IDLE is an answer for the NYT Crossword puzzle. Here you can get the history and usage for IDLE in NYT Crossword from 1994.
This "IDLE" answer was first appeared in "25 Dec 1993" NYT Crossword for the hint of "Faineant". It was authored by Rand H. Burns. Recently, the "IDLE" answer has been used for "27 Aug 2023" NYT Crossword for the hint of "Not up to much". It was authored by Rich Katz. In the NYT Crossword, this answer has been used most frequently for the hints: "Not working (9)", "Lay off (9)", "Nothing doing? (7)", "Not busy (6)", "Loafing (6)". "IDLE" appeared 230 times in Shortz Era puzzles. So lets take a look for clue and answer history of "IDLE" word.
| Date | Grid | Clue | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Aug 2023 | 50D | Not up to much | Rich Katz |
| 24 Jul 2023 | 54A | Have the engine on while parked | John Ewbank |
| 14 Jun 2023 | 14A | Not doing anything | Jennifer Hoelzer |
| 12 Dec 2022 | 19A | Nothing doing? | Anthony J. Caruso and Zhouqin Burnikel |
| 28 Nov 2022 | 67A | Run without moving, as a car | Chloe Revery |
| 1 Sep 2022 | 68A | See 12-Across | John Wrenholt |
| 13 Jul 2022 | 2D | Just waiting around | Addison Snell |
| 20 Jun 2022 | 12D | Run in neutral | Christopher Youngs |
| 25 May 2022 | 10A | ___ threat | Christopher Youngs |
| 29 Apr 2022 | 48A | Unoccupied | Erica Hsiung Wojcik |
| 26 Apr 2022 | 2D | Not doing anything | Simon Marotte |
| 24 Apr 2022 | 49D | Run in place | Sam Ezersky |
| 29 Mar 2022 | 12D | Just twiddling one’s thumbs | Jamey Smith |
| 18 Feb 2022 | 57A | Torpid | Aimee Lucido |
| 6 Jan 2022 | 63A | Lay off | Andrew Linzer |
| 10 Nov 2021 | 31D | Wait for the light to change, say | Max Chen Lauring and Benjamin Chen Lauring |
| 28 Oct 2021 | 59A | Not do anything | Alan Massengill |
| 24 Sep 2021 | 33D | Waiting for an assignment, maybe | Stella Zawistowski |
| 7 Sep 2021 | 64A | Just sitting around | Zhouqin Burnikel |
| 19 Jul 2021 | 53D | Keep an engine running without moving | Stephanie Lesser |
| 13 Jul 2021 | 29D | Like a team on a day off | Bruce Haight |
| 25 Jun 2021 | 9D | Like some threats | Scott Earl |
| 26 May 2021 | 31D | Duty-free? | Will Nediger |
| 12 May 2021 | 25A | Lollygag | Tracy Gray |
| 25 Apr 2021 | 42D | Just hanging out | Jeremy Newton |
| 10 Apr 2021 | 21A | Like some threats | Evans Clinchy |
| 24 Dec 2020 | 12D | Not going anywhere | Billy Ouska |
| 17 Dec 2020 | 62A | Word before rich or talk | Kathryn Ladner |
| 13 Dec 2020 | 122A | Wait in neutral | Dan Margolis |
| 23 Nov 2020 | 37D | Not busy | Stanley Newman |
| 19 Oct 2020 | 36A | Just sitting around | Fred Piscop |
| 27 Sep 2020 | 82D | Thumb-twiddling | Alex Eaton-Salners |
| 24 Jul 2020 | 58A | Hang around | Grant Thackray |
| 13 Jul 2020 | 53D | Inactive | Erik Agard |
| 3 Jul 2020 | 15A | ___ talk | Hal Moore |
