How to solve today’s Mini crossword.
Credit: NYT
If you’re having a bit of trouble with today’s Mini Crossword, look no further. You’ve come to the right place. The New York Times releases Tuesday through Saturday Crosswords and Mini Crosswords at 10pm ET / 7pm PT the previous day of the week, and the Sunday and Monday puzzles at 7pm ET / 4pm PT the previous day on weekends. I’m not sure why, but that’s how it works. That means we have plenty of time to solve Saturday’s Mini Crossword before Saturday even arrives. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Looking for Friday’s NYT Mini Crossword? Here are some hints and answers.
The NYT Mini is a smaller, quicker, more digestible, bite-sized version of the larger and more challenging NYT Crossword. While it used to be free, in August the Mini was placed behind the NYT Games App paywall. This has led to a noticeable decline in people playing the game, unfortunately. You can check out all of the NYT Games, free and paid, right here.
A Mini Crossword is typically just 10 to 20 clues, with only Saturday’s puzzle on the upper end of that spread. Here’s what a basic NYT Mini looks like:
The NYT Mini Crossword
Screenshot: Erik Kain
Follow the clues and come up with as many words as possible, and then use the letters from those words to fill in the remaining words you were unsure about. A good rule of thumb is to skip ahead whenever you don’t know something and come back to the clue later. Of course, if you still need help at that point, read on below for hints and answers.
The best way to play the NYT Mini Crossword is to try to beat your previous speed or play competitively with a friend and see who can fill out their Mini the fastest. This is not a long, laborious task like the normal NYT Crossword. It’s a game of speed and agile thinking.
Spoilers ahead!
How To Solve Today’s NYT Mini Crossword
Before we get to the answers, here’s the first letter for each word in today’s Mini.
Across
1A. Class for dummies? — C
4A. Fuzzy boot brand — U
7A. Metal sought by a miner — O
8A. T.S.A. ___ Check — P
9A. Me, in Marseilles — M
10A. “The Da Vinci Code” author Brown — D
11A. Fan base of a major K-pop supergroup — B
13A. The world’s fastest-growing religion, with nearly 350 million new observers in the past decade — I
14A. Like a thick winter jacket, say — P
15A. Ticketmaster purchases — S
Down
1D. Tool in a grooming kit — C
2D. Helpful nuggets from experts — P
3D. Publish again, as a magazine edition — R
4D. Skyward gust of air — U
5D. Record of the Year and Best New Artist — G
6D. Millennials’ cohort, informally — G
12D. ___ Romeo (sporty Italian car) — A
Today’s Mini Crossword Answers
Okay, onto the answers! Remember, spoilers ahead!
Across
1A. Class for dummies? — CPR
4A. Fuzzy boot brand — UGG
7A. Metal sought by a miner — ORE
8A. T.S.A. ___ Check — PRE
9A. Me, in Marseilles — MOI
10A. “The Da Vinci Code” author Brown — DAN
11A. Fan base of a major K-pop supergroup — BTS ARMY
13A. The world’s fastest-growing religion, with nearly 350 million new observers in the past decade — ISLAM
14A. Like a thick winter jacket, say — PUFFY
15A. Ticketmaster purchases — SEATS
Down
1D. Tool in a grooming kit — COMB
2D. Helpful nuggets from experts — PRO TIPS
3D. Publish again, as a magazine edition — REISSUE
4D. Skyward gust of air — UPDRAFT
5D. Record of the Year and Best New Artist — GRAMMY
6D. Millennials’ cohort, informally — GEN Z
12D. ___ Romeo (sporty Italian car) — ALFA
Here are the filled in answers:
Today’s Mini Crossword
Screenshot: Erik Kain
It’s really a bummer that the Mini Crossword has gone behind the paywall. Based entirely around the traffic that these guides do now that the NYT has gone that route, I’d say about 75% of players (if not more) have stopped playing. Guides that did anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 views now do a couple thousand on a good day. There really isn’t much point in putting the Mini behind a paywall. It’s not the kind of game people are going to pay for. The real diehard puzzle gamers who want the full crossword will pay, but this is a casual game that’s supposed to nudge free players into paid games. Oh well.
Today’s Mini was super challenging but also I was distracted and started popping answers into the wrong spots. I went from 1-Down to 7-down and treated it like it was 4-down and got all my top words mixed up and unscrambling that mess, once I’d dispelled my confusion, took way too long. 4:31! Ugh. Or, well, UGG.
How did you do? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
If you also play Wordle, I write guides about that as well. You can find those and all my TV guides, reviews and much more here on my blog. Thanks for reading!
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