How to solve today’s Mini crossword.
Credit: NYT
Another Wednesday has arrived and with it a brand new NYT Mini Crossword to solve. This one is definitely trickier than yesterday’s Mini, but that was quite possibly the easiest I’ve ever played. Let’s solve this one, shall we?
Looking for Tuesday’s Mini Crossword? Here’s our guide.
How To Play The NYT Mini Crossword
The NYT Mini is a smaller, quicker, more digestible, bite-sized version of the larger and more challenging NYT Crossword. While it used to be free, in August the Mini was placed behind the NYT Games App paywall. This has led to a noticeable decline in people playing the game, unfortunately. You can check out all of the NYT Games, free and paid, right here.
A Mini Crossword is typically just 10 to 20 clues, with only Saturday’s puzzle on the upper end of that spread. Here’s what a basic NYT Mini looks like:
The NYT Mini Crossword
Screenshot: Erik Kain
Follow the clues and come up with as many words as possible, and then use the letters from those words to fill in the remaining words you were unsure about. A good rule of thumb is to skip ahead whenever you don’t know something and come back to the clue later. Of course, if you still need help at that point, read on below for hints and answers.
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
The best way to play the NYT Mini Crossword is to try to beat your previous speed or play competitively with a friend and see who can fill out their Mini the fastest. This is not a long, laborious task like the normal NYT Crossword. It’s a game of speed and agile thinking.
Spoilers ahead!
How To Solve Today’s NYT Mini Crossword
Before we get to the answers, here’s the first letter for each word in today’s Mini.
Across
1A. Place with ships and slips — D
5A. Assignment for a delivery driver — R
6A. Way in — E
7A. What might leave stains on a gardener’s pants — S
8A. Fearsome dinosaur, for short — T
Down
1D. Person giving blood — D
2D. Kind of belly button that 10% of the world has — O
3D. Shortcut for “cut,” for short — C
4D. Door opener … like 6-Across? — K
5D. “Oh, give it a ___ already!” — R
Today’s Mini Crossword Answers
Okay, onto the answers! Remember, spoilers ahead!
Across
1A. Place with ships and slips — DOCK
5A. Assignment for a delivery driver — ROUTE
6A. Way in — ENTRY
7A. What might leave stains on a gardener’s pants — SOIL
8A. Fearsome dinosaur, for short — TREX
Down
1D. Person giving blood — DONOR
2D. Kind of belly button that 10% of the world has — OUTIE
3D. Shortcut for “cut,” for short — CTRL-X
4D. Door opener … like 6-Across? — KEY
5D. “Oh, give it a ___ already!” — REST
Here are the filled in answers:
Today’s Mini Crossword
Screenshot: Erik Kain
I must admit, the one that got me the most stuck today was 3-Down — “Shortcut for “cut,” for short” is quite the tongue-twister, and even when I had CTRLX in there I had to read it a couple times to get what it was. CTRL-X of course! The command I use all the time to cut and then CTRL-V paste! This one took me 1 minute and 6 seconds.
How did you do on today’s Mini? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
If you also play Wordle, I write guides about that as well. You can find those and all my TV guides, reviews and much more here on my blog. Thanks for reading!
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2025/11/11/nyt-mini-crossword-clues-and-answers-for-wednesday-november-12/