| 10 May 2020 | 107A | Sit at a red light, say | Adam Fromm |
| 18 Feb 2020 | 55D | Kind of hands said to be the devil’s playthings | John Guzzetta |
| 4 Feb 2020 | 26D | Lay off, as workers | Queena Mewers and Alex Eaton-Salners |
| 14 Jan 2020 | 29A | Just sitting around | Jim Peredo |
| 12 Jan 2020 | 49D | Indolent | Evan Mahnken and David Steinberg |
| 22 Jul 2019 | 15A | Not doing anything | Lynn Lempel |
| 3 Jan 2019 | 11D | Pass the time | Timothy Polin |
| 7 May 2018 | 46A | Not working | Julie Bérubé |
| 21 Apr 2018 | 29D | Not doing too much | Daniel Nierenberg |
| 22 Mar 2018 | 37D | Unused | Ross Trudeau |
| 16 Mar 2018 | 53A | Kind of speculation | Robyn Weintraub |
| 23 Jan 2018 | 44A | Wait for a green light, say | Jim Hilger |
| 9 Sep 2017 | 27A | Dormant | John Guzzetta and Michael Hawkins |
| 24 May 2017 | 39A | Loafing around | Michael Hawkins |
| 29 Mar 2017 | 10A | Lay off | Jules P. Markey |
| 22 Feb 2017 | 2D | Not in use | Kyle Dolan |
| 17 Jan 2017 | 10A | Kind of threat | Timothy Polin |
| 14 Dec 2016 | 41D | Pointless | Alan DeLoriea |
| 13 Dec 2016 | 52D | Not working | David Alfred Bywaters |
| 14 Nov 2016 | 10A | Goofing off | Zhouqin Burnikel |
| 24 Oct 2016 | 24D | “___ hands are the devil’s playthings” | John Guzzetta |
| 6 Oct 2016 | 46D | Take it easy | Timothy Polin |
| 28 Jul 2016 | 15A | Kind of chat | Adam G. Perl |
| 11 Jul 2016 | 30D | Not working | Freddie Cheng |
| 13 Jan 2016 | 31D | Do nothing | Jeremy Newton |
| 7 Dec 2015 | 36D | Out of a job | Jason Mueller |
| 27 Oct 2015 | 3D | Doing nothing | Kurt Mueller |
| 6 Jun 2015 | 7D | Having a day off | Jason Flinn |
| 10 May 2015 | 45D | ___ talk | Jacob Stulberg |
| 7 May 2015 | 15A | Lollygag | Tracy Gray |
| 5 Feb 2015 | 61A | Internet chat status | Mike Buckley |
| 24 Nov 2014 | 35A | Doing nothing | Robert Seminara |
| 10 Nov 2014 | 24A | Like a couch potato | Bruce Haight |
| 23 Sep 2014 | 60A | Nothing doing? | Gerry Wildenberg |
| 29 Jul 2014 | 60A | Away from a chat program, say | Timothy Polin |
| 22 Jun 2014 | 104D | Not lifting a finger | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| 26 Jan 2014 | 105D | In a hammock, maybe | Daniel A. Finan |
| 5 Jan 2014 | 64A | Lay off | Alan DerKazarian |
| 2 Dec 2013 | 21D | Nothing doing? | Adam G. Perl |
| 26 Nov 2013 | 59D | Thumb-twiddling | Don Gagliardo and Zhouqin Burnikel |
| 16 Nov 2013 | 54D | Kind of threat | David Steinberg |
| 9 Oct 2013 | 33D | Run while standing still | Jason Flinn |
| 18 Aug 2013 | 88A | Nothing doing? | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| 8 Jul 2013 | 23A | Not working | Randy Sowell |
| 6 Jun 2013 | 5D | Lay off | James Tuttle |
| 17 Dec 2012 | 49A | Barely run the engine | Elizabeth A. Long |
| 13 Nov 2012 | 32D | Goofing off | Don Gagliardo and Zhouqin Burnikel |
