✏️ Mini Crossword
🔤 Word · 1 playsMini Crossword
A five-by-five crossword, newly set each day.
About Mini Crossword
A compact crossword of twenty-five squares, set fresh each day with original clues, and short enough to finish over a cup of coffee. Because the grid is small, every square belongs to both an across and a down entry, so one confirmed letter can unlock a whole corner — cross-checking is the entire technique. An archive of earlier puzzles is kept for anyone who wants more than one solve in a sitting. Check and reveal are available for a clue that will not yield.
How to Play
Tap a square to begin. A second tap on the same square turns the entry from across to down. Type the letters; the cursor steps through the entry on its own. Check tests what has been written so far, and reveal exposes one letter.
💡 Tips & Strategy
Fill in the answers you are sure of first and let the crossings carry you. In a small grid every entry intersects several others, so three confident answers usually give you a starting letter in most of the remaining clues.
Read the clue's form for the answer's form. A clue in the past tense wants a past tense answer, a plural clue wants a plural, and an abbreviation in the clue signals an abbreviated answer. Matching the grammar narrows candidates before you have thought about meaning at all.
When a clue resists, work the crossing letters instead. Knowing the third and fifth letters of a six-letter word often suggests it outright, and it is far quicker than staring at a definition that could mean several things.
Leave the vague clues for last on purpose. Short common words like ERA, ONE or AREA have many possible clues and are best resolved by their crossings, so filling the specific long answers first is the efficient order.