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Mini Crossword

Today’s 5×5 plus the last 90 days in the archive: free, with no subscription and no paywall.

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Full puzzle archive →
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The basics

How to Play Mini Crossword

Master the grid in two minutes. Read the five rules, glance at the tips, and jump back to the puzzle.

Five rules

  1. 1.Click a clue number or any cell to start
  2. 2.Type letters — Tab or arrow keys move between cells
  3. 3.Crossing letters help confirm your guesses
  4. 4.Check, Reveal and Clear are always there if you get stuck
  5. 5.Come back tomorrow for a fresh daily puzzle

Pro tips

  • Start with the shortest answers — fewest possible fills.
  • Use crossing letters aggressively — a known letter narrows the answer fast.
  • Clues in quotes usually want a quote or idiom.
  • If a clue starts with "Like…" the answer is usually an adjective.
  • Learn the staples: ASAP, OREO, AREA, ALOE and EEL all turn up in our 5×5s.

How clues work

Across · left to right
Down · top to bottom

Cells where across and down answers cross share the same letter — use that constraint to confirm guesses.

Pick your size

Classic
5 × 5
1–3 min solves
Intermediate
6 × 6
3–6 min solves
Advanced
7 × 7
5–10 min solves

Want the full walkthrough? The how-to-play guide solves a real puzzle step by step and has a practice grid, the solving tips explain clue conventions with real examples, and what is a mini crossword? covers the format itself.

About the puzzle

A Free Mini Crossword to Play Online

Mini Crossword is a free 5×5 crossword you play right here in your browser. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight Eastern Time: ten clues, five Across and five Down, sized for a one-to-three-minute break. There's nothing to install and no account to make, and your letters save in your browser as you type.

Want a longer solve? Every day also brings a 6×6 with 12 clues and a 7×7 with 14 or 16, and Unlimited mode serves one mini after another from our library in all three sizes. If a clue has you stuck, each daily 5×5 has a hints page with three hints per clue, plus an answer key that reveals one answer at a time.

Every puzzle here is our own, made by our own puzzle generator, and the site isn't affiliated with any newspaper. Missed a day? The archive keeps the last 90 days of daily puzzles.

Free

No subscription, ever

Today’s puzzle, the 90-day archive, Unlimited, hints, and answers — all free. No signup, no paywall, no account.

Daily

A fresh 5×5 every morning

New puzzle at midnight Eastern Time. Yesterday slides into the archive; tomorrow’s grid is already queued.

Archive

90 days, replayable

The last 90 days of daily 5×5s, each with its own page, hint page, and answers page.

Common questions

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Mini Crossword is an independent daily puzzle site. It is not affiliated with The New York Times or any other newspaper or publisher. We make and publish our own free 5×5 crossword every day and keep the last 90 days in a free archive.

No. The daily puzzle, the archive, Unlimited mode, the hints, the answers and the printable grids are all free. There's no subscription, no account to create, and no signup wall anywhere on the site.

Fill the grid so every Across answer (left to right) and every Down answer (top to bottom) matches its clue. Click or tap a square, type a letter, and the cursor moves on through the word. Letters where an Across and a Down answer cross are shared, so each one you place helps with two clues. The full guide at /how-to-play walks through a real puzzle step by step.

Every day at midnight Eastern Time. At that moment today's puzzle becomes yesterday's archive entry and a fresh 5×5 takes its place, along with new 6×6 and 7×7 grids and a new hints page.

Yes. The archive at /archive covers the last 90 days. Every date in it has its own puzzle page, hints page and answers page, so you can catch up on a missed week or replay an old favorite. Unlimited mode reaches further back, into our whole library.

See all 16 questions in the FAQ