Essential Crossword Clue
Looking for the answer to “Essential” from the New York Times crossword of December 21, 2025? It has 4 letters. Flip the tiles one at a time, try a hint first, or look through the rest of that puzzle.
Crossword answer
NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 21, 2025
Tap a tile to see one letter, or show the whole answer.
NEED is the answer to “Essential”. It means to have an urgent or essential use for.
Hints
Three clues to the answer, gentle first. Open one at a time.
Hint 1 Meaning
To have an urgent or essential use for.
Hint 2 Anagram
Its letters, scrambled: ENDE.
Hint 3 Another clue
It has also been clued as “___ -to-know basis”.
More clues from the New York Times (December 21, 2025)
Across
- 1. Some Arctic transports9 letters, starts with SSKIPLANES
- 10. S.E.C. football powerhouse, for short4 letters, starts with BBAMA
- 14. 1950s hangout with a jukebox6 letters, starts with SSODASHOP
- 20. Game piece made of four squares9 letters, starts with TTETROMINO
- 21. "The Kite Runner" protagonist4 letters, starts with AAMIR
- 22. Skulks6 letters, starts with PPROWLS
- 23. Joins gradually9 letters, starts with EEASESINTO
- 24. "Doggone it!"4 letters, starts with DDARN
- 25. Treatment6 letters, starts with RREMEDY
- 26. Blue colorant obtained from the indigo plant4 letters, starts with AANIL
- 27. Wrangler alternative3 letters, starts with LLEE
- 28. Brightly colored Mediterranean flowers8 letters, starts with SSUNROSES
- 30. Rap's Run-___3 letters, starts with DDMC
- 31. Course catalog?4 letters, starts with MMENU
- 32. When Aries transitions to Taurus5 letters, starts with AAPRIL
- 34. Sweetly, on scores5 letters, starts with DDOLCE
- 35. "I'll pass"3 letters, starts with NNAH
- 36. Input of certain mining4 letters, starts with DDATA
- 38. Montalbán who played Khan in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"7 letters, starts with RRICARDO
- 40. Timer setting4 letters, starts with OOVEN
- 42. Areas of influence7 letters, starts with SSPHERES
- 45. Mental health org.3 letters, starts with AAPA
- 46. Fraudulently make seem like6 letters, starts with PPALMOFFAS
- 48. Covers completely5 letters, starts with CCOATS
- 49. Wyoming peak5 letters, starts with TTETON
- 51. Like a corporation with a new logo, perhaps9 letters, starts with RREBRANDED
- 54. Comment from someone caught in the rain6 letters, starts with IIMSOAKED
- 56. Yellow avenue in Monopoly7 letters, starts with VVENTNOR
- 58. A bit off, say6 letters, starts with OONSALE
- 59. Hyatt alternative4 letters, starts with OOMNI
- 60. Hard-boiled genre4 letters, starts with NNOIR
- 62. TheForce.net for "Star Wars," for example7 letters, starts with FFANSITE
- 64. Dark side3 letters, starts with YYIN
- 65. Former big name in browsers8 letters, starts with NNETSCAPE
- 67. U.F.O.-watching org.4 letters, starts with SSETI
- 68. By way of, informally4 letters, starts with TTHRU
- 70. Kemo ___ (the Lone Ranger)4 letters, starts with SSABE
- 71. Sailor's patron4 letters, starts with SSTELMO
- 72. Fleetwood Mac hit named for a Celtic goddess8 letters, starts with RRHIANNON
- 76. Daddy3 letters, starts with PPOP
- 79. Eponymous British financier James ___7 letters, starts with BBARCLAY
- 81. By saying this you mean well4 letters, starts with BBIEN
- 82. Wrap seller4 letters, starts with DDELI
- 83. Adopted, as a pet6 letters, starts with TTOOKIN
- 85. Wasn't folded in a suitcase, say7 letters, starts with LLAYFLAT
- 87. Developed, as baby teeth6 letters, starts with GGREWIN
- 89. Sci-fi miniaturizer9 letters, starts with SSHRINKRAY
- 91. Emanations5 letters, starts with AAURAS
- 93. Boldly face5 letters, starts with BBRAVE
- 94. Kind of cipher in which A becomes B, B becomes C, e.g.6 letters, starts with CCAESAR
- 95. Guardians, on a scoreboard3 letters, starts with CCLE
- 96. Bit of birdspeak7 letters, starts with CCHITTER
- 98. Damp, mildewy quality4 letters, starts with MMUST
- 99. They hold water7 letters, starts with VVESSELS
- 102. Silence4 letters, starts with HHUSH
- 103. Lying faceup3 letters, starts with SSUPINE
- 104. ___ Park, Calif.5 letters, starts with MMENLO
- 105. Air5 letters, starts with EETHER
- 107. Disney subsidiary4 letters, starts with EESPN
- 111. A little help?3 letters, starts with EELF
- 112. Evaded, as a sensitive issue8 letters, starts with DDANCEDAROUND
- 114. Some pings, in brief3 letters, starts with IIMS
- 115. "Fie on ___!" (Shakespearean cry)4 letters, starts with TTHEE
- 116. Skips over6 letters, starts with EELIDES
- 118. Few and far between4 letters, starts with RRARE
- 119. Regulars at parks with ramps, informally9 letters, starts with SSKATERATS
- 121. Reply after having one's memory jogged6 letters, starts with YYESYES
- 122. Some time ago4 letters, starts with OONCE
- 123. "What's done is done!"9 letters, starts with GGETOVERIT
- 124. Stick (to)6 letters, starts with AADHERE
