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) The Notorious ___ (longtime Supreme Court nickname) - RBG
4) Islamic equivalent of kosher - HALAL
6) Repent for one’s wrongs - ATONE
7) Warrior with throwing stars called shuriken - NINJA
8) Camera brand that really had a moment? - KODAK

DOWN

1) 3:2 or 5:4 - RATIO
2) Like some light hair and light ales - BLOND
3) Weed - GANJA
4) Nickname for Henry - HANK
5) News story from an undisclosed source - LEAK

Did you know that blond and blonde are for male and female blond/e hair? And objects, like ale, are spelled the blond way. Why don’t we do this with brown and browne or red or redde or something like that? I don’t really get the distinction here, and I’m curious how this came to pass in the history of the English language when we don’t usually gender words like this.

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