Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!
A bite-sized version of the New York Times’ well-known crossword puzzle, The Mini is a quick and easy way to test your crossword skills daily in a lot less time (the average puzzle takes most players just over a minute to solve). While The Mini is smaller and simpler than a normal crossword, it isn’t always easy. Tripping up on one clue can be the difference between a personal best completion time and an embarrassing solve attempt.
Just like our Wordle hints and Connections hints, we’re here to help with The Mini today if you’re stuck and need a little help.
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Below are the answers for the NYT Mini crossword today.
NYT Mini Crossword answers today
New York Times
Across
Magic accessory for Gandalf the Grey – STAFF
Item often cut with a pocket-sized guillotine cutter – CIGAR
Fill with awe – AMAZE
Flood stopper – LEVEE
Word repeated in “Any ___ is good ___” – PRESS
Down
Top of the head – SCALP
Track meet official – TIMER
Plant used to make tequila – AGAVE
Flusters – FAZES
Saves from jail in Capture the Flag, say – FREES
Here are the answers to today’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Tuesday, January 28th:
1. ACROSS: ELM
2. ACROSS: YAWN
3. ACROSS: ROLL
4. DOWN: JET
5. DOWN: YES
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times‘ revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player’s flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
NYT mini crossword, January 27 2025, NYT mini crossword answers, crossword solutions, daily crossword answers, crossword puzzle, New York Times crossword, crossword clues, crossword hints, crossword help
WARNING: THERE ARE STRANDS SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT THE JANUARY 27, 2025 STRANDS ANSWER SPOILED FOR YOU.
Ready?
OK!
Have you been playing Strands, the super fun game from the New York Times, the makers of Connections and other brain-teasers like Wordle in which you have to do a search in a jumble of letters and find words based on a theme? It’s pretty fun and sometimes very challenging, so we’re here to help you out with some clues and the answers, including the “Spangram” that connects all the words.
Let’s start with the clue: Viva Las Vegas.
If you want our help? Think about what there’s a lot of in Vegas! As for the answers, scroll below the photo below:
Are you ready to put your word skills to the test? Join us on January 27, 2025 for an exciting spangram event where clues will lead you to the answers. Can you decipher the hidden messages and solve the puzzle? Don’t miss out on this fun and challenging opportunity to showcase your linguistic abilities. Mark your calendars and get ready to unravel the mystery of the spangram!
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clues, answers, spangram, January 27 2025, puzzle solving, word game, brain teaser, mystery, riddles, brain exercise, wordplay, mind challenge
I always enjoy really long spangrams to figure out, and I like it when they twist into fun shapes relating to the puzzle. Today, we have both!
How To Play Strands
The New York Times’ Strands puzzle is a play on the classic word search. It’s in beta for now, which means it’ll only stick around if enough people play it every day.
There’s a new game of Strands to play every day. The game will present you with a six by eight grid of letters. The aim is to find a group of words that have something in common, and you’ll get a clue as to what that theme is. When you find a theme word, it will remain highlighted in blue.
You’ll also need to find a special word called a spangram. This tells you what the words have in common. The spangram links two opposite sides of the board. While the theme words will not be a proper name, the spangram can be a proper name. When you find the spangram, it will remain highlighted in yellow.
Be warned: You’ll need to be on your toes.
“Some themes are fill-in-the-blank phrases. They may also be steps in a process, items that all belong to the same category, synonyms or homophones,” The New York Times notes. “Just as she varies the difficulty of Wordle puzzles within a week, [Wordle and Strands editor Tracy] Bennett plans to throw Strands solvers curveballs every once in a while.”
What Is Today’s Strands Hint?
The NYT hint will be first, then we will do a hint of my own creation to help you. The first hint:
Stable supply
Mine is:
Whoa nelly!
This should be relatively easy, I’d say.
What Are Today’s Strands Answers?
The spangram is below as spoilers begin, then the answer list after that.
HORSEBACKRIDING
And where you find it:
Strands
NYT
And the answer list:
REINS
SPURS
SADDLE
BRIDLE
HARNESS
CROP
Strands
NYT
Well, I told you it was a long spangram today, and here we are. I got HORSE then RIDING then HORSERIDING before I found HORSEBACKRISING for a full 15 letter spangram which you don’t see everyday. And it’s in the shape of a horse head! Very funny. The words were pretty easy and the only one that wasn’t there really was HORSESHOE, but I think that’s understandable.
Welcome to our daily NYT ‘Strands’ Hints, Spangram, and Answers post for Tuesday, January 28th!
Today’s Spangram:
CHAOS + HINT = ?
Hint: A type of plant that is often used in cooking and has a distinctive flavor.
