You're staring at your phone. It’s 11:15 PM, or maybe it’s 7:30 AM and you haven’t had coffee yet. The grid is mocking you. You need a four-letter word for remove from a clothesline say NYT and your brain is just cycling through "take," "grab," "drop"... none of them fit.
If you’ve played the New York Times Crossword or their wildly popular "Connections" game, you know the feeling. It’s that specific brand of mental itch. The answer, of course, is UNPIN. Or sometimes REAP. Or maybe TAKE IN.
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Crosswords aren't just about knowing facts. They’re about understanding how the editors—folks like Will Shortz or Sam Ezersky—think about the mundane chores of life. Laundry isn't just laundry in the NYT universe. It’s a goldmine for puns, tricky verbs, and vowel-heavy fillers that keep the puzzle industry alive.
The Linguistic Gymnastics of Laundry Day
Why does the NYT love the clothesline? Honestly, it’s because the vocabulary of hanging clothes is weirdly versatile. Think about the word "pin." It’s a noun. It’s a verb. It can be part of a wrestling move or a piece of jewelry. When a clue asks you to remove from a clothesline say NYT style, it’s often testing whether you can pivot from the physical act of grabbing a shirt to the mechanical act of releasing a fastener.
The most common answer is UNPIN. It’s a perfect crossword word. You’ve got those beautiful vowels (U and I) and common consonants (N and P). It appears in puzzles because it bridges the gap between the "Monday easy" and the "Saturday brutal" difficulty levels.
But let’s get real. Nobody actually says "I’m going to go unpin the laundry." We say "I’m bringing the clothes in." This gap between how we talk and how we solve is where the frustration lives.
Why the "Say" Matters in a Clue
In crossword-speak, when a clue ends with "say" or has a question mark, the editors are signaling that the answer is an example or a bit of wordplay. Remove from a clothesline say NYT clues are classic examples of this. They aren't asking for a scientific definition. They want you to think laterally.
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If the clue is "Remove from a clothesline?", the answer might be DE-LINE. Get it? Removing it from the line. It’s a pun. It’s slightly annoying. It’s exactly why people pay for the subscription.
The Cultural Shift of the Clothesline
There’s a bit of nostalgia at play here. In much of the United States, clotheslines have been replaced by the roar of the electric dryer. Yet, in the NYT Crossword, we are forever living in a world of wicker baskets and wooden pegs.
According to data from the Energy Information Administration, about 80% of American households use a clothes dryer. The clothesline is becoming a relic, a vintage aesthetic favored by those living "off-grid" or in particularly windy parts of the country like the Great Plains. This makes laundry clues feel like a secret handshake for a certain generation or a specific type of hobbyist.
The Physics of the Pin
If you’ve ever actually used a clothesline, you know it’s not just about "removing." It’s a battle against the elements. You’re fighting wind, gravity, and the occasional bird.
- The Wooden Peg: The classic spring-loaded clip. When you unpin these, you have to be careful not to let the spring snap and fly into the grass.
- The C-Clip: Those plastic ones that always seem to shatter in the sun.
- The Drape: Sometimes you don't even use pins. You just drape the towel over the line. In that case, the answer to our favorite clue might just be TAKE.
The NYT editors know that we know this. They use that shared cultural memory to trip us up. They might use a clue like "Laundry day chore" to lead you to DRYING, only to reveal the answer is actually AIRING.
Decoding the NYT "Connections" Logic
Lately, the search for remove from a clothesline say NYT hasn't just been about the crossword. It’s about Connections. This game requires you to group four words that share a common thread.
I’ve seen categories where the link is "Things You Do to Laundry."
- Fold
- Wash
- Dry
- Unpin
The trick in Connections is the "red herring." The game might give you words like PIN, NEEDLE, THIMBLE, and BARK. You think: "Sewing!" But then you realize PIN belongs with the laundry category, and BARK belongs with things a dog does. It’s a psychological game.
Expert solvers like Deb Amlen, who writes the "Wordplay" column for the Times, often point out that the difficulty isn't in the word itself. It’s in the "misdirection." You see "Pin" and you think of a bowling alley or a Pinterest board. You don't think of a damp pair of jeans hanging in a backyard in 1954.
The Persistence of the "Laundry" Category
Why does this specific topic keep coming up? Honestly, it's because it's universal. Everyone, from a billionaire in a Manhattan penthouse to a student in a dorm, has to deal with clothes. It’s one of the few topics that doesn’t require a PhD or a deep knowledge of 1970s jazz fusion to solve. It’s accessible.
But accessibility doesn't mean it's easy. The English language is a mess of synonyms. "Remove" could mean:
- Detach
- Unfasten
- Strip
- Clear
- Bring in
Each one of these has a different letter count. Each one fits a different grid.
How to Get Better at These Clues
If you're tired of getting stuck, you have to stop thinking like a normal person. Stop thinking about your actual laundry room. Start thinking about the shape of the words.
Crossword puzzles are built on a skeleton of "helper words." These are short, common words that help link the longer, more interesting answers together. UNPIN is the king of helper words. If you see a three or four-letter space and the clue mentions a clothesline, a map, or a wrestling mat, your brain should immediately start cycling through P-I-N variations.
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Real Talk: The Frustration is the Point
Let's be honest. Sometimes the clues are just bad. There are days when you fill in the answer and think, "Nobody has ever said that in the history of the world."
I remember a puzzle where the answer was LINE DRY. The clue was something about "Natural laundry method." Technically correct? Yes. Is it something you'd say while standing in your laundry room? Probably not. You'd just say, "I'm hanging this up."
But that's the contract we sign with the NYT. We agree to play in their slightly formal, slightly eccentric version of the English language. We accept that "Aha!" moment when we finally realize that remove from a clothesline say NYT is just a fancy way of saying UNPIN.
Actionable Tips for Your Next Puzzle
If you find yourself staring at a laundry-related clue, follow this mental checklist to break the deadlock:
- Count the boxes first. It sounds obvious, but it’s the most important step. A three-letter answer is almost certainly PIN or DRY. A five-letter answer is likely UNPIN.
- Check the tense. If the clue is "Removed from a clothesline," the answer must be past tense—likely ending in -ED. Look for UNPINNED.
- Look for the "Say" or "?". If it’s there, think about puns. Could the "line" be a line of dialogue in a play? Could "remove" mean "delete"?
- Ignore the fluff. Words like "perhaps," "maybe," and "say" are just there to tell you that the clue is one of many possibilities. Focus on the core action: Remove + Clothesline.
- Use the crosses. If you're 100% sure that a vertical word is "OBOE," and it gives you a 'B' in the middle of your laundry answer... well, it probably isn't UNPIN. It might be BRING IN.
The next time you’re tackling the NYT daily, and you see that familiar laundry prompt, don’t overthink it. It’s not a trick question about the thermodynamics of evaporation. It’s just a simple, old-fashioned clip.
Next Steps for the Avid Solver:
Start keeping a "clue journal" on your phone. Whenever you encounter a word like UNPIN or REAP that uses a "clothesline" or "harvest" metaphor, jot it down. You’ll notice the same patterns repeating every few months. The NYT has a vocabulary "rotation," and once you learn the cycle, you’ll start finishing the Monday and Tuesday puzzles in record time. Grab a pencil—or just keep tapping your screen—and get back to the grid.