You come to The Atlantic for the articles; you stay for the addiction that is the “Atlantic Games.” It’s the daily ritual for thousands of problem-solvers looking to flex their logic muscles over coffee. But let’s face it: nothing ruins the vibe like a crossword clue that simply won’t click. Don’t let a single obscure trivia question break your streak. We’ve cracked the codes, solved the ciphers, and filled the brackets, so you don’t have to stress. Here is your daily answer key for the Bracket City, Crossword, Fluxis, and Stacks.
- Today’s The Atlantic Daily Crossword Answer for December 21, 2025
- Today’s The Atlantic Bracket City Answer for December 21, 2025
- Today’s The Atlantic Stacks Answer For December 21, 2025
- Today’s The Atlantic Fluxis Solution for December 21, 2025
Today’s The Atlantic Daily Crossword Answer for December 21, 2025
The Atlantic Crossword is a shapeshifting challenge. It starts the week as a bite-sized 5×5 “mini” on Mondays and grows progressively larger and more diabolical each day, culminating in a large themeless grid on Sundays. That being said, here are the answers for today’s Crossword:
1 Across: Palindromic family nickname – APPA
5 Across: Island province that introduced a tourist tax in 2024 – BALI
9 Across: Massive and colossal, e.g. – SIZES
14 Across: “About me” blurbs – BIOS
15 Across: It’s celebrated with a flag that’s light blue, pink, and white – TRANSPRIDE
17 Across: Something taken on the way into the office? – OATH
18 Across: “You know it!” – DARNTOOTIN
19 Across: Charting artists?: abbr. – RNS
20 Across: Assata Shakur’s place of exile – CUBA
21 Across: Get the soap off of – RINSE
22 Across: Utter malarkey, for short – TOTALBS
24 Across: Half of a Disney duo – LILO
25 Across: Sights in some midwestern skylines – SILOS
26 Across: Try to be friendly, maybe – MAKENICE
30 Across: Bird that’s an Aboriginal culture hero – CROW
31 Across: Getting chips, maybe? – SOBER
32 Across: Slaughterhouse-Five subject – WAR
33 Across: Element next to carbon on the periodic table – BORON
34 Across: It’s inspired – AWE
35 Across: Downward dog, for one – ASANA
37 Across: “What ___ we?” – ARE
38 Across: Ride in the desert, maybe – CAMEL
40 Across: Alphabetical middle of seven – LUST
41 Across: 2021 memoir by Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell – HERHONOR
43 Across: Good name for a lion? – DENNY
44 Across: Tañón or Tokarczuk – OLGA
45 Across: Chips whose concept is rumored to have originated at Disneyland – DORITOS
47 Across: Used the five-finger discount – STOLE
49 Across: Russian “no” – NYET
50 Across: “Could you repeat that?” – HUH
51 Across: Apt play for the 49ers? – SHOVELPASS
53 Across: “Dame un ___” (Selena song) – BESO
54 Across: “It is what it is” – LIFEGOESON
55 Across: Part of a neck – FRET
56 Across: It might get lost – CAUSE
57 Across: “The World We ___ Is Us” (Alice Walker poem) – WANT
58 Across: Charges – FEES
1 Down: Call off – ABORT
2 Down: Key part of a movie? – PIANOSCORE
3 Down: Person who creates conflicts of interest – POTSTIRRER
4 Down: Makeup of some crosses – ASH
5 Down: “While we’re on the subject…” – BTDUBS
6 Down: Many residents of Dearborn, Michigan – ARABS
7 Down: Shadow of the Tomb Raider protagonist Croft – LARA
8 Down: The Stonewall ___ – INN
9 Down: “Plug your ears if you haven’t seen the ending” – SPOILERALERT
10 Down: Type of patch – IRONON
11 Down: What Charles Schulz called “the worst name for a comic strip since Peanuts” – ZITS
12 Down: Gaylord Phoenix author Fake – EDIE
13 Down: C-SPAN abbreviation – SEN
16 Down: Opportunity to demand fair wages, maybe – STRIKE
20 Down: School you might get a full ride to…a very full ride – CLOWNCOLLEGE
23 Down: ___ paratha – ALOO
24 Down: Tag—you’re it! – LABEL
26 Down: Word after push or riding – MOWER
27 Down: “You didn’t see me!” – IWASNTHERE
28 Down: “Is it not obvious?!” – CANTYOUSEE
29 Down: Chapter of one’s life – ERA
