Want a daily mini crossword without a subscription? PerDiem has two, and both are free. Mini is a 5 by 5 grid you can finish in a minute or two. Midi is a bigger grid that grows through the week.
Mini: the 5 by 5
Mini is a tiny crossword with a fresh grid every day. The answers are short, mostly 4 and 5 letters, so it fits between the kettle and the toast. Our hub card puts it this way: like theirs, but free. Maybe worse. We think it's pretty good.
- A new grid every day, the same one for everyone
- A timer, so you can race your friends
- Optional Check and Autocheck, and a count of how many letters they caught
- A built-in keyboard that works well on a phone
Play today's Mini or read how to play Mini.
Midi: a bigger grid
Midi plays exactly like Mini, but the grid is a proper size. It grows through the week:
- Monday and Tuesday: 9 by 9, with the most familiar words
- Wednesday and Thursday: 10 by 10
- Friday and Saturday: 11 by 11, the hardest of the week
- Sunday: 10 by 10
Answers run from 3 to 11 letters, and some are phrases. It's a good next step once Mini starts feeling quick.
Is Mini like the NYT Mini?
Same idea: a 5 by 5 crossword, new every day, short enough for a coffee break. If you already play the New York Times Mini, Mini is a second one for the same morning. Mini isn't affiliated with The New York Times. For more NYT-style games, see games like NYT Games.
What do they have in common?
Both are free, run in your browser and need no account. Neither has a hint button that fills in letters. Check and Autocheck only tell you when a letter is wrong. Your solve time is your score, and signed-in players get a daily leaderboard and a friends-only board.
You can also play past days. Every results screen has a strip of the last seven.
Then try something new
Once the Mini is part of your morning, add something you haven't played before. Same few minutes, a completely different puzzle:
- Ticker: a 90-second trading day on the headlines, play money only
- Duet: a word ladder scored like golf, with par from 3 on Monday to 7 on Sunday
- Delve: a dungeon crawl played with a deck of cards, for when you have a few more minutes
Coming from NYT Games? See what to try next, or browse every game by type.