This clue appeared in the NYT Crossword on Saturday, August 8, 2026 (33 Down). The answer is hidden below until you want it. Saturday puzzles are the hardest of the week and themeless, so clues are often deliberately misleading.
Answer length: 7 squares
First letter
F _ _ _ _ _ _
First and last letters
F _ _ _ _ _ G
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About the answer
FENDING as a word: (intransitive) To take care of oneself; to take responsibility for one's own well-being; (rare, except as "fend for oneself") To defend, to take care of (typically construed with for); to block or push away (typically construed with off).
FENDING has been an answer once in the NYT Crossword and Mini puzzles we have on file, which go back to October 23, 2025.
More clues from this puzzle
- Big name in comfortable footwear (28 Down)
- Tower with daily calls to prayer (30 Down)
- Hit from behind (31 Down)
- Words following a suggestion to try something (32 Down)
- Perfect example (34 Down)
- Person you practically have to drag out of a party, say (35 Down)
- One requesting simpler terms? (36 Down)
- Channel inserts (37 Down)
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