The MiniA five-by-five crossword you can finish in a few minutes. A fresh grid every day with a timer, check and reveal, streaks and shareable solve times. Free.How to play The MiniThe Mini is a five-by-five crossword built to be finished in a few minutes. Fill every white square so each across and down answer matches its clue. Answers are three to five letters and cross each other, so every letter you place helps with a second word.

Tap a square to select it. The clue for that word appears in the bar below the grid, and the rest of the word is highlighted.

Tap the selected square again, or press the space bar, to switch between across and down.

Type a letter and the cursor moves to the next empty square in the word. Backspace clears a letter or steps back.

Use the arrows on the clue bar, or Tab and Enter on a keyboard, to move between clues.

Check, reveal and the timerThe timer starts when the puzzle opens and pauses while the tab is hidden. When every square is correct the grid turns green and your time is recorded.If you get stuck, the Tools menu can check or reveal a single letter, the current word or the whole puzzle. Letters confirmed correct lock in place; wrong letters are struck through until you change them. Using Check or Reveal still finishes the puzzle, but that day is recorded as assisted and does not extend your streak.Tips

Start with the clues you are surest of, then let the crossing letters carry you through the harder ones.

Three-letter answers are the fastest way in: common fill like ERA, ATE and ONE turns up often.

Fill-in-the-blank clues (with "___") are usually the easiest in the grid.

A clue ending in a question mark is a pun or a play on words; read it twice before you commit.

If a word looks wrong, check its crossings before deleting. One misplaced letter often explains everything.

Daily puzzle and streaksA new grid is released every day at midnight, local time, and everyone gets the same puzzle. Your progress, elapsed time and check marks are saved in this browser, so you can pause and return. Solving without help keeps your streak and adds to your solve-time distribution, which you can share without giving away the answers.This site needs JavaScript to play. The daily puzzles are:

Wordle — Guess the five-letter word in six tries.

Connections — Group sixteen words into four hidden categories.

Spelling Bee — How many words can you make with seven letters?

Strands — Find the themed words hidden in the grid.

The Mini — A bite-sized crossword you can finish in minutes.