48 Across
NYT Daily • September 7, 2025
Facetious suffix with most
Answer:
-EST
Hint:
Think of how you might jokingly exaggerate a simple adjective like "good" or "big" to sound like the absolute best.
Explanation:
This clue plays on the word "most" as a superlative marker. The suffix "-est" turns adjectives into their superlative form (like "fast" to "fastest"), so it’s the grammatical way to say "most." The "facetious" hint suggests the answer isn’t literal—it’s a pun on how "-est" functions as the "suffix with most.