About Mini #330
Mini #330 is the daily 5×5 for Wednesday, August 26, 2026. Its grid has two black squares, laid out as single squares in the top-left and bottom-right corners, which leaves 23 white squares for ten answers: five Across and five Down. By length, that's six five-letter and four four-letter answers.
The shortest clue is 4-Down, “Close by”, at two words; the longest is 1-Across, “Coffee ___ (a single one of these makes a cup)”, at ten words. Clues worth knowing about before you start:
- Fill-in-the-blank: 1-Across, “Coffee ___ (a single one of these makes a cup)”; 6-Across, “‘Get ___ here!’ (‘No way!’)”; 5-Down, “‘Oh, my ___!’ (mild exclamation)”
Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the quickest way in, so 1-Across, “Coffee ___ (a single one of these makes a cup)”, is a good first stop. Some clues lean on a name or title, such as 6-Across, “‘Get ___ here!’ (‘No way!’)”; 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 81 of the 276 daily 5×5 puzzles in our library dated up to August 26, 2026. The layout is rotationally symmetric: turn the grid upside down and the black squares land in the same places. The day before (August 25, 2026) also had two 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 16 clues.
More for August 26, 2026
Stuck? The hints for August 26, 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 #329 (August 25, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Block a drain”; the day after, Mini #331 (August 27, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Belonging to him”.