| 5 Sep 2012 | 10A | Laid off | Paula Gamache |
| 22 May 2012 | 40D | Empty, as talk | Kyle T. Dolan |
| 20 May 2012 | 112D | Sitting on one’s hands | Alan Arbesfeld |
| 11 Apr 2012 | 12D | Not active | David Kwong |
| 21 Oct 2011 | 62D | Chilling, say | Patrick Berry |
| 8 Aug 2011 | 16A | Not working | Ian Livengood |
| 18 Jun 2011 | 3D | Baseless | Joon Pahk |
| 21 May 2011 | 11D | Kill time | Barry C. Silk |
| 25 Jan 2011 | 60A | On break, say | Randall J. Hartman |
| 21 Dec 2010 | 54D | Pink-slip | Alan Arbesfeld |
| 29 Nov 2010 | 1A | “___ hands are the devil’s tools” | Elizabeth A. Long |
| 24 Nov 2010 | 50A | Just sitting around | Allan E. Parrish |
| 23 Nov 2010 | 63D | Like some threats | Richard Chisholm |
| 18 Oct 2010 | 65A | Not working | Lynn Lempel |
| 21 Mar 2010 | 83A | Potentially going into screen saver mode | Adam Fromm |
| 25 Feb 2010 | 65A | What a getaway car may be waiting in | Holden Baker |
| 25 Oct 2009 | 90A | Not in operation | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| 21 Oct 2009 | 41D | Out of work | Peter A. Collins |
| 7 Sep 2009 | 9D | Twiddling one’s thumbs | Andrea Carla Michaels and Ashish Vengsarkar |
| 7 Jul 2009 | 30D | Just loafing | Lynn Lempel |
| 26 Mar 2009 | 55D | Fallow | Edward Safran |
| 16 Mar 2009 | 55D | No longer working | Lynn Lempel |
| 21 Jan 2009 | 59D | On one’s duff | Fred Piscop |
| 8 Jan 2009 | 65A | Run in place | Joe DiPietro |
| 15 Dec 2008 | 68A | Not scheduled to compete | Susan Gelfand |
| 14 Dec 2008 | 60D | Going nowhere | Trip Payne |
| 4 Sep 2008 | 6D | Lay off | Matt Ginsberg |
| 11 Aug 2008 | 58D | Unemployed | Thomas Heilman |
| 7 Jul 2008 | 38D | Not doing anything | Bob Klahn |
| 20 May 2008 | 61A | Like some chatter | Billie Truitt |
| 7 May 2008 | 18D | Not playing | Richard Silvestri |
| 2 Jan 2008 | 63A | Like some hands | Patrick Blindauer |
| 28 Nov 2007 | 16A | Just sitting | Ray Fontenot |
| 23 Nov 2007 | 13D | Frivolous | Paula Gamache |
| 30 Sep 2007 | 67D | Nothing doing? | Kelsey Blakley |
| 17 Sep 2007 | 5A | Doing nothing | Sarah Keller |
| 29 Aug 2007 | 60A | Loafing | Jayne and Alex Boisvert |
| 5 Aug 2007 | 20A | Kind of speculation | Caroline Leong |
| 1 Mar 2007 | 36A | Trifling | Steven E. Atwood |
| 4 Feb 2007 | 101A | Still | Paul Guttormsson |
| 30 Dec 2006 | 53D | Like some rumors | Rich Norris |
| 6 Nov 2006 | 61D | Not in use | Christina Houlihan Kelly |
| 30 Oct 2006 | 9D | Run in place | Nancy Salomon |
| 25 Oct 2006 | 7D | Lay off | Adam G. Perl |
| 12 Jul 2006 | 49D | Between jobs | Richard Chisholm |
| 9 Apr 2006 | 128D | Asleep, say | Paula Gamache |
| 26 Feb 2006 | 106A | Daydreaming, say | Randolph Ross |
| 7 Feb 2006 | 59D | Nothing doing? | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| 2 Feb 2006 | 37D | Twiddling one’s thumbs | Byron Walden |
