Spanish Greeting NYT Crossword Clue Explained: HOLA
The answer to “Spanish greeting” in the NYT Crossword is HOLA — the 4-letter Spanish word for “hello.” Documented in the NYT on August 25, 2025 (and as far back as December 23, 2018), the HOLA NYT crossword answer is the cheerful counterpart to ADIOS and one of the puzzle’s most reliable 4-letter fillers.
Why HOLA?
“Hola” (pronounced “OH-lah”) is the universal Spanish greeting — hello, hi — used from Madrid to Mexico City to Miami. It’s among the first words every Spanish learner meets, which makes it perfect crossword material: the NYT wants answers that are widely known, and HOLA clears that bar effortlessly. Like ADIOS, it’s a loanword that English has fully absorbed; you don’t need to speak Spanish to know it.
The HOLA NYT crossword clue is the mirror image of the ADIOS clue. Where ADIOS handles farewells, HOLA handles greetings — and the NYT uses the same flagging system for both. A Spanish word in the clue (“Granada,” “fiesta,” “amigo”) signals a Spanish answer; the greeting-vs-farewell meaning picks between HOLA and ADIOS. At 4 letters with three vowels (H-O-L-A is 75% vowel if you count the pattern loosely — O and A are full vowels, and the H-L consonant frame is constructor-friendly), it’s premium grid material.
The NYT also loves HOLA for wordplay. One famous clue — “Greeting that becomes another greeting if you add an A at the front and reverse it” (September 3, 2025) — works like this: HOLA → add A → AHOLA → reverse → ALOHA, the Hawaiian greeting. That’s the kind of elegant letter trick that makes solvers grin, and it shows how a simple 4-letter word can anchor a genuinely clever clue.
Solving Tip: Greeting vs. Farewell
The fastest way to handle Spanish clue pairs is the direction test: is the clue about arriving or leaving? Greeting, hello, hi, welcome → HOLA. Goodbye, farewell, so long, see ya → ADIOS. The clue’s verb is the discriminator, and it never lies. “Spanish greeting” can only be HOLA; “Spanish goodbye” can only be ADIOS.
Letter count backs it up: HOLA is 4 letters, ADIOS is 5. So even if the clue is ambiguous, the slot length decides. And watch for the Italian/French alternatives at 4 letters: CIAO (Italian hello/goodbye) is HOLA’s direct competitor. The tiebreaker is the clue’s language flag — Spanish signals (“Granada,” “fiesta”) mean HOLA; Italian signals (“Roma,” “Venice”) mean CIAO. The HOLA NYT crossword clue is never ambiguous once you read the flag.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does HOLA mean?
Hola is Spanish for “hello” or “hi” (pronounced “OH-lah”). It’s the standard Spanish greeting, used throughout Spain and Latin America. The HOLA NYT crossword answer was documented for “Spanish greeting” on August 25, 2025, and the word’s H-O-L-A pattern makes it ideal 4-letter crossword fill.
What’s the difference between HOLA and ADIOS?
HOLA means hello (a greeting for arriving); ADIOS means goodbye (a farewell for leaving). They’re the Spanish bookends of a conversation. In crosswords, the clue’s meaning picks between them: “greeting” or “hello” → HOLA (4 letters); “goodbye” or “farewell” → ADIOS (5 letters). The letter count alone usually settles it.
How does HOLA become ALOHA?
It’s a famous NYT wordplay clue (September 3, 2025): take HOLA, add an A at the front to get AHOLA, then reverse the whole thing — ALOHA, the Hawaiian greeting. It’s a perfect little letter machine, and it demonstrates why constructors love short, vowel-rich words: they’re raw material for wordplay, not just fill.
What are common variant clues for HOLA?
Documented NYT wordings include “Spanish greeting,” “Greeting in Granada,” and “Counterpart of ‘adios.'” The pattern is always greeting + Spanish signal. For the full story of the NYT’s most-recycled words, see our crosswordese guide.
Is HOLA pronounced with the H?
No — in Spanish, the H is silent, so it’s “OH-lah,” not “HOH-lah.” (The Spanish H is always silent, unlike in English.) It’s a small detail, but pronouncing it right is the difference between sounding like a tourist and sounding like you paid attention in Spanish class.
Other NYT crossword clues for HOLA
The HOLA NYT crossword clue has been verified in these wordings:
- “Spanish greeting” — the standard, documented August 25, 2025 and December 23, 2018.
- “Greeting in Granada” — the city-flagged variant; Granada signals Spanish.
- “Counterpart of ‘adios'” — the relational clue; if adios is goodbye, its counterpart is hello.
- “Greeting that becomes another greeting if you add an A at the front and reverse it” — the wordplay showpiece (September 3, 2025); answer HOLA, hidden inside ALOHA.
From straight definition to letter trick, the NYT runs the full range with this little word — which is exactly why it’s worth knowing cold.
How to spot HOLA in the NYT crossword
Apply the two-filter test: (1) Does the clue mean greeting/hello? (2) Is there a Spanish signal, or is the slot 4 letters? If both answers are yes, write in HOLA. The H-O-L-A pattern is distinctive — an H start with O-L-A behind it has almost no competitors at 4 letters, so even one crossing letter (especially the H or the final A) makes it highly probable.
The main rival is CIAO (Italian). When the clue lacks a clear language flag, check the crossings: HOLA and CIAO share no letters in the same positions, which means the crosses will discriminate fast. And remember the direction test from the ADIOS article: greeting = HOLA, farewell = ADIOS. Two filters, zero ambiguity.
HOLA’s crossword neighbors
HOLA belongs to the NYT’s greeting family, the multilingual hello/goodbye cluster:
- ADIOS (5) — Spanish goodbye; HOLA’s farewell counterpart.
- CIAO (4) — Italian hello/goodbye; HOLA’s direct 4-letter rival.
- ALOHA (5) — Hawaiian hello/goodbye; famously derivable from HOLA by the add-and-reverse trick.
- SHALOM (6) — Hebrew hello/goodbye/peace; the longer-slot alternative.
- BONJOUR (7) — French hello; for when the grid needs the full continental treatment.
Learn the family as greetings-vs-farewells crossed with languages, and every “hello/goodbye in X” clue becomes mechanical: identify the language, identify the direction, count the letters, write the answer.