Warning: spoilers! We have warned you. We mean it. Don’t continue reading until you’re desperate for some Mini Crossword Hint Today or you’ve given up and want the answers right away. Prepare yourself for all of the NYT “Mini Crossword” hints and answers on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands and Connections puzzles.
- what is new york times Mini Crossword puzzle game?
- The New York Times Games
- NYT Mini Crossword™
- Mini Crossword Hint puzzle
- Mini across clues and answers
- Mini down clues and answers
- Here’s what the board looks like when the Mini Crossword puzzle is solved | Mini Crossword Answer For Friday, December 20, 2024
- Where to Play Mini Crossword Puzzle?
- Meet The Man Behind The New York Times Mini Crossword | Mini Crossword Hint
- what is Mini Crossword Puzzle Availability?
- How to Play Mini Crossword?
- what are games like nYT Mini Crossword?
- Let's Play The New York Times' Mini Crossword | Mini Crossword Hint
- Tips & Tricks to win Mini Crossword NYT
- Conclusion | NYT Mini Crossword Hint
- related topics: NYT Mini Crossword Hint Today
- NYT Mini Crossword Hint Today | FAQs
what is new york times Mini Crossword puzzle game?
Joel Fagliano created the Mini Crossword, sometimes known as just The Mini. It is much simpler than the regular daily crossword and is 5 by 5 on Sundays through Fridays and 7 by 7 on Saturdays. Stay updated on tech trends with our Tellagraph.com tips and news.
The New York Times Games
NYT Mini Crossword™
The Mini Crossword is a compact daily word puzzle with a 5×5 grid and a list of clues. It’s simpler and quicker to solve than regular crosswords, typically taking just a few minutes. Players must use problem-solving, vocabulary, and clue interpretation skills to fill in the grid. A new puzzle is available every day, with the option to revisit past puzzles for extra fun.
| Release Date | August 21, 2014 |
| Developer | The New York Times |
| Publisher | The New York Times Games |
| Genre | Word game |
| Platform | Web browsers |
The New York Times, an American newspaper, publishes a series of casual print and online games known as The New York Times Games (NYT Games). The newspaper’s crossword puzzle from 1942 served as the foundation for NYT Games, which was formally founded on August 21, 2014, when the Mini Crossword was added. In line with The Times’ daily newspaper rhythm, the majority of The New York Times Games puzzles are released and updated every day.
As its print-based revenues decline, the New York Times is making an intense push to increase its digital subscriptions, including the Games. NYT Games has been one of The New York Times’ primary sources of income since its debut and has achieved viral popularity. By 2024, NYT Games will have over a million paid users and over 10 million daily players across all platforms. One employee claims that “The half joke that is repeated internally is that The New York Times is now a gaming company that also happens to offer news.”
Mini Crossword Hint puzzle
I promise that I would have finished today’s Mini Crossword more quickly. I kept asking myself what five-letter word might be associated with “ink.” I could have been confused by a close answer that did, in fact, use the word “ink.” After a while, though, I squinted and realized it was “IRK,” and now I feel, well, IRKED.
We have the solutions if you’re having trouble solving any of today’s Mini Crossword clues. Check out our Mini Crossword Tips And Tricks Guide if you need some pointers and direction for solving puzzles every day.
The Times has a large selection of games, including the Mini Crossword. Tellagraph NYT puzzle tips page has the answers to today’s Wordle, Connections, and Strands puzzles.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Only instrument in a typical orchestra that reads the alto clef
Answer: VIOLA
6A clue: Irk
Answer: ANNOY
7A clue: Kind of cold brew coffee with foamy bubbles
Answer: NITRO
8A clue: Affirmative head gesture
Answer: NOD
9A clue: One of 88 on a piano
Answer: KEY
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Vehicle with a sliding door
Answer: VAN
2D clue: With a pen, as one’s signature
Answer: ININK
3D clue: How a ballerina often dances
Answer: ONTOE
4D clue: “___, ___, look who’s 40!” (rhyming line on a birthday card)
Answer: LORDY
5D clue: __ Edebiri, Emmy-winning actress on “The Bear”
Answer: AYO
Here’s what the board looks like when the Mini Crossword puzzle is solved | Mini Crossword Answer For Friday, December 20, 2024
Where to Play Mini Crossword Puzzle?