| 22 Jan 2006 | 76D | Furloughed | George Barany and Michael Shteyman |
| 26 Dec 2005 | 19D | Doing nothing | Allan E. Parrish |
| 9 Oct 2005 | 13D | Waiting | Kyle Mahowald |
| 29 Sep 2005 | 2D | Shelved | Sam Bellotto Jr. |
| 13 Sep 2005 | 35A | Run without moving | Stella Daily and Bruce Venzke |
| 19 Jul 2005 | 6D | Just chilling | Trip Payne |
| 30 Jun 2005 | 41A | Like some thoughts | Joe DiPietro |
| 10 May 2005 | 34D | Indolent | Nancy Salomon |
| 8 Apr 2005 | 41A | Unused | Manny Nosowsky |
| 4 Apr 2005 | 3D | Doing nothing | Christina Houlihan Kelly |
| 6 Feb 2005 | 10D | Frequent Cleese co-star | Joel Kaplow |
| 6 Dec 2004 | 17A | Just twiddling one’s thumbs | Barry C. Silk |
| 1 Dec 2004 | 16A | Not playing | Roy Leban |
| 2 Nov 2004 | 45A | Having time on one’s hands | Patrick Merrell |
| 24 Oct 2004 | 110A | Unmeaningful | Patrick Berry |
| 30 Aug 2004 | 68A | Taking a break from work | Jeffrey Harris |
| 7 Jun 2004 | 57A | Loafing | Lynn Lempel |
| 27 Apr 2004 | 18A | Loafing | Janet R. Bender |
| 30 Mar 2004 | 5D | Like some chatter | Sarah Keller |
| 1 Sep 2003 | 43A | Just twiddling the thumbs | Barry Silk |
| 22 May 2003 | 41A | Groundless | Dan Reichert |
| 12 May 2003 | 30A | Unfounded, as gossip | Sarah Keller |
| 7 May 2003 | 59D | Not scheduled to play | Alan Arbesfeld |
| 8 Apr 2003 | 66A | Mark time | Verna Suit |
| 10 Mar 2003 | 13D | Not busy | Gail Grabowski |
| 2 Mar 2003 | 31D | Knock about | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| 17 Feb 2003 | 10A | Lounge | Alan Arbesfeld |
| 18 Sep 2002 | 22A | Between assignments | David J. Kahn |
| 20 May 2002 | 68A | Sitting on one’s hands | Nancy Salomon and Harvey Estes |
| 22 Apr 2002 | 55D | Inactive | Peter Gordon |
| 10 Apr 2002 | 22A | Not playing | Gregory Casagrande |
| 25 Feb 2002 | 49D | Inactive | Christina Houlihan |
| 16 Dec 2001 | 111D | Waiting | Fred Piscop |
| 22 Nov 2001 | 66A | Run while standing | Richard Silvestri |
| 8 Oct 2001 | 60A | Kind of hands that are “the devil’s playthings” | Monica Krausse |
| 30 Sep 2001 | 46A | Off | Con Pederson |
| 29 Jul 2001 | 119D | Leave in neutral | Michael Ashley |
| 8 Jun 2001 | 16D | Not engaged | Harvey Estes and Nancy Salomon |
| 15 Nov 2000 | 44A | Barely run, as an engine | Chuck Deodene |
| 22 Oct 2000 | 109D | Empty | Henry Hook |
| 2 Oct 2000 | 3D | Not busy | Sarah Keller |
| 12 Jul 2000 | 11D | Like some rumors | William A. Ballard |
| 4 May 2000 | 55D | Unused | Richard Hughes |
| 13 Apr 2000 | 3D | Like some chatter | Matt Gaffney |
| 19 Jan 2000 | 2D | Like some threats | Arthur S. Verdesca |
| 11 Jan 2000 | 60A | Just lying around | Fran and Lou Sabin |
| 25 Nov 1999 | 59A | Just lying around | David J. Kahn |
| 26 Oct 1999 | 65A | Not busy | Kevin McCann |
| 4 Jul 1999 | 55A | Like some fears | Greg Staples |
