About Mini #394
Mini #394 is the daily 5×5 for Thursday, October 29, 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 8-Across, “Small island”, at two words; the longest is 5-Across, “Mount ___, where Moses received the Ten Commandments”, at eight words. Clues worth knowing about before you start:
- Fill-in-the-blank: 5-Across, “Mount ___, where Moses received the Ten Commandments”
Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the quickest way in, so 5-Across, “Mount ___, where Moses received the Ten Commandments”, is a good first stop. Some clues lean on a name or title, such as 5-Across, “Mount ___, where Moses received the Ten Commandments” and 5-Down, “Draped garment worn in India”; 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 101 of the 340 daily 5×5 puzzles in our library dated up to October 29, 2026. The layout is rotationally symmetric: turn the grid upside down and the black squares land in the same places. That's four black squares fewer than the day before (October 28, 2026), which had six.
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 29, 2026
Stuck? The hints for October 29, 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 #393 (October 28, 2026), opens with 1-Across, “Physician, for short”.