The clue is “Make like a drum and beat it!” at 7A with a seven‑letter answer from the May 29, 2025 edition of the NYT Crossword. The theme that day was a bit funny, with a “T” up above the black squares for the starred clues just to mess with solvers. And no, this clue wasn’t exactly easy either. Turns out you had to dabble in Pig Latin to crack it, even though the clue itself gives no hint of that twist. Here’s the answer to the “Make like a drum and beat it!” clue.
Make Like a Drum and Beat It NYT Crossword Answer
AMSCRAY is the answer to the “Make like a drum and beat it!” clue.
These “Make like a ___ and ___” lines are old punny one‑liners, like “Make like a banana and split” (banana split, split as in run away). Same deal here: a drum is meant to be beaten, but “beat it” here means scram, get out, move fast. And yeah, no Pig Latin hint in the clue, but “scram” in Pig Latin flips to AMSCRAY by shoving the starting consonant to the back and tacking “ay” on.
Crossword constructors often feel no need to spell out “Pig Latin” every single time. However, solving the surrounding clues can help reach that conclusion, like in the case of the “Make like a drum and beat it!” clue.
