Free Daily Mini Crossword
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Today's puzzle:
Today's mini crossword is a 5 by 5 grid with 5 across and 5 down clues. Here are the clues; the answers stay in the puzzle.
Across
- Vertical pole holding a ship's sails
- Frequently, poetically
- Keep for future use
- Sight, smell, or touch, e.g.
- Marsh plant used for wind instruments
Down
- Green growth on a damp log
- Following in time
- Sculptor's marble or granite
- Brief and to the point, as prose
- Require
A compact 5×5 crossword refreshed every day, with clues that finish famous quotes and nod to art and literary history. Short enough to solve on a break, satisfying enough to come back for tomorrow's.
How to play
- Tap a square and read the across or down clue.
- Type your answer; correct letters lock in.
- Fill the whole grid to finish the day's crossword.
Want bigger type? Crossword puzzles for seniors sets the same kind of mini in large print, with a printable version and its answers. Open it.
Clues love a good stand-in, like "the crown" for a monarch. Editors call that trick metonymy, and the Final Boss Editing glossary shows how it works in fiction.
How a mini crossword differs from a full one
A full crossword, like the ones in a Sunday newspaper, is usually a 15 by 15 grid with dozens of clues. A mini crossword is a small grid, here 5 by 5, with a handful of across and down answers. It takes minutes instead of an hour, so it is a good place to learn how crosswords work.
The rules are the same. Black squares separate the answers. Every white square belongs to a numbered across answer, a numbered down answer, or both, and the letters where they cross have to fit both words. That crossing is your best tool: a letter you know from one answer is a free letter in another.
How to read the clues
Crossword clues follow a few conventions. A clue with a question mark is wordplay, so the answer is not the literal meaning. A clue that says "abbr." wants an abbreviation. A clue with "say" or "e.g." wants one example of a category. The tense and number of the clue should match the answer, so a plural clue has a plural answer. A fill in the blank clue is often a famous phrase or quote, and those are the best place to start.
Count the squares. The length of the answer is fixed, which rules out most guesses at once. Start with the short answers and the fill in the blanks, enter what you are sure of, and let the crossings suggest the rest.
Check, reveal and your time
The Check button marks your letters as right or wrong. Your first two wrong checks are free, and after that each one adds time. The Reveal a letter button fills one square for you and adds five seconds. The clock runs while you solve.
Past puzzles and related games
Find it woven into the daily feed, alongside all of today's daily puzzles. More word puzzles: the Daily Anagram turns a quote into scrambled rungs, the Wise Word Finder hides quote words in a grid, and the word games category lists them all.
Common questions
What is a mini crossword?
It is a crossword on a small grid, here five squares by five, with a few across and down clues. The same rules apply as in a full crossword, but it takes a few minutes instead of an hour.
How do you solve a crossword clue with a question mark?
A question mark means the clue is a pun or wordplay, so the answer is not the plain meaning of the words. Read the clue as a joke, and ask what else the words could mean.
How long does the mini crossword take?
Most solvers finish the 5×5 in two to five minutes. It's sized for a coffee break: five across, five down, no obscure crossword-ese, and the clues lean toward art, literature, and famous quotes rather than trivia gotchas.
What makes the clues different from other minis?
The grid is themed toward the literary: many days finish a famous quotation, name a writer or painter, or nod to art history. Solving one usually teaches you a line worth keeping.
Do the Check and Reveal buttons cost time?
Reveal a letter always adds five seconds. Check is free twice, then each wrong check adds time too. If you want your best time, solve from the crossings and check once at the end.
Puzzles edited by the team at Final Boss Editing.
Crossword terms
Crossword puzzle
A word puzzle where answers to numbered clues are written across and down in a grid and cross each other. More in the glossary Also on Final Boss Editing: Crossword
Across and down
The two directions a crossword answer runs: across a row, or down a column. More in the glossary
Clue
A short hint that points to an answer or rules something out. More in the glossary Also on Final Boss Editing: Clue
Grid
The pattern of squares a puzzle is played on. More in the glossary
Mini crossword
A small crossword, usually 5 by 5 squares, that can be solved in a few minutes. More in the glossary Also on Final Boss Editing: Crossword
Black square
A square in a crossword that you do not fill in. It marks where a word ends. More in the glossary