About Mini #393
Mini #393 is the daily 5×5 for Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Its grid has six black squares, laid out as three-square L-shapes in the top-left and bottom-right corners, which leaves 19 white squares for ten answers: five Across and five Down. By length, that's two five-letter, four four-letter and four three-letter answers.
The shortest clue is 2-Down, “Rowboat propellers”, at two words; the longest is 5-Across, “Not dull, like a good knife”, at six words. Clues worth knowing about before you start:
- Fill-in-the-blank: 4-Down, “___ Pet (sprouting novelty gift)”
- Marked as a short form: 1-Across, “Physician, for short”
Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the quickest way in, so 4-Down, “___ Pet (sprouting novelty gift)”, is a good first stop. Some clues lean on a name or title, such as 6-Across, “Broadcasts on TV” and 4-Down, “___ Pet (sprouting novelty gift)”; 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 28 of the 339 daily 5×5 puzzles in our library dated up to October 28, 2026. The layout is rotationally symmetric: turn the grid upside down and the black squares land in the same places. That's two black squares more than the day before (October 27, 2026), which had four.
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 October 28, 2026
Stuck? The hints for October 28, 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 #392 (October 27, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Romantic outing, or a calendar entry”.