| 10 Jun 1999 | 46A | Not engaged | Adam G. Perl |
| 20 Apr 1999 | 62D | Not working | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| 5 Mar 1999 | 4D | Run without moving | Joe DiPietro |
| 12 Jan 1999 | 2D | Goofing off | Nancy Salomon |
| 4 Jan 1999 | 1A | Thumb-twiddling | Gregory E. Paul |
| 13 Dec 1998 | 28D | Groundless | Richard Silvestri |
| 9 Dec 1998 | 29A | Off the job | Alan Arbesfeld |
| 15 Nov 1998 | 30A | Run at the curb | Robert H. Wolfe |
| 19 Oct 1998 | 25A | At rest | Stephanie Spadaccini |
| 21 Aug 1998 | 18D | Wait at the light | Noah Dephoure |
| 20 Jul 1998 | 43A | Kind of talk | Mary E. Brindamour |
| 3 Jul 1998 | 23A | Mothballed | Martin Ashwood-Smith |
| 29 Jun 1998 | 16A | Loafing | Gregory E. Paul |
| 2 Mar 1998 | 10D | Not busy | Jeremy Thomas Paine |
| 3 Feb 1998 | 56D | In neutral | Nancy Salomon |
| 19 Jan 1998 | 63A | Not working | Gregory E. Paul |
| 25 Dec 1997 | 63A | Lounge | A. J. Santora |
| 22 Nov 1997 | 32D | Not going anywhere | Matt Gaffney |
| 12 Aug 1997 | 3D | Not in use | Janet R. Bender |
| 4 May 1997 | 118D | Out of action | Manny Nosowsky |
| 6 Feb 1997 | 8D | Nothing doing? | D. J. Kahn |
| 1 Dec 1996 | 75D | Not occupied | D. J. Kahn |
| 31 Oct 1996 | 58A | Like some hands | L. Sidway |
| 12 Aug 1996 | 19A | Not in use | J. R. Bender |
| 3 Jul 1996 | 2D | Twiddling one’s thumbs | F. Heaney |
| 20 Jun 1996 | 45A | Loafing | C. Millhauser |
| 11 Jun 1996 | 2D | Run in neutral | G. E. Paul |
| 27 May 1996 | 53A | Not busy | N. Steinberg |
| 22 Apr 1996 | 14A | Not at work | S. B. Whitten |
| 25 Feb 1996 | 76A | Lay off | D. Niles |
| 3 Nov 1995 | 51A | Lay off | David J. Kahn |
| 15 Oct 1995 | 129A | Out of action | Mel Rosen |
| 30 Aug 1995 | 60A | Turned off | John R. Conrad |
| 15 Jun 1995 | 13D | Loafing | Norma Steinberg |
| 14 Jun 1995 | 60A | Indolent | Richard Hughes |
| 2 Mar 1995 | 13D | “Monty Python” troupe member | Raymond Hamel |
| 10 Feb 1995 | 18A | Aimless | Raymond Hamel |
| 8 Feb 1995 | 27A | Type of chatter | Cathy Millhauser |
| 23 Dec 1994 | 50D | “Monty Python” regular | Frank A. Longo |
| 13 Oct 1994 | 53D | Unoccupied | Manny Nosowsky |
| 20 Jul 1994 | 60D | Run in place | Harvey Estes |
| 7 Jun 1994 | 25D | Thumb-twiddling | Ernie Furtado |
| 3 Jun 1994 | 2D | Lay off | Norman S. Wizer |
| 16 May 1994 | 48A | Eric of “Monty Python” | Ed Pegg Jr. |
| 1 May 1994 | 56A | Not working | Peter Gordon |
| 8 Apr 1994 | 50D | Fruitless | David A. Rosen |
| 28 Feb 1994 | 2D | Run in neutral | Sidney L. Robbins |
| 31 Jan 1994 | 59A | Not in use | Janet R. Bender |
| 2 Jan 1994 | 93A | Thumb-twiddling | Brian G. Tyler |
| 25 Dec 1993 | 13D | Faineant | Rand H. Burns |
Here you get IDLE answered all clues with dates, Grid, and Author info. If IDLE will be used in a new NYT Crossword, that will be updated here.