Can you unscramble the Spangram to reveal the hidden word?
Stay tuned for the answer later today!
In the meantime, here are some hints to help you solve today’s ‘Strands’:
1. A type of bean that is commonly used in Mexican cuisine.
2. A city in Italy known for its canals and gondolas.
3. The capital of Japan.
Can you guess the words based on these hints? Share your answers in the comments below!
Check back later for the answers and solutions to today’s ‘Strands’ puzzle. Happy solving!
Tags:
NYT Strands hints, Spangram answers, January 28, crossword puzzle, New York Times, daily crossword, crossword solutions, word puzzles, word games, puzzle clues
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
J.R.R. Tolkien fans, the NYT Mini Crossword has a clue for you today — check out 1-Across. One of my favorite stories I’ve ever written involves the pronunciation of Tolkien’s name. Need some more help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Jan. 28, 2025.
NYT/Screenshot by CNET
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Magic accessory for Gandalf the Grey Answer: STAFF
6A clue: Item often cut with a pocket-sized guillotine cutter Answer: CIGAR
7A clue: Fill with awe Answer: AMAZE
8A clue: Flood stopper Answer: LEVEE
9A clue: Word repeated in “Any ___ is good ___” Answer: PRESS
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Top of the head Answer: SCALP
2D clue: Track meet official Answer: TIMER
3D clue: Plant used to make tequila Answer: AGAVE
4D clue: Flusters Answer: FAZES
5D clue: Saves from jail in Capture the Flag, say Answer: FREES
How to play more Mini Crosswords
The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.
Here are the answers for today’s New York Times Mini Crossword puzzle for January 28th:
If you’re anything like me, the day is not complete until I complete all of the free word games from the New York Times. Working on the daily Connections, Wordle and Strands is a whole ritual for many of us. And we can’t forget about the NYT’s The Mini Crossword, too!
Although the NYT is known for “The Crossword,” a larger puzzle for paid subscribers, The Mini has quite the fan-following as well.
If you’re working on today’s Mini on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, and need some help (I’ve been there), get ready to read the clues and solutions for each line. We have them separated into hints first for both “Across” and “Down” words, followed by “Across Answers” and “Down Answers,” so be careful if you want to avoid spoilers as you scroll!
Hints for NYT’s The Mini Crossword on Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Here are additional clues for each of the words in today’s Mini Crossword.
NYT Mini Across Hints
1 Across: Magic accessory for Gandalf the Grey — HINT: It starts with the letter “S” 6 Across: Item often cut with a pocket-sized guillotine cutter — HINT: It ends with the letter “R” 7 Across: Fill with awe — HINT: It starts with the letter “A” 8 Across: Flood stopper — HINT: It ends with the letter “E” 9 Across: Word repeated in “Any _____ is good _____” — HINT: It starts with the letter “P”
NYT Mini Down Hints
1 Down: Top of the head — HINT: It ends with the letter “P”
2 Down: Track meet official — HINT: It starts with the letter “T”
3 Down: Plant used to make tequila — HINT: It ends with the letter “E”
4 Down: Flusters — HINT: It starts with the letter “F” 5 Down: Saves from jail in Capture the Flag, say — HINT: It ends with the letter “S”
Answers to NYT’s The Mini Crossword for Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Don’t go any further unless you want to know exactly what the correct words are in today’s Mini Crossword.
NYT Mini Across Answers
1 Across: Magic accessory for Gandalf the Grey — STAFF
6 Across: Item often cut with a pocket-sized guillotine cutter — CIGAR
7 Across: Fill with awe — AMAZE
8 Across: Flood stopper — LEVEE
9 Across: Words repeated in “Any _____ is good _____” — PRESS
NYT Mini Down Answers
1 Down: Top of the head — SCALP
2 Down: Track meet official — TIMER
3 Down: Plant used to make tequila — AGAVE
4 Down: Flusters — FAZES
5 Down: Saves from jail in Capture the Flag, say — FREES
That’s it! How quickly were you able to complete today’s Mini?!
Looking for the answers and hints for today’s New York Times Mini Crossword puzzle? Look no further! Here are the solutions for the clues in today’s puzzle:
1. Hint: “___ of the above” – Answer: NONE
2. Hint: “___ Moines, Iowa” – Answer: DES
3. Hint: “Paper size that’s slightly larger than letter” – Answer: LEGAL
4. Hint: “___-in (early protest movement)” – Answer: SIT
5. Hint: “Type of beer that’s often hoppy” – Answer: IPA
Happy puzzling!
