Chess puzzle challenge, maybe Crossword Clue

We have the 9-letter answer for Chess puzzle challenge, maybe crossword clue, last seen in the NYT Crossword May 23, 2026 puzzle. Let us help you solve the crossword clue that has you stumped so you can finish the puzzle.

Chess puzzle challenge, maybe Crossword Answer

→35.

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Helpful Hints

Hint 1: Clue Definitions

PUZZLE (verb)
1. be a mystery or bewildering to
2. be uncertain about; think about without fully understanding or being able to decide
PUZZLE (noun)
1. a particularly baffling problem that is said to have a correct solution
2. a game that tests your ingenuity
CHESS (noun)
1. weedy annual native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed especially in wheat
2. a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent’s king

More NYT Crossword (5/23/2026) Answers

Across

1. They might be settled atop stools

8. Shell, say

13. Places to put fliers

15. Surgical specialty, informally

16. A boxer's might knock you out

18. Substitute for "etc."

19. Begrudges

20. Old auto company based in Lansing, Mich.

22. Jazz drummer DeRosa

23. One of the seven depicted in the 1995 thriller "Se7en"

24. Daytime regulars

26. What some prisoners earn, in brief

27. Old black-and-white police autos, to Brits

28. ___ weekend

29. Walk on water?

30. Top that screams "Look at me!"

31. Clay-and-calcium-carbonate mix used in cement making

32. Lovely

36. Make do

37. Many an epithet

38. Common con game

39. Petite ___ (certain French partner)

40. Epithet lead-in

41. Bit of back-and-forth

42. Farrow with a Pulitzer for his investigative journalism

44. Eerie substance faked in 19th-century ghost hoaxes

46. Bygone leaders

47. Tourist nickname for a Southern mecca, to the chagrin of many locals

48. Until, in Uruguay

49. Destination for wagons, once

All Answers

Down

1. No-goodniks

2. Sales job that Forbes magazine once dubbed "the original side hustle," informally

3. Ancient collection of Hindu hymns

4. Pampers

5. Handled something poorly, say

6. Gets even with

7. Tac preceder

8. At least one

9. Substance that undergoes change, as in a lab

10. Magpie lookalike with black-and-white plumage

11. Bosses (around)

12. Gads about

14. Figurative ability to withstand almost anything

17. Canal blocker?

21. Milky and iridescent

24. Lizard predator of Africa

25. 'Close call!'

27. Swedish American model Porizkova

29. Edward who wrote and illustrated "The Gashlycrumb Tinies"

30. Foam designs, perhaps

31. Berth places

32. 19th-century German novelist Theodor

33. Stressors for some H.S. seniors

34. Accessory on a pub counter

35. Brunch beverage

36. Standard 1L course, informally

37. Title for some fictional lords

38. Sugar ___

41. Choice for the undecided

43. Org. with a "Cryptographic Support Services" page on its website

45. Little squirt

All Answers