In case you missed Thursday’s NYT Mini Crossword, you can find the answers here:

ForbesToday’s NYT Mini Crossword Clues and Solutions for Thursday October 10thFrom Erik Cain

TGIF! The weekend is just around the corner, as is my weekly work on these mini crossword puzzle guides. This will be my last mini crossword puzzle guide until I take the baton back in two weeks starting Saturday. It’s looking like another lovely fall weekend, so I’m hoping I can enjoy the extra time hiking and doing house and yard work. Fun times! First, let’s solve this crossword puzzle!

Spoilers ahead, of course. Skip ahead to see the picture of today’s solved puzzle.

ABOVE

1 – Flower for “The Bachelorette” – ROSE

5 – Insurgent Takeovers – COUPS

6 – Admit (to) – OWNUP

7 – Publicly condemn – REJECT

8 – The paradise referred to in “Paradise Lost” – EDEN

DOWN

1 – Gone to the oars – ROWED

2 – “A __ of prevention is worth a pound of cure” (Proverb) – OUNCE

3 – Reject, as a lover – TRACK

4 – Take a look at – ESPY

5 – Something that concerns a property developer. . . or a software developer – CODE

I think my head wasn’t in the right place when I started this mini crossword, which explains why it took me 3:01 to finish. Ouch. I just couldn’t put two and two together, distracted by life and all that jazz. I started with the real Across – ROSE – even though I knew nothing about The Bachelorette, and that helped. But others, like COUPS, put me off because of the plural. Sometimes my brain just doesn’t go to the plural right away. Definitely tricky enough for a Friday night! How have you been? let me know TwitterInstagram or Facebook.

If you also play Wordle, I also write instructions for it. You can find these and all of my TV guides, reviews and much more here on my blog. Thanks for reading!