What’s the first thing that you usually do after waking up in the morning? I typically cherish my morning coffee with a bit of yoga. Today’s NYT Mini Crossword clue, “Do first thing in the morning,” asks you to find an act relating to your messy look by solving a wordplay.
If today’s NYT Mini Crossword seems tough, you can use our hints and answers to breeze through the crossword and move on to other clues.
‘Do first thing in the morning?’ NYT Nov. 30 Mini Crossword hints and answer
- Hint 1: The answer is the opposite of a perfect hairstyle.
- Hint 2: The seven-letter solution also refers to a bedroom ornament
- Hint 3: It starts with the letter “B.”
- Hint 4: The solution is something that happens naturally after a good night’s sleep, if you have medium to long hair.
It’s time to reveal the answer.
The answer to three down in the Nov. 30 New York Times Mini Crossword is “BEDHEAD.” The word is a colloquial term for messy or tousled hair caused by sleeping in bed, and it is also what you use to define the headboard of the bed. The clue refers to the shortened version of the word “hairdo” by using “do” which refers to good hair. The next part of the clue suggests the time when you first wake up before you fix your hair—or the headboard being the first thing you see when you wake u—giving you a deliberate distraction to make it harder for you to solve the clue.
The “bedhead” hairstyle has been embraced by stars like Kristen Stewart and Harry Styles, who often sport a messy look.
‘Do first thing in the morning?’ NYT Mini Crossword difficulty rating
Whenever a clue ends with the question mark, my NYT wordplay senses wake up, and I know that it’s not going to be an obvious answer. At first glance, the clue might seem to ask about something you physically do when you wake up in the morning, such as brushing your teeth or making coffee, but it refers to two different things entirely.
The word bedhead doesn’t make it to the regular person’s everyday vocabulary. It’s more common in casual speech or pop culture than in formal contexts. But, if you have small hair, then you might not grasp the answer immediately, and it might take you a while to find the answer. As for the bed-head part, it’s a bit of a Britishism, with “headboard” as a commonly used alternative you might be more familiar with. So, I’d give it a five out of five for difficulty.
NYT Mini Crossword (Nov. 30) answers
Across
- 1A Bro and sis, e.g. — SIBS
- 5A Range that divides Europe into wet northern and dry southern climates — THE ALPS
- 9A Beef and lamb, but not chicken or turkey — RED MEAT
- 10A “Say ___!” (doctor’s request) — AAH
- 11A By way of — VIA
- 12A It’s a gift — PRESENT
- 14A Old-fashioned way to attach documents — STAPLES
- 15A “___ Kapital” — DAS
Down
- 1D What a tube top lacks — STRAPS
- 2D Radio streaming network since 2008, familiarly — IHEART
- 3D Do first thing in the morning? — BEDHEAD
- 4D ___ the Eagle, Muppet who once thought “The Sound of Music” was written by Shakespeare — SAM
- 6D Video game segments — LEVELS
- 7D “Common Sense” writer Thomas — PAINE
- 8D Fantasy sports fodder — STATS
- 13D Place for a body scrub — SPA
How to play other word games like the NYT Mini Crossword
When the NYT Mini Crossword word games test your patience, you can always use your hand at the LA Times and Washington Post to enhance your brain muscles. However, if you’re looking for more fun puzzles, you can play Strands and Spelling Bee, which are great alternatives.
