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.
Table of Contents
Today’s The Atlantic Daily Crossword Answer for December 28, 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:
Click to reveal Across Answers
- 1 Across: Opposite of a pan – RAVEREVIEW
- 11 Across: “In memoriam” piece, for short – OBIT
- 15 Across: Like someone who’s engaged, at a singles bar – INELIGIBLE
- 16 Across: Minor league – BUSH
- 17 Across: Hard-to-quantify emotional condition, for a group – TEAMMORALE
- 18 Across: Car for a star, maybe – LIMO
- 19 Across: Sharp-tipped tools – AWLS
- 20 Across: Place where workers expose veins – MINE
- 21 Across: Tons – PILES
- 22 Across: Have second thoughts, maybe – BALK
- 23 Across: Herb that has a stinging variety – NETTLE
- 24 Across: Nice way to denounce somebody? – JACCUSE
- 28 Across: Cirque du ___ – SOLEIL
- 29 Across: Some green fundraisers? – PROAMS
- 30 Across: Quick refresher – POWERNAP
- 32 Across: Hidden ___ (if-you-know-you-know spots) – GEMS
- 33 Across: Certain Anabaptist group – AMISH
- 35 Across: Pokémon that evolves into Kadabra – ABRA
- 36 Across: Chocolatier, say? – SWEETGIG
- 38 Across: Consume crudités, for example – EATRAW
- 40 Across: Drawing Hands artist – ESCHER
- 41 Across: Some red flags – CAVEATS
- 42 Across: Items coveted in The Rainbow Fish – SCALES
- 43 Across: On-line bait? – LURE
- 44 Across: Steel, e.g. – ALLOY
- 45 Across: Mini-___ (convenience store) – MART
- 46 Across: Food celebrated at a museum in Austin, Minnesota – SPAM
- 50 Across: Garlands hung throughout the year – LEIS
- 51 Across: “It pains me to do this, but…” – DONTHATEME
- 53 Across: Initialism for a Black dialect – AAVE
- 54 Across: Stays drawn – ENDSINATIE
- 55 Across: ___ Scott v. Sandford – DRED
- 56 Across: Finish line of the rat race, maybe – EASYSTREET
Click to reveal Down Answers
- 1 Down: Moreno who was awarded a 2018 Peabody – RITA
- 2 Down: Afresh – ANEW
- 3 Down: Saltimbocca protein – VEAL
- 4 Down: Common canopy liners – ELMS
- 5 Down: Thing that’s salted for some margaritas – RIM
- 6 Down: Rubs the right way? – EGOMASSAGES
- 7 Down: Mannish – VIRILE
- 8 Down: Morgan Stanley or Barclays: abbr. – IBANK
- 9 Down: Magazine found in a best-seller list? – ELLE
- 10 Down: Itty-bitty – WEE
- 11 Down: Completely destroy – OBLITERATE
- 12 Down: Source of some undercover support? – BUILTINBRA
- 13 Down: “One of you squealed!” – ISMELLARAT
- 14 Down: More than that? – THOSE
- 21 Down: Soccer legend whose jersey number was once projected on Christ the Redeemer – PELE
- 22 Down: Ski ___ – BUM
- 23 Down: “Boy, do I have a story for you!” – NOWHEARTHIS
- 24 Down: Legacy image files: abbr. – JPEGS
- 25 Down: Question to which “Crystal” might be a reply – AREWECLEAR
- 26 Down: Fills up, as a dance floor – COMESALIVE
- 27 Down: “That settles that!” – CASECLOSED
- 28 Across: “Help Wanted” sign? – SOS
- 30 Down: Playground game that combines spelling and basketball – PIG
- 31 Down: Fitting rhyme for claws – PAWS
- 34 Down: Space station that was returned to Earth in 2001 – MIR
- 37 Down: Gender-neutral pronoun – THEY
- 39 Down: Constitution or Wisconsin, in D.C. – AVE
- 41 Down: Greeting perfected by debutantes – CURTSY
- 42 Down: Word before days or dressing – SALAD
- 43 Down: Touches down – LANDS
- 45 Down: ___ Patel (CEO who attended the 2025 Met Gala with a robotic dog) – MONA
- 46 Down: Headliner, maybe – STAR
- 47 Down: Tennis great Sampras – PETE
- 48 Down: Bonne ___ – AMIE
- 49 Down: Encounter – MEET
- 51 Down: Star Wars actor Billy ___ Williams – DEE
- 52 Down: Colony resident – ANT
Click to reveal the Crossword answers grid
Today’s The Atlantic Bracket City Answer for December 28, 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.
Click to reveal today’s Bracket City Answers
- [Barbie’s plus one] = ken
- [place to open a tab without a browser] = Bar
- [eye___ 🤨] = brow
- [“___ or minus”] = plus
- [sign that’s a *little* longer than a hyphen 📏] = minus
- [Chicken that warned the sky was falling ⚠️🐔] = little
- [diver who generally does not get wet] = sky
- [what a boxer takes in a fixed fight 🤿] = dive
- [they might be little green 🛸 or In Black 🕶️] = Men
- [color for some serious magic 🔮 or belts 🥋] = Black
- [conveyor ___] = belt
- [color of a screen that gets heavy use in Marvel movies] = green
- [gaze at in awe 🦸] = Marvel
- [something you might be projecting on] = screen
- [word after housing, research, or Manhattan 💣] = project
- [bowler or beret] = hat
Today’s The Atlantic Stacks Answer For December 28, 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.
Click to reveal words for today’s Stacks
- Word 1: LASTS
- Word 2: ALIEN
- Word 3: TROUT
- Word 4: APRICOT
- Word 5: SNARLED
- Word 6: INMATURE
Follow these steps to get these words:
- Start by dropping the word INMATE on the left-most side
- Then drop the word PARLOR on the centre
- After that, drop the word STRICT in the left-most side
- After that, drop the word AROUND in the right-most side
- After that, drop the word ALLIES in the left-most side
- Finally, drop the word ASTUTE in 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 28, 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: IMPOSING
Click to reveal today’s Fluxis Chain Answers
- Category 1: Odd number of letters : GAB
- Category 2: More consonants than vowels : ABACK
- Category 3: No repeated letters : KADI
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.
