How to play the Daily Mini

The Daily Mini is a small crossword on a 5×5 grid. A new puzzle comes out every day at midnight, your local time. Fill the white squares so every Across and Down clue is answered.

Typing: tap or click a square and type a letter. The cursor moves on by itself.
Switching direction: press Space, or tap the same square twice, to go between Across and Down.
Moving around: use the arrow keys, or press Tab to jump to the next clue (Shift+Tab goes back).
Fixing mistakes: Backspace clears a letter. Clear wipes everything except squares you revealed.

Check, reveal and the timer

Check marks wrong letters in red, for one square, one word or the whole puzzle. Reveal fills in the answer for the same three choices. The timer runs while the puzzle is unsolved and the tab is open on screen.

Streaks and past puzzles

Solve today’s puzzle on the day to add one to your streak. A puzzle where you used Reveal does not count toward it, and neither does one solved later from the archive. Press Past puzzles to play any earlier day; your progress on those is saved too. When you finish, you get a short share text with a spoiler-free grid of colored squares and your time.

Tips

Start with the clues you’re sure of. Every letter you place also helps the word that crosses it.
In a 5×5 grid no answer is longer than five letters, so the number of squares is a big hint.
Use Check on a single word when you’re stuck, rather than the whole grid.
Come back to a hard clue once a few of its letters are filled in.

Questions

Is it free? Yes. No account, no download, nothing to pay for.

When does the new puzzle appear? At midnight where you are. Everyone gets the same puzzle for the same date.

Where is my streak saved? In this browser, on this device. Clearing your browser’s site data will reset it.

Can I play yesterday’s puzzle? Yes, from Past puzzles. It won’t add to your streak, but it’s saved as solved.

What if I miss a day? Your current streak starts again. Your best streak is kept.