It’s still Sunday afternoon, but the NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Monday is already out. Does that mean it’s basically Monday already, or do we still have a few hours to enjoy the weekend? Either way, we have a Mini Crossword to solve, so let’s solve it!
Looking for Sunday’s Mini Crossword? Here’s our guide.
How To Play The NYT Mini Crossword
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:
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.
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
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. Go on a run in the freezing cold? — S
4A. Full of oneself — V
5A. Nabisco wafer brand — N
6A. Powerhouse in women’s college basketball… — U
7A. On edge — T
Down
1D. Beauty parlor — S
2D. Ceramicist’s ovens — K
3D. Ridiculous — I
4D. Bad habit — V
5D. A cashew … or a cuckoo — N
Today’s Mini Crossword Answers
Okay, onto the answers! Remember, spoilers ahead!
Across
1A. Go on a run in the freezing cold? — SKI
4A. Full of oneself — VAIN
5A. Nabisco wafer brand — NILLA
6A. Powerhouse in women’s college basketball, with a record 12 national championships — UCONN
7A. On edge — TENSE
Down
1D. Beauty parlor — SALON
2D. Ceramicist’s ovens — KILNS
3D. Ridiculous — INANE
4D. Bad habit — VICE
5D. A cashew … or a cuckoo — NUT
Here are the filled in answers:
I think all the beige and dark-beige squares with circles in them threw me off because I really struggled with a few of today’s clues. I got VAIN pretty much right away, and KILNS pretty quickly, but then I couldn’t remember what brand NILLA wafers were, though I think that’s because I didn’t think of NILLA as the brand but as part of the name of the product itself. INANE, I know. I didn’t think of SKI right away, but if I had that would have helped with SALON. I eventually got them all—after a whopping 2:18!
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!