Tags:
NYT Mini Crossword, NYT Mini Crossword Answers, Crossword Hints, Crossword Solutions, January 28 2025 Mini Crossword, New York Times Mini Crossword, Daily Mini Crossword, Mini Crossword Clues
Wondering what gamblers and actors study? Not sure which wood is traditionally used to make piano keys? Don’t worry, because I’m here to help you with the answers for today’s NYT Mini crossword.
The NYTMini is a quick and dirty version of the newspaper’s larger and long-running crossword. Most days, there are between three and five clues in each direction on a five by five grid, but the puzzles are sometimes larger, especially on Saturdays.
Unlike its larger sibling, the NYTMini crossword is free to play on the New York Times website or NYT Games app. However, you’ll need an NYT Games subscription to access previous puzzles in the archives.
To help you avoid getting stuck and having to reveal missing letters, here are the NYT Mini Crossword answers for Monday, January 27 (spoilers lie ahead, of course):
NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers
NYT Mini Across Answers
1 Across: Gold medalist Ledecky — KATIE
6 Across: Cellphone pop-up — ALERT
7 Across: What gamblers and actors study — LINES
8 Across: Wood traditionally used for black piano keys — EBONY
9 Across: Anger — IRE
NYT Mini Down Answers
1 Down: Salad green derived from wild mustard — KALE
2 Down: Cover story told in court — ALIBI
3 Down: Choir member — TENOR
4 Down: ___ Adler, character who outsmarted Sherlock Holmes — IRENE
5 Down: Site that dubs itself “the global marketplace for unique and creative goods” — ETSY
Completed New York Times Mini crossword for Monday, January 27
New York Times
It took me 0:29 to complete today’s NYT Mini.
A good time, but I definitely could have been faster. The only answer I missed on the Across side was LINES. It also took me a few seconds to remember EBONY. With only one missing letter from each, the Down answers were easy enough to fill in.
I didn’t know KALE came from wild mustard! I learned something new from today’s game.
Make sure to follow my blogfor more coverage of the NYT Mini and other word games, as well as video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Also, follow me on Bluesky! It’s fun there.
Are you a fan of the New York Times Mini Crossword? Here are the clues and answers for Monday, January 27th:
1. Small songbird – WREN
2. “___ you ready for this?” – ARE
3. “___ of the Tiger” (Survivor hit) – EYE
4. “___ Street” (Sesame Workshop show) – SESAME
5. In need of a nap – SLEEPY
Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.
Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication’s sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections Sports Edition categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Connections: How to play and how to win
Here are today’s Connections Sports Edition categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
Avoid a punch, in boxing – BOB AND WEAVE, CLINCH, DUCK, SLIP
Ways to describe a baseball catch – BASKET, SHOESTRING, SNOW CONE, WEB GEM
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Hints and answers for NYT Connections Sports Edition January 27: Tips to solve Connections #126
Hints:
1. This week’s Connections puzzle features famous sports figures from various disciplines.
2. Look for common themes or connections between the given names to help solve the puzzle.
3. Pay attention to details such as team affiliations, championships won, or notable achievements.
Answers:
1. Michael Jordan
2. Serena Williams
3. Tom Brady
4. Wayne Gretzky
5. Tiger Woods
Can you find the connections between these iconic sports stars? Share your thoughts in the comments below! #NYTConnections #SportsEdition
Tags:
NYT Connections Sports Edition, Connections #126, January 27 hints, January 27 answers, Connections puzzle tips, solve Connections puzzle, sports themed Connections puzzle, New York Times Connections puzzle, solve Connections January 27, NYT Connections hints and answers
Good morning, dear connectors. Welcome to today’s Connections forum, where you can give and receive puzzle — and emotional — support.
Be warned: This article includes hints and comments that may contain spoilers for today’s puzzle. Solve Connections first, or scroll at your own risk.
Connections is released at midnight in your time zone. In order to accommodate all time zones, there will be two Connections Companions live every day, dated based on Eastern Standard Time.
If you find yourself on the wrong companion, check the number of your puzzle, and go to this page to find the corresponding companion.
Post your solve grid in the comments and see how your score compares with the editor’s rating, and one another’s.
Today’s difficulty
The difficulty of each puzzle is determined by averaging the ratings provided by a panel of testers who are paid to solve each puzzle in advance to help us catch bugs, inconsistencies and other issues. A higher rating means the puzzle is more difficult.
Today’s difficulty is 3.5 out of 5.
Need a hint?
In Connections, each category has a different difficulty level. Yellow is the simplest, and purple is the most difficult. Click or tap each level to reveal one of the words in that category.
Join us here to solve Crosswords, The Mini, and other games by The New York Times.