The Mini is available for play on nytimes.com/games, in the Play page of the New York Times News app, and in the The New York Times Games app for iOS and Android.
All Access and Games Additionally, subscribers get access to the archive’s previous Mini Crossword puzzle solutions.
Meet The Man Behind The New York Times Mini Crossword | Mini Crossword Hint
what is Mini Crossword Puzzle Availability?
Players may access each daily mini the night before the puzzle’s publish date.
- Puzzles for Saturday and weekdays are accessible at 10 p.m. EST the day before.
- On Saturday, Sunday puzzles are accessible starting at 6 p.m. EST.
- You may activate push notifications in the Games app Settings to get notifications on your smartphone when the latest daily puzzle becomes available.
- Go to the Games app in your device settings and activate Notifications if you had turned off push notifications but would like to enable them again for the mini.
How to Play Mini Crossword?
The objective is to solve clues in the Across and Down columns that lead to the solutions in order to fill the white squares with letters to make words or phrases that cross one another.
How do I know if I’ve successfully solved the puzzle?
- A cheerful message will show up on the screen and music will start to play after you solve the answer properly.
- There is at least one square that is not filled in correctly if the board is fully filled in and you don’t get a message.
A blue star indicates that the Mini is finished. Although there isn’t a streak feature in the Mini Crossword, the Leaderboard section below provides more information about your time statistics.
what are Mini Crossword Keyboard Shortcuts?
You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to play the Mini on a computer:
- Arrow keys – change direction within the same square, move in the direction of the arrow, jump back to the first blank in the word, or jump to the next clue.
- Spacebar – clear the current square and advance, toggle between Across and Down.
- Backspace (Delete on Macs) – remove words or a letter from a word.
- Tab key – Jump to the next clue
- Shift + Tab keys – Jump to the previous clue
- Escape – Enter Rebus mode
what are Mini Crossword Pen and Pencil Modes?
You may switch between pen and pencil modes while playing the Mini. To move between modes in the app and online, click the pencil icon.
- In pencil mode, letters are gray, whereas in the normal pen style, they are black.
- To solve in pencil mode, choose the pencil icon (so that it is highlighted).
- To go back to the default pen mode, deselect the pencil icon.
what are Mini Crossword Letter Colors In the Mini?
In the Mini, the letter colors that show up indicate the following:
- Black – Letters entered in the default pen mode.
- Gray – Letters entered in pencil mode.
- Blue – Letters that have been confirmed with Check.
How the Mini Timer Works?
You may time how long it takes to solve a puzzle using the timer, which shows above the puzzle.
- Pause the time by selecting the pause button or leaving the puzzle.
- Select the Continue button to resume puzzle play and start the timer again.
- The timer will restart if the entire puzzle is cleared.
- To hide the timer, navigate to the Puzzle settings (gear icon) at the top of the puzzle and turn off the Show Timer option.
The assistance in Solving the Mini
Numerous resources are available in the New York Times to assist you in solving puzzles and improving your puzzle-solving skills.
To check or reveal a square, an answer, or the entire puzzle if you are stuck on a word, click the lifesaver icon at the top of the puzzle:
- Clear – Clear the entire puzzle to start again.
- Reveal – Reveal the correct letters for a square, an answer, or the entire puzzle.
- Check – Checks a square, word, or the entire puzzle. You can also turn on Autocheck, which will automatically check each square as you input a letter or word into the puzzle.
what is Mini Crossword Leaderboards?
On both the desktop and mobile versions of the New York Times Games website, the Mini can access leaderboards. To monitor how long it takes for everyone to finish the puzzle each day, you and your Mini-playing friends can join each other to your leaderboards.
