This clue appeared in the NYT Crossword on Thursday, December 4, 2025 (55 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.
A clue in quotation marks is something a person might say. Look for another way of saying it, or the reply it suggests.
Answer length: 4 squares
First letter
O _ _ _
First and last letters
O _ _ E
Show the answer
About the answer
ONCE as a word: (frequency) One and only one time; (temporal location) Formerly; during some period in the past.
ONCE has been an answer 12 times in the NYT Crossword and Mini since December 4, 2025.
Other clues with the same answer
More clues from this puzzle
- Northern tribe + Toe trouble (47 Across)
- "Niiiiice!" (52 Across)
- Dances around? (53 Across)
- Org. with a fraud hotline (54 Across)
- Stink (56 Across)
- Auto + Consumed (57 Across)
- Cavuto of cable news (60 Across)
- Fruit so named for its wrinkly skin (61 Across)
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