Skip to main content
Mini #345 · Thursday

Our Mini Crossword Hints — September 10, 2026

Step-by-step hints for Mini #345, our own daily mini crossword. Looking for the New York Times Mini? That’s a different puzzle, published on nytimes.com.

Play puzzle firstAnswer key
All hints
10 clues
Spoiler-light

Across

1 Across: The opposite of badHint
  1. Hint 1: Think of a simple word describing quality that's the direct antonym of 'bad'.
  2. Hint 2: It's the word you'd use to say something is excellent or well-behaved.
  3. Hint 3: Meaning 'of high quality or virtuous,' it starts with G.
5 Across: Mysterious glow surrounding a personHint
  1. Hint 1: This word describes an intangible feeling or light that surrounds someone.
  2. Hint 2: People sometimes say a person has a certain 'energy field' or glow about them.
  3. Hint 3: Meaning a distinctive atmosphere or glow around someone, it starts with A.
6 Across: What a driver does at a merge signHint
  1. Hint 1: Think about traffic rules at intersections.
  2. Hint 2: It's the action a driver takes to let other cars go first at a merge.
  3. Hint 3: Meaning to give way to other traffic, it starts with Y.
8 Across: Actress Cusack or RiversHint
  1. Hint 1: This is a common first name shared by two famous actresses/comedians.
  2. Hint 2: One is known for 'Working Girl,' the other for stand-up comedy and 'Fashion Police.'
  3. Hint 3: A short first name for these two celebrities, it starts with J.
9 Across: World's largest continentHint
  1. Hint 1: Think geography — this is the biggest landmass on Earth.
  2. Hint 2: It's the continent home to countries like China, India, and Japan.
  3. Hint 3: The largest continent by area and population, it starts with A.

Down

1 Down: Happy, in an old-fashioned senseHint
  1. Hint 1: This is an older-fashioned synonym for feeling joyful.
  2. Hint 2: Before it took on other modern meanings, this word simply meant cheerful or merry.
  3. Hint 3: Meaning joyful in an old-fashioned sense, it starts with G.
2 Down: Board said to contact spiritsHint
  1. Hint 1: This is a game board used to try to talk with the dead.
  2. Hint 2: It's the board with letters and 'yes/no' used in seances.
  3. Hint 3: A spirit-communication board game, it starts with O.
3 Down: Cookies twisted apart and dunkedHint
  1. Hint 1: Think of a popular sandwich cookie often dunked in milk.
  2. Hint 2: People often twist these apart to lick the cream filling before dunking.
  3. Hint 3: A well-known chocolate sandwich cookie brand, it starts with O.
4 Down: ___ Lama (Tibetan spiritual leader)Hint
  1. Hint 1: This is part of a title for a famous Tibetan Buddhist leader.
  2. Hint 2: It's the word that comes before 'Lama' in the spiritual leader's title.
  3. Hint 3: Part of the Tibetan spiritual leader's title, it starts with D.
7 Down: Molecule that holds your genetic codeHint
  1. Hint 1: This is the molecule found in almost every cell that carries hereditary information.
  2. Hint 2: It's the double-helix molecule that makes up your genes.
  3. Hint 3: The molecule encoding genetic information, it starts with D.

Use hints slowly

Reveal the first hint, try the grid again, then come back only if the crossing letters still do not move.

See answers

Before you open a hint

Mini #345 has ten clues, so this page holds 30 hints. Hint 1 points you at the idea, hint 2 narrows it down, and hint 3 all but gives it away. On this date, all ten third hints name the answer's first letter.

Short answers have the fewest possible fills, so they make a good start. The three-letter slots are 1-Down and 7-Down; the four-letter slots are 1-Across, 5-Across, 8-Across and 9-Across; the five-letter slots are 6-Across, 2-Down, 3-Down and 4-Down.

Clues to try first

  • 4-Down, “___ Lama (Tibetan spiritual leader)”, is a fill-in-the-blank: say the phrase out loud and the missing word often jumps out.
  • 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.

More for September 10, 2026

Rather see the grid first? Play Mini #345. When you're done, the answer key reveals one answer at a time, and the printable copy is there for paper solvers. 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”.

September 10, 2026 Mini Crossword hints FAQ

Are these hints for the September 10, 2026 Mini Crossword?
Yes. Every clue on this page is from our own September 10, 2026 puzzle, with three hints each, from a gentle nudge to a strong push. The answers themselves are on the answer key page.
Is this the NYT Mini hints page?
No. This is an independent daily mini crossword. It is not affiliated with, authorized by, sponsored by, or endorsed by The New York Times.
What is the difference between hints and the answer key?
Hints move you toward the answer one step at a time so you can still solve it yourself. If you want to see a solution outright, the answer key at /answers/2026-09-10 reveals one answer at a time.