'H' or 'S.' Honestly, crossword construction is as much about the architecture of the grid as it is about the definitions. A constructor might need a word ending in 'S' to make a plural work vertically, so suddenly your "hole" becomes a "hiatus."

Why Crossword Puzzles Use This Clue So Often

The English language is messy. That messiness is a goldmine for people like Sam Ezersky. "Gaping hole" is a fantastic clue because it can be a noun, an adjective-noun combo, or even a verb descriptor.

1. CHASM: Deep, wide, and often used in late-week puzzles (Friday/Saturday) where the vocabulary gets a bit more "GRE prep."
2. VOID: Four letters. Simple. It’s the "O" and the "I" that usually help you solve the intersecting words.
3. ORAL: This is a bit of a stretch, but sometimes the clue refers to the "oral cavity." It’s rare, but in a themed puzzle about anatomy, it’s fair game.
4. APERTURE: If you see this one, you’re probably playing a Saturday puzzle. It’s technical. It’s fancy. It’s very NYT.

The variety is the point. If every "gaping hole" was just "ABYSS," the puzzle would be a chore, not a challenge. We solve these things to feel that tiny hit of dopamine when the "Aha!" moment strikes. That moment usually happens when you realize the clue wasn't talking about the Grand Canyon, but about a bored person's mouth.

Cracking the NYT Code

How do you actually get better at this? You have to stop thinking like a dictionary and start thinking like a setter. The NYT Crossword has a specific "vibe." It’s academic but witty. It loves puns. It loves pop culture from 1974 and 2024 simultaneously.

When you see gaping hole nyt crossword clues, look at the day of the week.

Monday puzzles are literal. "Gaping hole" might actually just be "CAVE."
As the week progresses, the clues get "cutesy." By Thursday, "gaping hole" could be part of a rebus where you have to fit the word "HOLE" into a single square. It’s maddening. It’s brilliant.

I remember one specific puzzle where the answer was LACUNA. I had never used that word in a sentence in my entire life. I had to get every single crossing word just to see what it was. That’s the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) of the NYT Crossword—it forces you to learn the "crosswordese" that exists in this weird vacuum of knowledge.

Common "Hole" Variations to Watch Out For

Sometimes the "hole" isn't gaping at all. It’s tiny. Or it’s a "pocket." Or it’s a "breach."

• Breach: Often used in the context of security or a dam.
• Rift: A favorite for three-letter slots.
• Vent: Four letters, usually related to volcanoes or clothes.
• Pit: The simplest version, often appearing in early-week puzzles.

If you’re stuck, look at the suffixes. Does the word need to be an adjective? Maybe the answer is AGAPE. If the clue is "Standing with a gaping hole," and the answer is five letters, "AGAPE" is a very strong contender. It describes the state of the hole (the mouth) rather than the hole itself. This is a common trap for beginners. They look for the noun when the puzzle wants the adjective.

Practical Steps to Master the Grid

Don't just guess. Crosswords are a game of intersections. If you're stuck on the gaping hole nyt crossword clue, move to the "Downs."

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Start with the short words. Three-letter words are the "connective tissue" of the puzzle. Look for "ERA," "ION," "ORE," or "ALOE." These are the usual suspects that fill the gaps between the longer, more complex answers. Once you get the first letter of your "gaping hole" word, the options narrow down significantly. If the first letter is 'A,' it’s probably ABYSS or AGAPE. If it’s 'C,' you’re looking at CHASM or CAVITY.

Another trick: read the clue out loud. Sometimes hearing the words helps you catch a pun that your eyes missed. "Gaping hole" sounds very serious. But if you say it with a bit of a smirk, you might realize it's a joke about a missing tooth or a literal "HOLE" in a donut.

The Evolution of NYT Clues

In the old days, clues were much more rigid. Today, under the influence of modern constructors, the NYT crossword is much more conversational. It reflects how we actually talk. This means "gaping hole" might even refer to a "plot hole" in a movie. If the answer is five letters and starts with 'P,' try PLOTS. No, wait, that doesn't fit the "hole" part. Try GAP. Just GAP. Sometimes the simplest answer is the one we overlook because we’re trying to be too smart for our own good.

Actually, the word GORGE is another frequent flier. It’s evocative. It fits that "gaping" descriptor perfectly. You’ll see it a lot in puzzles that have a nature or geography theme.

Actionable Tips for Your Next Solve

To stop getting stumped by these types of clues, try these specific tactics:

• Check for the Question Mark: If "Gaping hole?" has that little hook at the end, immediately stop thinking about caves and start thinking about puns, body parts, or metaphors.
• The "Cross-Reference" Rule: If you have a word like "ABYSS," check the "Down" clues for high-frequency letters like E, S, or T. If the "Down" clue is "Common street name" (often ELM or MAIN), and the letters don't line up, ditch ABYSS immediately.
• Use a Solver as a Learning Tool: There is no shame in using a site like Wordplay (the official NYT crossword column) or XWord Info to see how a clue has been used in the past. It’s not cheating; it’s research. You’ll start to see patterns. You’ll realize that "gaping hole" has been used 50 times in the last decade, and 40 of those times, the answer was one of the four words we discussed.
• Look for Plurals: If the clue is "Gaping holes," the answer almost certainly ends in 'S.' It sounds obvious, but in the heat of a timed Saturday solve, it's easy to forget. ABYSSES is a rare but possible answer. CHASMS is much more common.

Crosswords are a language of their own. The more you play, the more you realize that a "gaping hole" isn't just a physical space—it's a three, four, or five-letter unit of logic designed to test how flexibly you can think about the English language. Keep your pencil sharp (or your screen bright) and remember that the answer is usually simpler than you think.

Essential Next Steps

1. Analyze the "Downs": Before committing to a long word like "CHASM," solve at least two intersecting three-letter words to confirm the vowels.
2. Verify the Punctuation: Always look for the question mark at the end of the "gaping hole" clue; it's the difference between a literal geological feature and a pun about a yawn.
3. Study "Crosswordese": Familiarize yourself with common four-letter "hole" synonyms like VOID, VENT, and RIFT which appear disproportionately in NYT grids due to their useful letter combinations.