How to Play the NYT Mini

The NYT Mini is a quick and dirty version of the newspaper's larger and long-running crossword. Most days, there are between three and five clues in each direction on a five by five grid, but the puzzles are sometimes larger, especially on Saturdays.

Unlike its larger sibling, the NYT Mini crossword is free to play on the New York Times website or NYT Games app. However, you’ll need an NYT Games subscription to access previous puzzles in the archives.

The NYT Mini is a fun daily distraction that usually takes no time at all. I try to beat the standard weekday grid in less than a minute. But sometimes I can't quite figure out one or two clues and need to reveal the answer.

To help you avoid doing that, here are the NYT Mini Crossword answers (spoilers lie ahead, of course):

NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers

ACROSS

1) When tripled, playful syllables sung after "Happy birthday to you!" - CHA
4) Burn on the grill - CHAR
5) ___ City, nickname for Baltimore - CHARM
6) Explosion’s sound - BOOM
7) Half of cuatro - DOS

DOWN

1) Utter pandemonium - CHAOS
2) Damage, as a reputation - HARM
3) Spot for a tattoo sleeve - ARM
4) Jimmy ___ (high-end footwear brand) - CHOO
5) Ingredient in some relaxing gummies, for short - CDB

Short puzzle today and there really aren’t many more black squares you could fit in there before you start breaking some rules. Some Spanish math, some fashion knowledge and gummy expertise and you’ll be on your way to the solved puzzle here.

Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.

Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.