NYT Mini Crossword Answers Today

Five by five, five minutes, and occasionally one clue that ruins the whole thing. Below are today’s NYT Mini Crossword answers for September 19, 2026, split into Across and Down so you can uncover only the half you’re stuck on. Updated daily as soon as the new grid goes live.

Across answers

Down answers

Yesterday’s Mini Crossword answers

The full grid for September 18, 2026:

Answers from the past week

Date	Answer
September 18	1. San Francisco's rail system - BART / 5. Response to a funny text - LMAO / 6. Like beer from the tap, often - FOAMY / 7. Move like honey - OOZE / 8. Group of Marvel superheroes - XMEN — 1. Open up, as a flower - BLOOM / 2. Wow - AMAZE / 3. Noodle dish in a rich broth - RAMEN / 4. Happy Meal inclusion - TOY / 6. Animal known scientifically as "Vulpes vulpes" - FOX
September 17	1. Noise heard in an Aflac commercial - QUACK / 6. ___ Fester, "Wednesday" character played by Fred Armisen - UNCLE / 7. Total moron - IDIOT / 8. Total, as expenses - RUNTO / 9. Containers for some basement parties - KEGS — 1. Unique mannerism - QUIRK / 2. Excessive, as criticism or punishment - UNDUE / 3. Scoring 100% on - ACING / 4. Lumps in non-homogenized milk - CLOTS / 5. Kind of high-fat, low-carb diet - KETO
September 16	1. Dallas hooper, for short - MAV / 4. Something to R.S.V.P. to - EVENT / 7. Kind of patio that shares its name with a Hawaiian island - LANAI / 8. Heavyweight in an industry - TITAN / 9. Straight ___, every part of every letter in this puzzle's grid - LINE — 1. Turn gooey, as cheese - MELT / 2. To no ___ (unsuccessfully) - AVAIL / 3. Large size at Starbucks - VENTI / 5. Flatbread sometimes brushed with garlic butter - NAAN / 6. Sharp part of a fork - TINE
September 15	1. "That's a no-brainer!," slangily - OBVI / 5. 5,280 in a mile - FEET / 6. F, on a test - FALSE / 8. "Give me a break!" - CMON / 9. "Don't walk" symbol at a crosswalk - HAND — 1. Brand of bug spray with an exclamation point in its name - OFF / 2. Long ___, Calif. - BEACH / 3. Brainy member of the Scooby-Doo gang - VELMA / 4. "Let's do this thing" - ITSON / 7. Conclusion - END
September 14	1. Channel for "Survivor" and "Big Brother" - CBS / 4. Dessert wine - PORT / 5. Alfred Hitchcock famously made one in 40 of his 53 films - CAMEO / 6. Like elephants distinguished by their smaller rounded ears - ASIAN / 7. "The ___ Horror Show," 2026 Broadway revival with nine Tony nominations - ROCKY — 1. Word before relief, book or strip - COMIC / 2. Snap (off) - BREAK / 3. Cold and unfeeling - STONY / 4. El ___, West Texas metropolis - PASO / 5. Expensive gift for a 16th birthday - CAR
September 13	1. ___ Sun (juice drink) - CAPRI / 6. Maximum poker bet - ALLIN / 7. With 9-Across, injury treated with a raw steak in old cartoons - BLACK / 8. Only - LONE / 9. With 7-Across, application on a football player's face - EYE — 1. The "C" of CNN - CABLE / 2. Metal mixture - ALLOY / 3. What Superman is mistaken for - PLANE / 4. "___ is great when you're hungry and you want 2,000 of something": Mitch Hedberg - RICE / 5. Printer's supply - INK
September 12	1. If you order "ostriche" on an Italian menu, you actually get these - OYSTERS / 8. Microsoft's A.I. assistant - COPILOT / 9. Move-in-ready, as a house for sale - TURNKEY / 10. Home's opposite, on scoreboards - AWAY / 11. Old and classic, as a car - VINTAGE / 15. They're revved with a "Vroom!" - ENGINES / 16. M, on a form - MALE — 1. Span from C to C, in music - OCTAVE / 2. "Fine, I give up" - YOUWIN / 3. Pounced - SPRANG / 4. Young boy saved by Scrooge's change of heart - TINYTIM / 5. Antlered animal of the Rockies - ELK / 6. Fish eggs - ROE / 7. Home with a trough of slop - STY / 12. Actress de Armas - ANA / 13. Stylist's goo - GEL / 14. Suffix with Vietnam and Senegal - ESE

How the Mini works

The Mini is a 5×5 crossword — occasionally 7×7 on Saturdays — with around ten clues. Unlike the full NYT Crossword it stays free to play, in a browser or the NYT Games app, and most solvers finish in under two minutes.

A new Mini appears every day. In the United States it typically unlocks the evening before the date it carries, so American players often solve tomorrow’s puzzle tonight; elsewhere it lines up much more closely with local midnight. The countdown above runs on your own clock.

Your solve time is recorded and you can compare it with friends, which is the real reason the Mini is so sticky — it is less a puzzle than a daily race.

Getting unstuck faster

Fill the short entries first. Three-letter answers in a Mini are heavily constrained and often crossword staples — ERA, ONE, ALE, OREO. Getting two of them gives you starting letters for every long entry they cross.

Read the clue’s part of speech. A clue in past tense wants a past-tense answer; a plural clue wants a plural. In a grid this small, knowing the last letter is almost certainly S or D resolves a surprising number of crossings on its own.

A question mark means wordplay. “Spring forward?” isn’t about clocks or seasons — it’s a pun. When you see one, stop taking the clue literally.

Use the crossings, not the clue. If a clue means nothing to you, ignore it entirely and solve the five entries crossing it. The Mini is small enough that the letters usually give you the word before the clue does.

The clues that catch people out

The Mini leans on a compact set of recurring answers — short vowel-heavy words that fit awkward grids. ADIEU, ARIA, EPEE, ETUI, OBOE and ALOE appear far more often than their frequency in normal English would suggest. If a four-letter slot has vowels in positions one and three, one of those is a reasonable first guess.

Proper nouns from current culture also show up regularly, and they’re the most common reason a solver stalls. If a clue references a show or musician you don’t follow, that’s the entry to solve entirely from crossings.

Frequently asked questions

Is the NYT Mini Crossword free?
Yes. The Mini is free to play in a browser and in the NYT Games app. A subscription is needed for the full Crossword and the archive, not for the daily Mini.

What time does the Mini reset?
A new puzzle appears each day. In the US it commonly unlocks the previous evening in Eastern time; for most other regions it aligns with local midnight, which is what the countdown above tracks.

How big is the Mini?
Usually 5×5. Saturday puzzles are often larger — typically 7×7 — and take noticeably longer.

Does the Mini affect my Crossword streak?
The Mini keeps its own separate streak and solve-time stats.

Can I play old Minis?
Yes, through the NYT Games archive with a subscription. The week of answers above is free.

More daily puzzle answers

• NYT Wordle answer today
• NYT Connections answers today
• NYT Strands answers and spangram today
• All daily puzzle answers