Are you looking for the answers to today’s NYT Connections puzzle? Look no further! Here are the answers for Jan. 28, 2025:
1. LINK
2. JOIN
3. TIE
4. BOND
5. UNITE
Happy solving!
Tags:
NYT Connections, NYT Connections Answers, Jan. 28 2025, New York Times Connections, crossword puzzle answers, daily crossword solutions, NYT puzzle solutions, word puzzle answers
Looking for clues for today’s Connections answers? The Connections answers on January 28 for puzzle #597 are a bit harder than yesterday’s puzzle, with the Connections Companion rating this puzzle’s difficulty at 3.5 out of 5.
Every day, we update this article with Connections hints and tips to help you find all 4 of today’s answers so you can keep your Connections streak going. And if the clues aren’t enough, you’ll find all four answers below, with the category titles and the correlating words.
Plus, we’re including a reflection on Sunday’s puzzle, #595, in case you’re reading this in a different time zone.
Spoilers lie ahead for Connections #597. Only read on if you want to know today’s Connections answers.
Alternatively, visit our how to play NYT Connections guide for tips on how to solve the puzzle without our help.
Today’s Connections answer — hints to help you solve it
(Image credit: New York Times)
Unlike our guide to today’s Wordle answer, where we recommend the best Wordle start words as your strategy, solving Connections relies on identifying connecting categories among 16 words. Each category’s difficulty level is represented by a color; yellow is the easiest grouping, and purple is the most challenging. Once you’ve made 4 mistakes in your guesses, the answers will be revealed, so hints can be helpful.
Today’s Connections words are: Demon, Laugh, Joker, Airhead, Card, Band, Chess, Dumbbell, Snicker, Character, Mat, Mar, Bump, Mound, Dial, and Bench.
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If you need hints to solve the groupings, then here are the themes of each, based on the order of difficulty:
Yellow: Funny person
Green: Resistance training equipment
Blue: Candy bars minus “S”
Purple: Speed ____
These hints should get you at least some of the way towards finding today’s Connections answers. If not, then you can read on for bigger clues; or, if you just want to know the answer, then scroll down further.
Here’s a larger hint: Snag a candy bar after a workout with a funny friend and keep the speed up.
Today’s Connections answers
So, what are today’s Connections answers for game #597?
Drumroll, please…
Funny person: Card, character, joker, laugh
Resistance training equipment: Band, bench, dumbbell, mat
Candy bars minus “S”: Airhead, Mar, Mound Snicker
Speed ____: Bump, chess, demon, dial
My sweet tooth kicked off today’s puzzle for me as I saw Snicker and Mar and was thinking candy bars. Mound and Airhead were quick finds from there.
I saw band and dumbbell which made me think of the gym. Which made mat and bench easy spots for me.
I got a little stuck here because I wasn’t thinking funny but was focusing on Joker as a card. But I did see speed demon which opened up speed bump and speed dial. I briefly forgot about speed chess, but it was the only that made sense there for the purple grouping.
Which led to funny person with card, character, joker and laugh.
Yesterday’s Connections answers
Ways to get food: Farm, Fish, Gather, Hunt
Keep apart: Cloister, Seclude, Separate, Silo
Parts of a big rig: Axles, Hitch, Tractor, Trailer
Dance events plus a letter: Bally, Discog, Promo, Raven
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are the Connections answers for game #595, which had a difficulty rating of 3 out of 5, according to the Connections Companion. We accidentally skipped Monday’s puzzle, apologies there. Back to normal Tuesday.
Dave went all kinds of out of order on this one. He got the blue category first, locking in the parts of a truck quickly and easily. From there, he picked up on Seclude, Separate and Silo as words that meant to keep something alone. Dave guessed Cloister, as it didn’t fit anywhere else, and he was right.
From there, Dave moved to Yellow, which was pretty evident as ways to get food. That only left him with purple, which was hard, and he probably would have never gotten it if it wasn’t for the process of elimination.
Are you ready for today’s NYT Connections challenge? Here are the hints and answers for Tuesday, January 28th (#597):
Hints:
1. This actor starred in “The Dark Knight” and “Inception”
2. This singer is known for hits like “Halo” and “Single Ladies”
Answers:
1. Christian Bale
2. Beyoncé
Good luck connecting the dots and solving today’s puzzle! #NYTConnections #TuesdayChallenge
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NYT Connections, today hints and answers, Tuesday January 28, crossword puzzle, New York Times crossword, crossword clues, crossword solutions, crossword hints, crossword answers, daily crossword, NYT crossword puzzle, crossword puzzle answers, crossword puzzle solutions, crossword puzzle hints, crossword puzzle clues.
