He was né Clay Crossword Clue
Looking for the answer to “He was né Clay” from the New York Times crossword of July 5, 2026? It has 3 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, JULY 5, 2026
Tap a tile to see one letter, or show the whole answer.
ALI is the answer to “He was né Clay”.
Hints
Three clues to the answer, gentle first. Open one at a time.
Hint 1 Meaning
A 3-letter answer that starts with A.
Hint 2 Anagram
Its letters, scrambled: ILA.
Hint 3 Another clue
It has also been clued as “Actor Mahershala”.
More clues from the New York Times (July 5, 2026)
Across
- 1. Firm up7 letters, starts with SSTIFFEN
- 8. Capital city on the Gulf of Guinea5 letters, starts with AACCRA
- 13. Gamer's pursuit6 letters, starts with EESPORT
- 19. Aid for a violin player8 letters, starts with CCHINREST
- 20. Crocs and mocs5 letters, starts with SSHOES
- 21. Kind of costume that includes a round hat and kerchief6 letters, starts with SSAILOR
- 22. {Elijah, Ruth, Natalie}14 letters, starts with BBABEINTHEWOODS
- 24. "Send a quick reminder"6 letters, starts with PPINGME
- 25. "___ it and rip it!" (aggressive golfer's mantra)4 letters, starts with GGRIP
- 26. Org. for those leaving the workforce4 letters, starts with AAARP
- 27. Product displays seen at entrances to store aisles7 letters, starts with EENDCAPS
- 28. {Kerouac, Dubya, Ginsberg}18 letters, starts with BBEATSAROUNDTHEBUSH
- 35. Colored4 letters, starts with HHUED
- 36. Org. that accepts returns3 letters, starts with IIRS
- 37. Grinders5 letters, starts with HHEROS
- 41. {WC, AC, DC}20 letters, starts with PPOWERBEHINDTHETHRONE
- 49. Jewish mysticism, in one spelling6 letters, starts with KKABALA
- 50. Love, in Lima4 letters, starts with AAMOR
- 51. Card game whose name is shouted3 letters, starts with UUNO
- 52. Knee part often torn by athletes, in brief3 letters, starts with AACL
- 53. At any time4 letters, starts with EEVER
- 54. Small test subjects7 letters, starts with LLABRATS
- 57. Enforcer of traveling restrictions, informally?6 letters, starts with NNBAREF
- 60. "The Second Coming" poet, 19195 letters, starts with YYEATS
- 62. Ragú competitor5 letters, starts with PPREGO
- 63. The Shakespearean version of this has three quatrains followed by a couplet6 letters, starts with SSONNET
- 66. {Bonnie, Oscar, Clyde}17 letters, starts with HHONORAMONGTHIEVES
- 70. Some salon tasks6 letters, starts with RRINSES
- 71. "Hammerin' Hank" of baseball5 letters, starts with AAARON
- 72. Allow someone to pass5 letters, starts with YYIELD
- 75. 30-ounce Starbucks size6 letters, starts with TTRENTA
- 78. Old Testament patriarch7 letters, starts with AABRAHAM
- 80. Close by4 letters, starts with NNEAR
- 81. Early email provider3 letters, starts with AAOL
- 82. Rightmost hour on a grandfather clock3 letters, starts with IIII
- 85. Neighbor of an Estonian4 letters, starts with LLETT
- 86. Evening that a couple spends together, say6 letters, starts with UUSTIME
- 88. {Larry, Sue, Emma}20 letters, starts with TTWOBIRDSWITHONESTONE
- 94. Mexican mister5 letters, starts with SSENOR
- 95. Veer, as a ship3 letters, starts with YYAW
- 96. Org. concerned with plants4 letters, starts with OOSHA
- 97. {Cinnabon, Kool-Aid, Hi-C}18 letters, starts with RROLLWITHTHEPUNCHES
- 107. Powerhouse in English football7 letters, starts with AARSENAL
- 110. Home to Waikiki Beach4 letters, starts with OOAHU
- 111. California's ___ Linda4 letters, starts with LLOMA
- 112. Rested atop6 letters, starts with LLAIDON
- 113. {Landfill, goose feathers, junkyard}14 letters, starts with DDOWNINTHEDUMPS
- 119. Pay no mind to6 letters, starts with IIGNORE
- 120. Longtime Tribeca restaurant where some say the Cosmopolitan was invented, with "the"5 letters, starts with OODEON
- 121. Thousands of binary digits8 letters, starts with KKILOBITS
- 122. Was overflowing6 letters, starts with TTEEMED
- 123. Van Halen of Van Halen5 letters, starts with EEDDIE
- 124. Extended voyage7 letters, starts with OODYSSEY
Down
- 1. Angel's ___ (distiller's term for the whiskey that evaporates during aging)5 letters, starts with SSHARE
- 2. Shinbone5 letters, starts with TTIBIA
- 3. Completely incompetent5 letters, starts with IINEPT
- 4. Time for Sat. prep?3 letters, starts with FFRI
- 5. Marshland3 letters, starts with FFEN
- 6. Suffix for superlatives3 letters, starts with EEST
- 7. Unspecified member of a series3 letters, starts with NNTH
- 8. Nile dam5 letters, starts with AASWAN
- 9. Triad, e.g.5 letters, starts with CCHORD
- 10. Assume5 letters, starts with CCOOPT
- 11. Lead-in to River or Rover3 letters, starts with RRED
