NYT Mini Crossword

The Mini Crossword arrived in 2014 as a five-by-five warm-up puzzle edited by Joel Fagliano. It delivers a daily shot of wordplay that mirrors the main Crossword’s Monday-to-Sunday difficulty arc but takes under two minutes for most solvers.

• Launch: introduced in 2014 on NYTimes.com and the Crossword app.
• Grid: 5x5 with rotational symmetry and 10–15 clues per puzzle.
• Cadence: easiest on Monday, with trickier wordplay by Friday and a slightly longer Sunday edition.

Official access and pricing

Play the Mini at NYTimes.com/crosswords/game/mini. Today’s puzzle is free on web and in the NYT Games app after logging in, while archives, streaks, and the ad-free app experience require an NYT Games or All Access subscription.

History and audience

Designed as an on-ramp to the full Crossword, the Mini quickly became a streak-based habit thanks to its speed-running appeal. The Times added leaderboards and friend sharing to highlight solve times, and teachers often use the Mini in classrooms to model clue parsing and vocabulary building without overwhelming students.

The 5x5 format forces compact wordplay: you often see consonant-dense entries, stacked proper nouns, and playful abbreviations. Thursdays can sneak in a mini rebus or visual twist, making the puzzle a testbed for experimental clueing before ideas graduate to the full-size grid.

Strategy for faster times

• Tap the cross icon: short answers mean every crossing confirms or fixes errors quickly; switch directions often.
• Trust the theme rhythm: Fridays and Saturdays may sneak in puns or misdirection, so reread clues literally and figuratively.
• Use keyboard shortcuts in the app to hop to the next empty square without losing time.
• Memorize common abbreviations and compass directions—they appear frequently because of the tight grid.
• Corner starts: start in the upper-left to secure a 3-letter foothold before moving diagonally; Minis rarely isolate corners, so each letter cascades.

Two strong opening patterns: (1) scan for a plural or abbr. clue to drop an -S or shortened form that immediately confirms two or three crosses; (2) jump to the longest Across (often in row three) to anchor the theme or pun, then backfill the shorter entries with confidence.

Training ladder and opener drills

Treat the Mini like interval training. Solve yesterday’s puzzle untimed to map clue signals, then replay it on a 30-second timer to improve cursor discipline. Rotate opening targets: one day start on the longest Across, another day start on a Down that crosses multiple entries, and a third day begin with any clue containing abbreviations. This variety mirrors the "Getting to Genius" habit of changing starting letters to avoid autopilot thinking.

• Anchor drill: pick a 3-letter word like ERA or AFT, then practice building a surrounding 5x5 mini-grid to understand why constructors rely on these entries.
• Corner sweeps: time yourself clearing just the NW corner of five archived puzzles; aim to cut the average below 12 seconds.
• Shadow solve: watch a solving video with the sound muted and try to predict each keystroke. This emphasizes cursor movement and clue scanning order.
• Keyboard mapping: on mobile, experiment with swipe controls versus tap-to-advance. A consistent navigation habit can trim several seconds.

Practice ideas and fun facts

• Drills: run five archived Minis in a row without pausing to build muscle memory for common 3-letter fill (ERA, ORE, AFT) and direction clues.
• Thumb speed: on mobile, switch to dark mode and increase keyboard size to reduce mis-taps during speed runs.
• Visualization: before typing, picture the entire 5x5 and decide a zig-zag path that touches every blank once—this prevents cursor wandering.

The Mini regularly appears on the NYT homepage and is one of the most solved digital puzzles worldwide because it fits into short breaks. Weekly leaderboards inside the app encourage replay, and tournaments such as "The Mini Crossword Speed Solve" livestream showcase elite players finishing under 10 seconds.