This clue appeared in the NYT Crossword on Thursday, November 5, 2026 (33 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.
Answer length: 3 squares
First letter
R _ _
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About the answer
REF as a word: (informal, ambitransitive) To referee; to act as a referee in a sport or game; A surname.
REF has been an answer 8 times in the NYT Crossword and Mini since November 16, 2025.
Other clues with the same answer
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- Songs played on an oldies station (26 Across)
- Word after pipe or before team (30 Across)
- Canal site (31 Across)
- Book of the Bible that includes doings of Cyrus the Great (32 Across)
- Disapproving sounds (35 Across)
- Sound after a gut punch (38 Across)
- Admission of confusion ... or a hint for interpreting four answers in this puzzle (39 Across)
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