- 12. Dummkopf3 letters, starts with AASS
- 13. Broadcaster of many an N.C.A.A. game5 letters, starts with EESPNU
- 14. Called for quiet7 letters, starts with SSAIDSHH
- 15. Penny ___ (miser)7 letters, starts with PPINCHER
- 16. Lingerie brand with a Slavic-sounding name4 letters, starts with OOLGA
- 17. Fun time4 letters, starts with RROMP
- 18. "___ bon!"4 letters, starts with TTRES
- 19. Bygone N.Y.C. music venue with rhyming initials4 letters, starts with CCBGB
- 23. Wisconsin's ___ Claire3 letters, starts with EEAU
- 27. Buddy of "The Beverly Hillbillies"5 letters, starts with EEBSEN
- 29. Apt name for a conchologist?4 letters, starts with SSHEL
- 30. Ear-related5 letters, starts with AAURAL
- 31. Yank's Civil War foe3 letters, starts with RREB
- 32. What has flatter feet?3 letters, starts with OODE
- 33. Achieve success, so to speak3 letters, starts with HHIT
- 34. Chinese instrument with two strings4 letters, starts with EERHU
- 38. Sound of an approaching subway train4 letters, starts with RROAR
- 39. Start of a reminiscence4 letters, starts with OONCE
- 40. Word with confidence or checkout4 letters, starts with SSELF
- 41. Do some roadwork on4 letters, starts with PPAVE
- 42. Folk religion akin to voodoo5 letters, starts with OOBEAH
- 43. Battered by battle7 letters, starts with WWARTORN
- 44. Women's areas in old Muslim palaces6 letters, starts with HHAREMS
- 45. Last stage of an insect's development5 letters, starts with IIMAGO
- 46. "No way, no how!"9 letters, starts with NNOTONABET
- 47. Neurosurgeons, e.g.: Abbr.3 letters, starts with DDRS
- 48. Metric unit of weight5 letters, starts with TTONNE
- 49. Map legend3 letters, starts with KKEY
- 55. Figs. related to car loans4 letters, starts with AAPRS
- 56. Scottish hill4 letters, starts with BBRAE
- 58. Big bunch4 letters, starts with BBEVY
- 59. Eroded7 letters, starts with AATEINTO
- 61. Pouty mood4 letters, starts with SSNIT
- 63. Lead-in to sphere, in the atmosphere6 letters, starts with SSTRATO
- 64. "Hey! I know the answer!"4 letters, starts with OOHOH
- 65. Atlantic crosser of 14924 letters, starts with NNINA
- 67. Sign outside a broadcast booth5 letters, starts with OONAIR
- 68. Wayne's buddy in "Wayne's World"5 letters, starts with GGARTH
- 69. Admit5 letters, starts with SSEEIN
- 73. Really weak, as an excuse4 letters, starts with LLAME
- 74. Beats by ___ (audio brand)3 letters, starts with DDRE
- 75. They might be up in arms, informally4 letters, starts with TTATS
- 76. T. ___ Price (investment firm)4 letters, starts with RROWE
- 77. "I bought this before ___ went crazy" (rueful bumper sticker on a Tesla)4 letters, starts with EELON
- 78. He was né Clay3 letters, starts with AALI
- 79. ___ pork (dish in a Chinese restaurant)5 letters, starts with MMUSHU
- 83. Tale of rustic life5 letters, starts with IIDYLL
- 84. "Vidi," in Caesar's boast4 letters, starts with IISAW
- 87. Satirist Freberg4 letters, starts with SSTAN
- 89. You won't actually die of it7 letters, starts with BBOREDOM
- 90. Rocks smelted to make steel7 letters, starts with IIRONORE
- 91. Conflict sparked by an archduke's assassination: Abbr.3 letters, starts with WWWI
- 92. San Francisco's ___ Valley3 letters, starts with NNOE
- 93. Madrid's land, in the Olympics3 letters, starts with EESP
- 98. Like Olympic pools5 letters, starts with LLANED
- 99. Like some cars parked next to "No Parking" signs5 letters, starts with TTOWED
- 100. Vietnam's capital5 letters, starts with HHANOI
- 101. Old-fashioned "your"5 letters, starts with TTHINE
- 102. Soldier for Attila3 letters, starts with HHUN
- 103. Black suit5 letters, starts with CCLUBS
- 104. Good pal5 letters, starts with HHOMIE
- 105. Out of gas5 letters, starts with EEMPTY
- 106. Lip4 letters, starts with SSASS
- 107. Settled down, in a way4 letters, starts with AALIT
- 108. All the ___4 letters, starts with RRAGE
- 109. Kind of wave4 letters, starts with SSINE
- 113. Last name for an unnamed person3 letters, starts with DDOE
- 114. Curious3 letters, starts with OODD
- 115. Ring result, in brief3 letters, starts with TTKO
- 116. Secreted away3 letters, starts with HHID
- 117. Ron who played Tarzan3 letters, starts with EELY
- 118. Two in Tijuana3 letters, starts with DDOS
Seen before
This clue also appeared in the New York Times on September 28, 2025.
Fresh clues from recent puzzles
Questions
What is the answer to “He was né Clay”?
ALI, 3 letters.
When was “He was né Clay” last seen in a crossword?
In the New York Times crossword of July 5, 2026, and 1 more time before that.
How many letters does the answer have?
3 letters, starting with A.