| Clue | Answer | Letters | Last NYT Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make an impression on | DENT | 4 | August 29, 2025 (Friday) |
Stuck on the NYT crossword clue “make an impression on”? You are looking at DENT — four letters, and one of the more satisfying misdirects the puzzle has pulled in recent memory.
Table of Contents
The Answer: DENT
The confirmed NYT crossword answer for “make an impression on” is DENT (4 letters).
If your grid does not match four letters, scroll down — this clue has appeared with different answers in other publications at different lengths.
Why DENT Is the Right Answer
This is where the clue does its real work.
Most solvers read “make an impression on” and immediately think about social impact. They go looking for something like impress or strike. That instinct is exactly what the clue is designed to trigger.
The actual answer operates on the physical, literal meaning of “impression” — a mark or indentation pressed into a surface. To make an impression on something is, in that sense, to leave a visible mark. A dent does precisely that.
| What Most Solvers Think | What the Clue Actually Means |
|---|---|
| To impress or wow someone | To physically indent a surface |
| Figurative social impact | A literal mark under pressure |
| → IMPRESS, STRIKE | → DENT |
There is a third layer too. The phrase “make a dent in” is a well-worn idiom for making meaningful progress on something. The clue quietly leans on that familiarity, which is why DENT lands so cleanly once the crossing letters point you there.
This is standard late-week NYT construction. Editor Will Shortz, who has overseen the puzzle since 1993, has made clues like this one a signature of Friday and Saturday grids — no theme, no hand-holding, just a phrase that means something different than it appears to.
Every Recorded Appearance of This Clue
“Make an impression on” has shown up across major publications:
- New York Times — August 29, 2025 (Friday)
- New York Times — February 28, 2015
- Wall Street Journal Daily — February 20, 2020
- Newsday — Multiple appearances
The August 2025 NYT run came on a Friday, the second-hardest puzzle of the week. That context matters. Friday grids are themeless and built for solvers comfortable with semantic misdirection. A clue like this belongs there.
Other Possible Answers (If Your Letter Count Is Different)
Not every crossword uses the same answer for the same clue. If your grid does not fit four letters, these are the recorded alternates:
- IMPRESS — 7 letters, used when the figurative reading is the intended one
- IMPRINT — 7 letters, physical mark interpretation
For the NYT specifically, every recorded appearance points to DENT at four letters.
One More Thing Worth Knowing
Clues that pivot on a word like “impression” are a recurring feature of the NYT puzzle’s hardest days. Words with both figurative and physical meanings — strike, point, mark, impression — show up regularly as the backbone of misdirection clues.
If you found “make an impression on” tricky, you were reading it exactly the way the constructor intended. The answer was always DENT. The clue just made sure you would not see it right away.
