If you’re a fan of USA Today, here’s a free 5×5 mini you can solve in your browser — no app, no paywall, no sign-up. Our daily mini is a hand-curated 5×5 grid with a small built-in Check button, optional letter or word reveal, and a quiet on-page timer.
Crossword Puzzles USA Today
A classic 5×5 word square: every row also reads as a word down its column.
Across
- 1 Cardiologist’s patient (5)
- 6 Dying coal (5)
- 7 Bullying, broadly (5)
- 8 Pine sap (5)
- 9 What’s hot online (5)
Down
- 1 City core (5)
- 2 Fire remnant (5)
- 3 Trust violation (5)
- 4 Amber raw stuff (5)
- 5 Viral wave (5)
How to play
Click any white cell to start typing. Press Space or Tab to switch between Across and Down. The Check button marks wrong letters in red without revealing the right ones; Reveal letter fills the current cell if you’re stuck on a single square. Your progress isn’t sent anywhere — it stays in your browser.
About USA Today crosswords
USA Today is one of the daily crossword names solvers know by heart. Our free 5×5 mini is a quick warm-up that sits beside the full daily puzzle.
You can find the official USA Today crossword over at puzzles.usatoday.com. Our daily mini is a separate, independent puzzle — same five-minute format, free.
Tips for a quick solve
- Start with the across clues that look easiest. A single confident letter usually unlocks two downs.
- Vowels first. E and A are by far the most common letters in 5×5 minis; Q, X and Z almost never appear.
- Use Check, don’t guess. The Check button is free and won’t penalise you.
- Switch direction with Space. Faster than clicking around.
About today’s puzzle
Today’s grid is the punchy clue set on a classic 5×5 word square. Every row also reads as a word when you read it down its column — a tighter construction than most daily minis and a satisfying warm-up before you tackle a cryptic.
More crosswords on Civic Maple
- Crossword hub — all our daily puzzles
- Mini Crossword — today’s 5×5
- The Civic Maple Briefing — Canadian news in your inbox every weekday morning