‘Coniferous tree with berries’ NYT Mini Crossword answer and hints

If you’re staring at the word “coniferous” blankly and wondering what it means, I’m sure you’re not alone. It’s a classic NYT Mini clue likely to catch many people off-guard, and I’ve got the full solution with hints if needed.

‘Coniferous tree with berries’ clue hints in NYT Mini

• Hint one: Starts with “Y.”
• Hint two: It also features another less common letter.
• Hint three: A homophone for doing something with an object.
• Hint four: Rhymes with news.

Now I’ve belted out my clues, I’m going to climb down from the tallest tree and reveal today’s answer.

‘Coniferous tree with berries’ answer in NYT Mini Crossword Aug. 16

You are looking for “YEWS” as the answer to six down in your daily NYT Mini Crossword grid.

Yews are a type of coniferous tree with red-berried fruits (à la the clue). The answer starts with “Y,” of course, and it rhymes with “News”—which is straightforward. Having a “W” with a “Y” in a word is quite unusual, and if you know what a homophone is, you know “Use” is a homophone for “Yews.”

Aug. 16 NYT Mini Crossword puzzle—All clues and answers

Across

• 1A Senegal’s neighbor to the east — MALI
• 5A ___ Allen White, star of TV’s “The Bear” — JEREMY
• 7A Make a getaway — ESCAPE
• 8A What’s longer in the morning and evening than it is at noon — SHADOWS
• 9A Voices below altos — TENORS
• 10A No longer in the Drafts folder — SENT

Down

• 5D “Surely you___!” — JEST
• 6D Coniferous trees with red berries — YEWS
• 1D Interlocks (with) — MESHES
• 2D Esoteric — ARCANE
• 3D Give false hope to — LEAD ON
• 4D Ship into the country — IMPORT

‘Coniferous tree with berries’ NYT difficulty, explained

An easy four out of five difficulty rating for “Coniferous tree with berries,” and I could’ve gone higher. I’ve never heard of “Yews,” and it’s been a minute since I had to think about conifer trees! Five and seven across made this a much more gettable answer in the end, but I struggled—as I’m guessing you did, dear reader—and this could’ve been a full five.

How to play more puzzles like NYT Mini Crossword

More puzzles like the NYT Mini Crossword exist: The LA Times, Washington Post, Strands, and Spelling Bee are the main word games to highlight. You can have too much of a good thing, so branch out and try new daily challenges.