NYT’s The Mini Crossword Answers and Hints

Saturday, December 7, 2024

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Hit a roadblock solving today's NYT The Mini? Lady Puzzle is happy to lend a hand. Click her for hints, reveal the entire puzzle, uncover squares one by one, or explore clue answers. Whatever solving style you prefer, this is your go-to tool for finishing NYT's The Mini Crossword!

All Past NYT Mini Puzzles

Today’s NYT Mini Highlights

This Saturday 7x7 puzzle by Tracy Bennett, Wordle’s editor, features a playful mix of language quirks and trivia, including a nod to a Soviet-era space station and modern office habits. Let’s dive into the explanations:

Gift box topper

The answer is BOW.
Simple and festive—nothing finishes off a gift like a BOW. If you pictured ribbons and wrapping paper, you were on the right track.

Name that's an anagram of CABLE

The answer is CALEB.
Seeing "anagram" in the clue is the hint to rearrange letters. Swapping around CABLE gives us the name CALEB.

Prominent body part in a Rosie the Riveter poster

The answer is FOREARM.
Rosie’s flexed FOREARM is the centerpiece of her empowering "We Can Do It!" poster—a classic image of strength.

Frequently, in poetry

The answer is OFT.
A poetic way to say "often," OFT is a crossword staple. If you love classic literature, this one probably came easily.

Fish in a Japanese garden pond

The answer is KOI.
Beautiful, colorful KOI fish are a staple in serene Japanese gardens, symbolizing luck and perseverance.

Mysterious special "something"

The answer is XFACTOR.
That indescribable quality that makes someone stand out—the XFACTOR captures intrigue and charm in just seven letters.

Receded like the tide

The answer is EBBED.
The word EBBED paints a picture of the tide retreating. It’s rhythmic and calm, much like the solving experience of this clue.

English class assignment

The answer is ESSAY.
A classic English class task, writing an ESSAY is both a challenge and a rite of passage for students everywhere.

Bills for drinks

The answer is BARTABS.
If you’ve been out for a few rounds, the BARTABS can add up quickly—a familiar concept for social butterflies.

World Cup cheer

The answer is OLE.
A spirited and universal soccer chant, OLE brings all the energy of the World Cup to the grid!

Watered-down argument, in slang

The answer is WEAKTEA.
In slang, WEAK TEA describes something unimpressive or a poor argument—like tea that’s been diluted too much.

___ badging (swiping in at the office before heading to work remotely)

The answer is COFFEE.
The clue points to a clever term: COFFEE badging is when you pop into the office just to make an appearance before working elsewhere.

Unhappy and deep in thought

The answer is BROODY.
If someone’s BROODY, they’re stewing over something, lost in their feelings. Think of a pensive, moody stare out the window.

Cunning critter

The answer is FOX.
The FOX is often seen as sly and clever—whether it’s evading hunters or outsmarting opponents in folklore.

Soviet-era space station

The answer is MIR.
MIR was a Soviet space station that orbited Earth from the 1980s to the 2000s, paving the way for international space collaboration.

"Survivor" network

The answer is CBS.
If you’re a fan of reality TV, you know CBS has been the home of Survivor since its debut.

Today's Tricky Wordplay

Here's what caught our attention today:

What is NYT The Mini Crossword?

NYT The Mini Crossword is a compact version of the New York Times Crossword puzzle. Usually 5 x 5, with larger grids on Saturdays, it offers mid-week equivalent difficulty clues with no progression over the week. It is accessible to anyone with or without a New York Times account. You can play it on nytimes.com/crosswords, The New York Times Games app (iOS and Android), and the Play tab of the New York Times News app. Games and All Access Subscribers can solve past Mini Crossword puzzles in the archive.

Daily Availability

Puzzles are accessible the evening before the publish date. Weekday and Saturday puzzles: 10 p.m. EST the previous day. Sunday puzzles: 6 p.m. EST on Saturday.

Today's NYT Puzzle Guides by LadyPuzzle Pro

How to Play - Features and Tips

Fill white squares with letters to form intersecting words or phrases by solving clues in Across and Down columns. Read our guide to NYT Mini Mastery to learn how to read the different types of clues. Successfully completed puzzle triggers music and a congratulatory message.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Arrow keys: Change direction within the same square, move in the direction of the arrow, jump back to the first blank in the word, or jump to the next clue.
Spacebar: Clear the current square, advance, or toggle between Across and Down.
Backspace (Delete on Macs): Remove words or a letter from a word.
Tab key: Jump to the next clue.
Shift + Tab keys: Jump to the previous clue.
Escape: Enter Rebus mode.
Pen and Pencil Modes. Switch between pen and pencil modes by selecting the respective icon. Letters in pen mode are black; in pencil mode, gray.

Letter Colors

Black: Default pen mode entries.
Gray: Pencil mode entries.
Blue: Confirmed letters with Check.
Mini Timer

Time your solving with the timer displayed above the puzzle. Pause/resume using the respective buttons. The timer restarts if the entire puzzle is cleared. Option to hide the timer in Puzzle settings.

In-game Help

Reveal: Unveil correct letters for a square, answer, or the entire puzzle.
Check: Verify correctness.

The answers you get using help are marked with a red triangle in the upper right-hand corner of the box while those confirmed with a check become blue.

Leaderboards

It’s an additional social resource provided by NYT. You can add friends (up to 100 invitees) to track daily completion and compete.

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