Lead-in to "drink and be merry" Crossword Clue

We have the 3-letter answer for Lead-in to "drink and be merry" crossword clue, last seen in the NYT Crossword December 23, 2025 puzzle. This answer will help you finish the puzzle you’re working on.

Lead-in to "drink and be merry" Crossword Answer

→27.

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Helpful Hints

(verb)
1. take in food; used of animals only
2. use up (resources or materials)

Hint 2: Clue Definitions

LEAD-IN (noun)
1. the introductory section of a story
2. wire connecting an antenna to a receiver or a transmitter to a transmission line
DRINK (verb)
1. propose a toast to
2. be fascinated or spell-bound by; pay close attention to
DRINK (noun)
1. any liquid suitable for drinking
2. the act of swallowing

Hint 3: Anagram

Unscramble the letters below to solve for today's answer.
ATE

More NYT Crossword (12/23/2025) Answers

Across

1. Longtime CBS procedural with multiple spinoffs

5. Highly capable

10. Ctrl+S command

14. Alternative to check or credit card

15. Secondary subject for a college student

16. Short video

17. Appropriately named bus driver on "The Simpsons"

18. Alternative to épée or foil, in British English

19. Tokarczuk who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature

20. Classic Hanukkah treat

23. Brownish-yellow fabric

24. Institution of higher education, to a Brit

25. Sleeper's breathing problem

28. Classic classroom party treat

31. Antitrust enforcement org.

32. Unfortunate accident

34. Clever

36. Highly pleased about

38. Colored, as church glass

39. Classic Halloween treat

41. It's part of the job

44. Prefix with "classic"

45. Carve

49. Take advantage of

50. "Where'd you hear that?"

54. Dream Team country, for short

55. Take responsibility

57. Cry from a movie director

59. Classic Yuletide treat

63. Prayer ender

64. This should clear things up!

65. Reject, as a bill

66. Nothing, in Nogales

67. Cries out

68. Biblical garden

All Answers

Down

1. Sgt or cpl

2. Go off a ski jump, say

3. 'Oh really?'

4. Tried to identify, in a way, as a wrapped gift

5. Playground retort

6. 1990s internet option

7. With all judges present

8. ___ de Rossi, "Arrested Development" actress

9. Aspen or pine

10. Reporter's big get

11. Just for grins

12. Short version of an impactful story

13. Org. regulating water safety

21. Insect that emerges en masse every 13 or 17 years

22. Kind of salad whose dressing contains anchovies

23. Former N.B.A. star Shawn with the nickname "Reign Man"

26. Nailed as a test

29. Once ___ A Time

30. Character played by Bruce Lee on "The Green Hornet"

33. ___ Finn

35. One of three on the pitchfork in "American Gothic"

37. Big Apple org. that's going to blazes?

38. Flat-bottomed boat

40. Thats correct

41. Resident of Pisa or Lucca

42. Condition that may require an inhaler

43. Get more than a little mad

46. Like many a dress shirt, with "in"

47. Top execs, colloquially … or what 20-, 28-, 39- and 59-Across are, phonetically?

48. Make negative remarks about

50. Not on the up and up, slangily

51. In a fitting way

52. Breaks (into), as a computer system

53. Middle name for Lennon starting in 1969

56. "Escape (The ___ Colada song)"

58. Sign of peace

60. Sallie or Fannie follower

61. Hand-y communication method, for short?

62. Drink slowly

All Answers