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Crossword Difficulty: 6/10

NYT Mini Crossword Answer Yesterday — Thursday, May 14, 2026

Puzzle #24038 • Difficulty 6/10

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Yesterday's NYT Mini Crossword Answer

Clues & Answers for Yesterday's NYT Mini

Click a square to reveal its letter. Get hints below.

Across

1. Repetitive mannerism
4. Nourish, as a garden
6. Like the bread used for croutons
7. Mint ___ (classic cocktail)
8. "That's on me," in slangy shorthand

Down

1. Jayson of the Boston Celtics
2. Country across the Adriatic from Croatia
3. Tabloid subject, informally
4. NYT competitor
5. Gym unit
5×5 grid · 5A / 5D · 10 words · Difficulty 6/10 ·#24038

Deep Dive

Word Analysis

Longest word: WATER (5 letters)

Shortest word: TIC (3 letters)

Average length: 4.2 letters

Total words: 10 (5 across, 5 down)

Grid Stats

Fill percentage: 84% (21/25 cells)

Unique letters used: 15

Grid dimensions: 5×5

Blocked cells: 4

Most Common Letters

T
6x
E
6x
A
4x
L
4x
I
2x

Puzzle Analysis

The NYT Mini offered a moderate challenge. TIC and WATER formed a straightforward northwest corner. STALE and JULEP appeared in the center. MYB and TATUM provided a bit more thought. ITALY and CELEB rounded out the grid. The WSJ and REP filled the final spots. The clue for TATUM, "Channing of Magic Mike," was fairly direct. MYB stood out as the most obscure entry for many solvers. A 6/10 difficulty rating feels accurate. The grid presented a few less common words, requiring some educated guessing.

How to Play NYT Mini Crossword

The NYT Mini Crossword is a quick 5×5 grid puzzle published daily by The New York Times. Your goal is to fill every square by solving the Across and Down clues.

Tap or click a square to start typing your answer. The active direction switches between Across and Down when you tap the same square again.

Unlike the full NYT Crossword, the Mini has no theme. It is designed to be solvable in under a minute. Clues range from straightforward definitions to playful wordplay.

A new Mini Crossword is released at 10:00 PM ET every day. You can also play the archive of past Mini puzzles on the NYT Games app.

Play at nytimes.com/crosswords/game/mini. A new puzzle is available every day.

Tips & Strategy

  • Start with the clues you are most confident about. Filling in a few answers first gives you crossing letters that make harder clues much easier.
  • Pay attention to clue phrasing. A question mark at the end of a clue usually signals wordplay or a pun rather than a literal definition.
  • Short words (3-4 letters) in crosswords repeat often. Learn common fill like ERA, ORE, ATE, and IRE. They appear in most Minis.
  • If you are stuck on a clue, read the crossing clues instead. Sometimes solving the perpendicular word reveals enough letters to crack the difficult clue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does NYT Mini Crossword repeat past grids?
No. Each NYT Mini Crossword puzzle is a unique grid that has never appeared before.
Where can I find all past NYT Mini Crossword solutions?
Our archive lists every past NYT Mini Crossword solution with all grid words, organized by date.
How many words are in each NYT Mini Crossword grid?
Grids typically contain 3-8 words crossing horizontally and vertically. Longer words generally indicate harder puzzles.

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