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New to Greatest Games: the Nano Crossword - the world's smallest crossword!

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The crossword desk

Free daily mini crossword

A fresh 5x5 mini crossword every day, free to play in your browser. No subscription, no signup, a new puzzle at midnight. Love the quick daily crossword but not the paywall? This one's for you.

The short version

The mini crossword is a free daily 5x5 puzzle. No account, no paywall, a fresh grid every day that resets at midnight US Eastern. Figure on about five minutes. Play today’s mini crossword.

01 How the daily mini crossword works

The mini crossword is a compact 5x5 grid with Across and Down clues. Tap a square and type; tap again to switch direction. The bar up top shows your active clue, and the arrow keys or the clue lists move you around the grid. There's far less to fill than a full weekday crossword, so a quick solver is usually done in a couple of minutes.

Stuck on a letter? Check flags anything wrong so you can course correct, and Reveal fills the whole grid if you'd rather see the answer and move on. Same satisfying crossword solve, sized for a coffee break.

02 Free, and new every day

Like every game here, the daily mini crossword is free, needs no account, and runs on your phone or desktop with nothing to download. One fresh 5x5 puzzle each day, the same grid for everyone, resetting at midnight US Eastern. Give it five minutes, then you're done until tomorrow.

03 A free alternative to the NYT Mini

If you've been reaching for a subscription mini crossword and want a genuinely free daily one, this is built for exactly that. Same quick 5x5 format, same clean daily rhythm, no paywall between you and the puzzle. Play the daily mini crossword, then explore the rest of the lineup: a bigger free daily midi crossword, more daily word games, a six-letter word guessing game, and the full library on the Greatest Games homepage.

04 Mini crossword FAQ

Yes. The daily mini crossword is free to play in your browser. No subscription, no paywall, and you don't need an account.
Yes. A fresh 5x5 puzzle goes up every day and resets at midnight US Eastern, and everyone plays the same grid.
It's a 5x5 grid with Across and Down clues, so most solvers wrap it up in a few minutes. Small squares, big finish.
No. You can play the daily mini crossword with no signup. A free account is optional and just saves your stats across devices.
Yes. Check flags any wrong letters as you go, and Reveal fills the whole grid if you'd rather see the solution and end the day.

Start playing today.

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