This clue appeared in the NYT Crossword on Thursday, October 30, 2025 (47 Across). The answer is hidden below until you want it. Thursday puzzles often have a trick, such as a rebus (several letters in one square) or answers that bend the rules.
How to read this clue
This is a fill-in-the-blank clue: the answer completes the phrase, title or quotation.
Answer length: 4 squares
First letter
N _ _ _
First and last letters
N _ _ F
Show the answer
About the answer
NERF as a word: (transitive, slang, video games) To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make less efficacious; (slang, video games) The deterioration, weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc.
NERF has been an answer 5 times in the NYT Crossword and Mini since October 30, 2025.
Other clues with the same answer
More clues from this puzzle
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- Inconsequential (48 Across)
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- Ones eliciting knee-jerk reactions, informally? (50 Across)
- Exemplar (51 Across)
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