About Mini #345
Mini #345 is the daily 5×5 for Thursday, September 10, 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 9-Across, “World's largest continent”, at three words; the longest is 6-Across, “What a driver does at a merge sign”, at eight words. Clues worth knowing about before you start:
- Fill-in-the-blank: 4-Down, “___ Lama (Tibetan spiritual leader)”
Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the quickest way in, so 4-Down, “___ Lama (Tibetan spiritual leader)”, is a good first stop. Some clues lean on a name or title, such as 8-Across, “Actress Cusack or Rivers” and 4-Down, “___ Lama (Tibetan spiritual leader)”; 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 23 of the 291 daily 5×5 puzzles in our library dated up to September 10, 2026. The layout is rotationally symmetric: turn the grid upside down and the black squares land in the same places. The day before (September 9, 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 September 10, 2026
Stuck? The hints for September 10, 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 #344 (September 9, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Dull and colorless”; the day after, Mini #346 (September 11, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Received or obtained”.