Hits the "15%" or "20%" button, say - NYT The Mini Clue

Hits the "15%" or "20%" button, say Answer Explained

The answer is TIPS.

The clue "Hits the '15%' or '20%' button, say" points to something many of us do after paying at a restaurant or café. Those percentage buttons are the preset gratuity options on payment terminals, so pressing one means you're adding a tip to the bill. Since the clue is written as "Hits", in the third-person singular, the answer is TIPS. It's a nice example of a modern crossword clue that reflects everyday life. Rather than asking directly about leaving extra money, it describes the specific action of tapping one of those familiar buttons, letting the solver work backward to the verb tips.

Now that you've cracked the 1D Hits the "15%" or "20%" button, say 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

I flew through today’s Mini. Everything came together so quickly that I barely even looked at the Down clues before the grid was finished. The only answer that slowed me down was the cross-reference with INNER and PEACE. I had to wait for a few crossing letters before it finally clicked, but once it did, the rest fell into place almost instantly. Other than that little pause, it felt like a very fast and smooth Tuesday puzzle, one of those solves where you’re done before you realize it.

Here’s what caught our attention today:

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

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