Protective football gear — NYT Mini Crossword Clue (October 16, 2025)

Sport-centric fill closes the across section with a four-letter locker room staple. Below you will find the verified answer, the editorial logic, and speed tips for confirming it with crosses. Apostrophes and quotation marks render as ' and " to maintain HTML clarity.

8 Across

Protective football gear

PADS

The answer PADS references shoulder pads and similar protective equipment every football player wears. Word Tips corroborates the plural form, aligning with the sport context.

Why PADS Solves the Clue

Clue Breakdown

Football safety equipment is collectively referred to as pads in rule books and coaching manuals.
Singular “pad” would miss the plural signal inherent to gear, so editors expect PADS.
The four-letter length is a classic Mini-friendly answer.

Cross-Letter Support

1-Down WANNA confirms one letter, delivering a late-grid safety net.
2-Down IMOLD confirms one letter, delivering a late-grid safety net.
3-Down NOTES confirms one letter, delivering a late-grid safety net.
4-Down EAST confirms one letter, delivering a late-grid safety net.
5-Down SKIP confirms one letter, delivering a late-grid safety net.

Speed-Solving Insights

Recognize Sports Vocabulary

Minis frequently reference gear across multiple sports. PADS is a high-frequency answer equally at home in football, hockey, and lacrosse clues.

Leverage Confirmed Crosses

When spelled-out letters from SKIP and EAST hit, the D and S fall into place, letting you close the across section confidently.

Plural Awareness

Pay attention to the clue's plural vibe. Gear, equipment, and apparel almost always cue answers ending in S.

Finalize the Grid

As the last across, PADS provides confidence before you tackle any remaining downs. Enter it quickly to conserve time.

Expand Your Sports Lexicon

Letter Pattern Insight

PADS offers a clean consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant structure. Repeated S endings are abundant in Mini grids, so keep them in your mental queue.