‘Commercials during shows’ NYT Mini Crossword puzzle clue answer and hints

There’s nothing worse than enjoying your favorite show only to have it relentlessly interrupted by pesky commercials. But what exactly are those “Commercials during shows” called? You need to answer this exact question to solve today’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle.

The solution for this clue is rather tricky to solve on your own, so here are some hints and the answer to help you solve the “Commercials during shows” clue on the Oct. 30 NYT Mini Crossword.

‘Commercials during shows’ Oct. 30 NYT Mini Crossword hints

• Hint 1: The solution is technically two words.
• Hint 2: It ends with the letter “S.”
• Hint 3: Another word for “PROMOTION.”
• Hint 4: It starts with the letter “T.”

Stop right here because I’m about to reveal the solution to this clue.

‘Commercials during shows’ NYT Mini answer

The solution for the “Commercials during shows” clue on the Oct. 30 NYT Mini Crossword is “TV ADS,” stylized as “TVADS,” to fit this puzzle. TVADS is a shortened way of saying “Television advertisements,” which are commercials shown throughout TV shows.

‘Commercials during shows’ clue difficulty rating

Clues that are secretly two words rather than one are always trickier to solve since you’ll generally try to guess one full word rather than two. This makes the “Commercials during shows” hint a rather tough one to complete.

I think “ADS” is an easy word to come up with for this hint, but it only fits if you discover that you need to put “TV” in front of it, which isn’t an easy realization to make on your own. This makes the “Commercials during shows” clue harder than the average one you’ll come across, so I’m giving it a four out of five difficulty rating.

All Oct. 30 NYT Mini Crossword clues and answers

Across

• 1A Subculture with dyed black hair and black lipstick — GOTH
• 5A Grade boost after a tough test — CURVE
• 6A “___ the Horrible” (classic comic strip) — HAGAR
• 7A Sidestep — EVADE
• 8A Ceiling spinners — FANS

Down

• 1D Green-and-pink tropical fruit — GUAVA
• 2D “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” instrument — ORGAN
• 3D Commercials during shows — TVADS
• 4D “Take this”— HERE
• 5D “I refer to everybody as ‘___’ because it’s a sign of respect” (line from “The Bear”) — CHEF

Games like the NYT Mini Crossword

While you wait for the next NYT Mini Crossword to drop, there are plenty of other word games like it worth playing. You might enjoy the crosswords over at the LA Times and the Washington Post since they’re decently similar to this one. If you’d rather try something else, Strands and Spelling Bee are unique word games with a twist.