How to solve today’s Mini Crossword.
Credit: NYT
Good grief, it’s already the end of November. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve been guiding you through the Mini Crossword, and I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t post the Saturday guide. My apologies. Such is life. Today’s is pretty easy, so let’s just dive right in and get back to our Lazy Sunday fun-day
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.
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.
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
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 — C
5A — M
6A — I
7A — C
8A — S
Down
1D — C
2D — O
3D — Z
4D — Y
5D — M
Today’s Mini Crossword Answers
Okay, onto the answers! Remember, spoilers ahead!
Across
1A. Snug and comfortable — COZY
5A. “Eight Crazy Nights” or “12 Angry Men” — MOVIE
6A. “It’s impossible for me to do that” — I CAN’T
7A. Dog breed famously owned by Queen Elizabeth II — CORGI
8A. Simon ___ (children’s game) — SAYS
Down
1D. Hot drink consumed after sledding, perhaps — COCOA
2D. Egg-producing organ — OVARY
3D. Pithy criticisms — ZINGS
4D. Giant snow man — YETI
5D. Equipment for podcasters — MICS
Here are the filled in answers:
Today’s Mini
Screenshot: Erik Kain
I honestly didn’t have a single word on here that I didn’t know right away. The only reason this took 59 seconds was because I opened the puzzle and then did a couple other things in a different browser tab. I’d say this was closer to 30 seconds, but who knows. It is what it is. See you in December!
How did you do? 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/2025/11/29/mini-crossword-sunday-clues-answers-november-30/
