The answer we are looking for in this clue is a term for an old Russian ruler. This clue comes to us from two puzzles, the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle dated May 29, 2025. The other one is for the Daily Commuter Crossword dated July 8, 2025. Both are for the downward section, and both have the same clue, which is old Russian rulers.
What is the term for this old Russian ruler?
For starters, the answer we’re looking for is in the plural form. It fits both puzzles and has the same word count. The answer to the clue is TSARS. Tsar is an old Russian ruler term which is an emperor until it was stopped being used in the early 1900s for Russian civilization.
It is also related to the term Czar, which is a government position. It comes from the name Caesar, who was a famous emperor. It translates to Czar which of course then goes to Tsar. It’s a ruler term no less, so it applies to this clue, and the answer fits.
