In case you missed Friday’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle, you can find the answers here:
Well my dearest Crosswordlers, look who’s back. It’s me! I have returned for more Mini Crossword solving with you fine puzzle solvers. It’s Saturday, which means we have our most daunting Mini Crossword of the week to tackle. Let’s dive right in!
The NYT Mini is a smaller, quicker, more digestible, bite-sized version of the larger and more challenging NYT Crossword, and unlike its larger sibling, it’s free-to-play without a subscription to The New York Times. You can play it on the web or the app, though you’ll need the app to tackle the archive.
Spoilers ahead!
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How To Solve Today’s Mini Crossword
Before we get to the answers, here’s the first letter for each word in today’s Mini.
Across
1A. De bugs? – I
8A. Make funnier, as jokes – P
9A. “Life is like a box of chocolates,” for example – A
10A. Dot on a domino – P
11A. In an upbeat mood – C
15A. Important topic in sex education – C
16A. Leaves the Union – S
Down
1D. Hoppy order at a happy hour – I
2D. Convent member – N
3D. Tech company with a bright yellow color scheme and ghost logo – S
4D. Sun block? – E
5D. Like many ingredients in a Cobb salad – C
6D. Pull sharply – Y
7D. One with a secret identity – H
11D. Syringe amts. – CCS
12D. Garden tool with a long handle – HOE
13D. Opposite of WSW – ENE
14D. Certain football linemen: Abbr. – RTS
Okay, onto the answers! Remember, spoilers ahead!
Across
1A. De bugs? – INSECTS
8A. Make funnier, as jokes – PUNCH UP
9A. “Life is like a box of chocolates,” for example – ANALOGY
10A. Dot on a domino – PIP
11A. In an upbeat mood – CHIPPER
15A. Important topic in sex education – CONSENT
16A. Leaves the Union – SECEDES
Down
1D. Hoppy order at a happy hour – IPA
2D. Convent member – NUN
3D. Tech company with a bright yellow color scheme and ghost logo – SNAP
4D. Sun block? – ECLIPSE
5D. Like many ingredients in a Cobb salad – CHOPPED
6D. Pull sharply – YANK
7D. One with a secret identity – HERO
11D. Syringe amts. – CCS
12D. Garden tool with a long handle – HOE
13D. Opposite of WSW – ENE
14D. Certain football linemen: Abbr. – RTS
So many words in this Mini, but fortunately I guessed a lot of the long ACROSS words pretty quickly. De bugs? confused me, but I tried INSECTS and it fit, so I rolled with it. ANALOGY fit in 9-Across (Thanks Forrest Gump!) and both CONSENT and SECEDES were pretty obvious. I worked my way back from there and pretty soon had the whole thing wrapped up, ending in PUNCHUP back at the top. This took me 1:48.
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!
