Stuck on today’s NYT Mini Crossword? You’re in the right place. I couldn’t help but toss in a few fun choices, so here are some utterly spoiler-free nudges, and then the full set of answers if you want to take a look at your grid. We also pull apart why a few entries might have slowed you down and bring in some pro tips from the speed-solving world to help your times improve tomorrow.
Spoiler-free hints for today’s NYT Mini Crossword
- Imagine one of these that could be used for everyday transport: a compact and popular small four-wheeler.
- Something that you would use as currency in Johannesburg.
- Collective name for places where deposits can be placed and loans made.
- Military acronym for someone absent without leave.
- Botanical basic would likely dress seasonally.
- Boat on two runners and a narrow body.
- Joint between the leg and foot.
- Shortened title for credentialed nutrition pros.
- Playful internet onomatopoeia for the roar of a creature.
- Either a nightly flyer or something you take a hack at the plate.
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword answers and explanations
- Car
- Rand
- Banks
- AWOL
- Tree
- Canoe
- Ankle
- RDs
- Rawr
- Bat
Why it might have caught you: AWOL is a crossword chestnut that new solvers might miss; RDs is a clean plural abbreviation for registered dietitians; and Rawr depends on internet lingo vs. dictionary word “roar.”
Banks is a cute misdirect because it can be institutions or the word for leans, and Bat works either as an animal or sports gear — context you get from crossings tends to lock in your choice pretty quickly.
Solve stats and strategy to improve your mini times
The Mini is intentionally porous: You’ll find regular NYT Games leaderboards with top solves under 10 seconds and time-immemorial A.C.P.T. veterans disclosing sub-20-second clears on a grid they were friendly with.
I think most daily solvers would be in the area of 30–60 seconds (trickier abbrevs./slang like today’s RDs and Rawr would add a few beats).
Speed tips that usually pay off: Look for plurals first (Banks, RDs) because final letters are predictable; solidify high-information consonants (W in AWOL, K in Ankle) to crack open clusters; and try a “flipping-W” pass over the grid when it can avoid a blind draw. At a crossing, when an entry is up in the air — Bat as a mammal or club? — pause until another such letter drops to confirm it definitively without guessing.
Clue and fill notes from an editor’s perspective
Today’s puzzle manages to walk a line between everyday language and a few modern terms. Car and Canoe provide tidy transport echo across land and water; Tree is a week-opening bread-and-butter fill that helps keep up the pace. Rand has the ability to nudge solvers toward either economics or geography, a favorite mini-grid trick in providing two natural routes for entry. AWOL is a crossword staple that’s just fine without an abbreviation flag, because it’s already fully lexicalized, and RDs (registered dietitians) would normally be clued with a credential cue to avoid confusion. Rawr contains a wink of cultural lightness — these internet-inflected items show up more and more these days as the editors are taking a cue from popular usage without needing specialized knowledge.
Short stuff: If something seemed wonky with your solve, examine the lowdown bits. Minis pack wordplay into a very small space, so any one letter — such as the D in RDs — can be the difference between a clean finish and an irritating hole. Think of those crossing letters as guardrails, not afterthoughts.
Keep your streak alive with consistent daily solving
Bank what you saw today — ordinary initial letters, trim plurals, and shared nouns — and you’ll shave your time tomorrow. Chasing leaderboard domination or merely maintaining a daily habit, the Mini values consistency and calm scanning more than brute knowledge. See you on the next grid.
