Hearty gulp - NYT The Mini Clue

Hearty gulp Answer Explained

The answer is SWIG.

“Hearty gulp” suggests more than a delicate “sip.” I think of a generous, maybe unrefined drink, one quick pull from a bottle or cup. “Swig” nails that image. Close cousins like “slug” or “chug” hover nearby, but “slug” is the noun for a drink or the verb “to hit,” while “chug” leans toward the action of finishing something fast, not the single gulp. “Draft/draught” is beer-specific and longer. SWIG is compact, vivid, and used exactly this way in everyday speech: “take a swig.”

Now that you've cracked the 5A Hearty gulp clue, you're one step closer to completing today’s Mini Puzzle! If you're still stuck on other clues, don't worry—we've got you covered. Explore more NYT Mini crossword answers right here, or check out our tools for solving the NYT Crossword, Connections, or Strands.

Today’s NYT Mini Highlights

Today’s Monday Mini from Joel Fagliano played out smoother going Down first rather than Across — the vertical clues felt a touch more straightforward. The puzzle balanced light cultural references with everyday vocabulary, so there was a nice mix of familiar territory to start the week. A gentle, approachable Monday solve, with just enough variety to keep it lively.

Here’s what caught our attention today:

• British "bye-bye"
• It's been called the "City of Light" and the "City of Love"
• Comedically risky
• Baking measure: Abbr.
• "An extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been," per David Bowie

About NYT The Mini

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.

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 check become blue.

Leaderboards

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