About Mini #374
Mini #374 is the daily 5×5 for Friday, October 9, 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 5-Across, “Big, heavy book”, at three words; the longest is 8-Across, “Reverse an action, as on a computer”, at seven words. Clues worth knowing about before you start:
- Fill-in-the-blank: 1-Down, “‘___ a wrap!’ (filming is done)”; 4-Down, “Good ___ (kind acts)”
Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the quickest way in, so 1-Down, “‘___ a wrap!’ (filming is done)”, is a good first stop. For more ways in, see the solving tips.
How this grid compares
This layout appears in 25 of the 320 daily 5×5 puzzles in our library dated up to October 9, 2026. The layout is rotationally symmetric: turn the grid upside down and the black squares land in the same places. The day before (October 8, 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 October 9, 2026
Stuck? The hints for October 9, 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 #373 (October 8, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Yellow taxi”.