31 Down: Where the fa’ataupati was developed – SAMOA
33 Down: Dismissive interjection – BAH
36 Down: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Lee – SUNI
39 Down: Heavenly name – ANGELO
42 Down: Feet that go “clip-clop, clip-clop” – HOOVES
43 Down: “Who ___?” – DOESNT
45 Down: Bladeless-fan company – DYSON
46 Down: Small drinks taken in big gulps, maybe – SHOTS
47 Down: Branch of Islam predominant in Iran – SHIA
48 Down: Sundubu-jjigae ingredient – TOFU
49 Down: Org. that developed memory foam – NASA
51 Down: Setting of a Real Housewives installment, for short – SLC
52 Down: For the love of God, get on it! – PEW
53 Down: Person you might get a matching tattoo with – BFF
Today’s The Atlantic Bracket City Answer for December 21, 2025
Bracket City is a unique trivia-logic hybrid. You are presented with a tournament bracket of 16 items based on a specific category (e.g., “Capital Cities” or “90s Cartoons”). Your goal is to pick the winner of each matchup based on specific criteria given for that day, eventually narrowing it down to one final champion. One wrong pick in the early rounds can ruin your whole bracket. But don’t worry, we have all the answers for you.
- [free___ (swim stroke I always called “the crawl”) 🏊♀️] = Style
- [most babies do this before they walk] = crawl
- [word after perp or moon] = walk
- [display your caboose 🌝] = moon
- [taxi 🚖 or red wine (briefly) 🍷] = cab
- [misleading herring color] = red
- [hike that makes people mad] = tax
- [hitch___ 👍] = hike
- [🎶 Kool & the ➡️ ___ ⬅️plank 🏴☠️] = Gang
- [___ B (your backup ___)] = plan
- [YO (🍺 not provided)] = B
- [when repeated, a toy consisting of a pair of joined discs between which a string is attached and wound] = YO
- [word before bean or cheese] = string
- [a dog one might squeak 🐾] = toy
- [pip___ (bully’s insult)] = squeak
- [you might try to ride a mechanical one at a bar 🐂] = bull
Today’s The Atlantic Stacks Answer For December 21, 2025
Think of Stacks as Tetris meets Boggle . Letters fall from the top of the screen, and your job is to select adjacent letters to form words and clear the lines before they reach the top. The longer the word, the higher the score, and the more “junk” blocks you destroy. Below are the highest-scoring words found in today’s seed to help you clear the board efficiently. Here are the answers for today’s Stacks, arranged from top to bottom.
- Word 1: DOPE
- Word 2: LABS
- Word 3: TALON
- Word 4: ENTREE
- Word 5: CADUCEUS
- Word 6: TELEPORT
Follow these steps to get these words:
- Start by dropping the word DECOR in the centre
- Then drop the word TENURE on the left-most side
- Again, drop the word CATTLE on the left-most side
- After that, drop the word ABOUT on the right-most
- After that, drop the word ELAPSE on the left-most side
- Finally, drop the word DOZENS on the right-most side.
Check out more puzzles :
- NYT Mini Crossword Hints and Answers
- Washington Post/LA Times Crossword Hints and Answers
- LA Times Mini Crossword Hints and Answers
- Washington Post Mini Meta Crossword
- Boston Globe Mini Crossword Hints and Answers
- USA Today Crossword Answers
- LinkedIn Answers
Today’s The Atlantic Fluxis Solution for December 21, 2025
Fluxis is a game of vocabulary flow. The objective is to build a chain of words where each subsequent word must start with a specific letter from the previous word, usually the last letter or a highlighted “flux” letter. Points are awarded based on the rarity of the letters used. It requires a deep vocabulary and the ability to think several steps ahead to avoid getting stuck with a letter like ‘X’ or ‘Q’.
Today’s base word is: SURPRISING
- Category 1 : FIRST HALF OF ALPHABET ONLY : GAB
- Category 2: ALL CONSONANTS DIFFERENT : AB
- Category 3: ALTERNATING VOWEL-CONSONANT: ABACAS
That’s it, folks, for today’s Atlantic Games answers. Do come back tomorrow for a fresh set of solutions and another challenge for your brain.
