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NYT’s The Mini Crossword Answers and Hints
Across
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The answer is SNAIL because in the classic New Yorker cartoon, a snail mistakes a tape dispenser for a fellow snail due to its similar shape—a shell-like curve with a protrusion resembling a snail’s body. This clever visual pun ties the animal, snail, to its humorous “love interest.”
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The Devanagari script is primarily used for several Indian languages, with Hindi being the most widely spoken among them. As the official language of India, Hindi is closely associated with this script, making it the fitting answer to the clue.
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The clue "Singer Presley or Costello" refers to two famous musicians with the same first name: Elvis Presley, known as the King of Rock 'n' Roll, and Elvis Costello, a renowned singer-songwriter. Therefore, the shared first name "ELVIS" is the correct answer.
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The answer is ELIOT because George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, the renowned 19th-century English author of the novel Middlemarch. The clue directly references the author of that work, making "Eliot" the correct answer.
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The answer is PALMS because fortune tellers commonly practice "palmistry," the art of reading the lines, shapes, and features of a person's palms to predict their future or reveal traits about their personality. The phrasing "read" hints at this specific practice.
Down
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The clue "Blind followers" is a play on words. It refers to sheep, animals known for their flocking behavior, often following the group without question or individual decision-making—acting as "blind followers" in a figurative sense. This pun ties perfectly to the answer, "SHEEP."
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The clue "___ wafers (Nabisco treat)" refers to a well-known snack made by Nabisco. The missing word is "NILLA," which completes the name "Nilla Wafers," a popular vanilla-flavored cookie brand. The clue explicitly specifies a Nabisco treat, directly hinting at this iconic product.
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In classic cartoons, particularly Looney Tunes, an anvil is a common comedic trope. It humorously falls from the sky, often onto characters like Wile E. Coyote, due to its exaggerated weight. The clue uses wordplay and nostalgia to reference this iconic gag, making "ANVIL" the perfect answer.
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The clue "In a pickle" or "in a jam" uses common figurative expressions to describe being in trouble or a tough situation. Such phrases are examples of idioms—expressions whose meanings are not directly derived from their individual words. Hence, the answer is "IDIOM."
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The clue "They might end with 'etc.'" refers to items or ideas grouped together—commonly in lists. The abbreviation "etc." (et cetera) signals additional unnamed items, often at the end of a list, making LISTS the fitting answer.
Today’s Game Difficulty
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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!
Today’s NYT Mini Highlights
Christina Iverson’s Tuesday puzzle is a clean 5×5 grid with no black squares, every answer five letters long. The theme uses everyday phrases with a clever unifying twist, and while most entries are accessible, a few cultural and brand-name references may trip you up. Smooth overall, but with just enough traps to keep solvers on their toes.
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
- Today's Wordle
- Connections Hint Today
- NYT Pips Today - Hints & Solutions
- NYT Crossword Answers Today
- Strands Answers Today
- Spelling Bee Hints
- Connections Sports Edition (The Athletic)
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.