About Mini #324
Mini #324 is the daily 5×5 for Thursday, August 20, 2026. Its grid has four black squares, laid out as stacked pairs in the top-right and bottom-left corners, which leaves 21 white squares for ten answers: five Across and five Down. By length, that's four five-letter, four four-letter and two three-letter answers.
The shortest clue is 1-Across, “Similar or related”, at three words; the longest is 6-Across, “There are 24 in a day”, at six words. Clues worth knowing about before you start:
- Fill-in-the-blank: 5-Across, “Queen ___ of Cleves”
- Written as a quotation: 1-Down, “That feels nice!”
Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the quickest way in, so 5-Across, “Queen ___ of Cleves”, is a good first stop. Some clues lean on a name or title, such as 5-Across, “Queen ___ of Cleves” and 3-Down, “Native people of the Arctic”; if one is unfamiliar, work its crossing answers first. For more ways in, see the solving tips.
How this grid compares
This layout appears in 21 of the 270 daily 5×5 puzzles in our library dated up to August 20, 2026. The layout is rotationally symmetric: turn the grid upside down and the black squares land in the same places. The day before (August 19, 2026) also had four black squares, arranged differently.
Like every daily 5×5 in our library, it was generated at our “easy” difficulty setting. The same date also has a 6×6 with 12 clues and a 7×7 with 14 clues.
More for August 20, 2026
Stuck? The hints for August 20, 2026 give three hints per clue, the answer key reveals one answer at a time, and there's a printable copy for solving on paper. The day before, Mini #323 (August 19, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Big brass instrument that oompahs in a marching band”; the day after, Mini #325 (August 21, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Purchase”.