- When a new puzzle arrives each day, the leaderboard automatically resets to reflect the new puzzle.
- You can only view the leaderboard for the current live Mini puzzle.
- Solve time is calculated the first time that you solve a puzzle.
Because leaderboards are private, only individuals you invite to join and confirm to add will be seen on yours. In addition to yourself, up to 100 other people can be listed on your leaderboard. A leaderboard cannot have more than one person on it; you must delete someone before adding another.
Global leaderboards, where all players of the Mini appear on a single leaderboard, are not yet available. It is impossible to keep an eye on or make a consistent effort to prevent cheating on global leaderboards.
what are games like nYT Mini Crossword?
Check out some word and browser-based games to take your mind off of mass advertising and engage in some fun wordplay.
| Name | How To Play |
|---|---|
| Wordle | Solve a random five-letter word using color hints. |
| Primel | Guess a five-digit number in six trials. |
| Crosswordle | Find the two words that cross one other like in a crossword puzzle. |
| The Password Game | Make a password in this ever-changing, not-so-simple game. |
Let’s Play The New York Times’ Mini Crossword | Mini Crossword Hint
Tips & Tricks to win Mini Crossword NYT
Solve out of order
Take a quick look at the hints and focus on the ones you are certain of. After completing a few answers, you will have letters to help you solve the more difficult ones, just like in any other crossword puzzle.
Look for repeated or related clues
Similar to the big crossword puzzle, the New York Times Mini Crossword enjoys related clues. For instance, two clues in a recent Mini Crossword puzzle were both “Apple product.” However, one was about eating apples (CIDER), and the other was about computer products (MAC). When a clue appears repeatedly, consider all possible meanings.
Desktop over mobile
The New York Times Mini Crossword is far easier to do on a large laptop or desktop screen than on a little phone screen, but I’ll say it anyway since I do almost everything on my phone.
One-answer-only clues are your friend
There are some truly difficult crossword clues. They are sufficiently confusing that several words could be used. (“Best of the best” may have been “champ” or something like that, but it was turned out to be “elite” recently.) Others, however, have only one option: search for clues like that. For instance, “Author of The Shining” can only be either King or Stephen.
Don’t be afraid of wrong answers
Fill in your guess if you are unsure about the solution, even if I advise starting with the simple hints. Just remember that it’s a guess at all times. It’s simple enough to edit once the other answers surrounding it begin to fill in; no online eraser is required.
Not all answers are one word
Soon, you’ll notice some of the unique oddities of the Mini Crossword. As an illustration: Not every answer is a single word. “Am not!” was the clue in a recent puzzle, and the answer was, of course, two words as well. Additionally, don’t settle on just one answer. The answer to “am not!” was “are so!” instead of “are too!” as I had anticipated.
Google if you must
Yes, if you’re stuck, you can look up answers on Google. Since most readers are aware of the titles but not the precise order, it’s possible that you are unable to recall the title of the third Game of Thrones book. Other than the code you create for yourself, there is no honor code in puzzles.
Conclusion | NYT Mini Crossword Hint
- The The New York Times Games: NYT Mini Crossword™
related topics: NYT Mini Crossword Hint Today
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For November 29, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For November 30, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 1, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 2, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 3, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 4, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 5, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 7, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 8, 2024
- NYT Connections Hint Today: Answers For December 9, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For November 29, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For November 30, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 1, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 2, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 3, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 4, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 5, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 7, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 8, 2024
- NYT Strands Hint Today: Answers For December 9, 2024
- Wordle Answer Today And Hints
NYT Mini Crossword Hint Today | FAQs
What is a mini crossword?
A compact 5×5 crossword puzzle designed for quick solving, featuring shorter clues and simpler answers than regular crosswords.
What is the average time to solve the nyt mini crossword?
The average solving time is about 2–5 minutes, depending on experience and puzzle difficulty
Is the mini crossword free?
Yes, the Mini Crossword is free to play daily on The New York Times website and app