- 125. Garden interloper4 letters, starts with WWEED
- 126. Church parts crossing naves9 letters, starts with TTRANSEPTS
Down
- 1. Make furious5 letters, starts with SSTEAM
- 2. "The Family Circus" cartoonist Bil ___5 letters, starts with KKEANE
- 3. Tennis line judge's ruling5 letters, starts with IITSIN
- 4. Duke Ellington classic with the lyric "That was my heart serenading you"12 letters, starts with PPRELUDETOAKISS
- 5. West side of L.A.?3 letters, starts with LLOS
- 6. "Is there still time for me to join you?"7 letters, starts with AAMILATE
- 7. 51 to the hour8 letters, starts with NNINEPAST
- 8. Stage direction5 letters, starts with EENTER
- 9. Phillipa of Broadway3 letters, starts with SSOO
- 10. Grammy winner Erykah4 letters, starts with BBADU
- 11. ___ Gorman, "The Hill We Climb" poet6 letters, starts with AAMANDA
- 12. Copy6 letters, starts with MMIRROR
- 13. Iced-tea-and-lemonade refreshments10 letters, starts with AARNOLDPALMERS
- 14. Spending romp5 letters, starts with SSPREE
- 15. Output of certain mining4 letters, starts with OORES
- 16. Counterpart of a sub3 letters, starts with DDOM
- 17. Fast start?10 letters, starts with AASHWEDNESDAY
- 18. Father, familiarly6 letters, starts with OOLDMAN
- 19. Mentally overpower, with "out"5 letters, starts with PPSYCH
- 28. Like most moccasins6 letters, starts with SSLIPON
- 29. Great Dane of cartoons, informally5 letters, starts with SSCOOB
- 33. More livid6 letters, starts with IIRATER
- 37. Keister, in Leicester4 letters, starts with AARSE
- 39. 2015 chart-topping hit for the Weeknd12 letters, starts with CCANTFEELMYFACE
- 40. Symbolic for its time7 letters, starts with OOFANERA
- 41. Shoe company with an iconic checkerboard design4 letters, starts with VVANS
- 42. Descendant5 letters, starts with SSCION
- 43. Apple: Fr.5 letters, starts with PPOMME
- 44. Is without5 letters, starts with HHASNT
- 47. Rabid in appearance8 letters, starts with FFROTHING
- 50. Woman's nickname that sounds like two letters4 letters, starts with EEVIE
- 51. Rice-A-___4 letters, starts with RRONI
- 52. "Borderlands" director ___ Roth3 letters, starts with EELI
- 53. Hiding place3 letters, starts with DDEN
- 55. Gene pools?8 letters, starts with DDNABANKS
- 57. Org. with its own alphabet4 letters, starts with NNATO
- 61. Abbr. not found on most smartphones4 letters, starts with OOPER
- 63. "Aren't ___ lucky one?!"4 letters, starts with IITHE
- 66. It has a lot of secretaries7 letters, starts with CCABINET
- 67. Shirt collar stiffener4 letters, starts with SSTAY
- 69. Where to find six "presents" in this puzzle?12 letters, starts with UUNDERTHETREE
- 71. Knock ’em dead4 letters, starts with SSLAY
- 72. Coolidge who sang the theme for "Octopussy"4 letters, starts with RRITA
- 73. Just getting started with5 letters, starts with NNEWAT
- 74. Green shade5 letters, starts with OOLIVE
- 75. What Joe Montana was in the '80s5 letters, starts with NNINER
- 76. A TD scores six of these3 letters, starts with PPTS
- 77. "Fancy, that!"3 letters, starts with OOOH
- 78. Prickly denizen of coral reefs10 letters, starts with PPORCUPINEFISH
- 80. Famed lawyer in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial10 letters, starts with CCLARENCEDARROW
- 81. Most minimal6 letters, starts with BBAREST
- 84. Some Korean exports4 letters, starts with KKIAS
- 86. Calmed deceptively6 letters, starts with LLULLED
- 88. Baseball slugger's stat4 letters, starts with RRBIS
- 90. Bird used to deliver messages on "Game of Thrones"5 letters, starts with RRAVEN
- 92. Blueprints8 letters, starts with SSCHEMATA
- 97. Author Zora Neale ___7 letters, starts with HHURSTON
- 98. Noodled on, with "over"6 letters, starts with MMULLED
- 100. Girlfriend in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"6 letters, starts with SSLOANE
- 101. Informant6 letters, starts with SSOURCE
- 103. "Ta-ta!"5 letters, starts with SSEEYA
- 104. Tricky pool shot5 letters, starts with MMASSE
- 106. Someone enjoying a walk in the park5 letters, starts with HHIKER
- 108. Mentally with it5 letters, starts with SSHARP
- 109. ___ four5 letters, starts with PPETIT
- 110. Fits one inside the other5 letters, starts with NNESTS
- 112. Porcine : pigs :: cervine : ___4 letters, starts with DDEER
- 113. Essential4 letters, starts with NNEED
- 117. It might be good for a change3 letters, starts with DDYE
- 119. One who knows the drill?: Abbr.3 letters, starts with SSGT
- 120. Teslas, e.g., for short3 letters, starts with EEVS
Seen before
This clue also appeared in the New York Times on May 16, 2025.
Fresh clues from recent puzzles
Questions
What is the answer to “Essential”?
NEED, 4 letters: to have an urgent or essential use for.
When was “Essential” last seen in a crossword?
In the New York Times crossword of December 21, 2025, and 1 more time before that.
How many letters does the answer have?
4 letters, starting with N.