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Friday, 23 October 2026 · Evening editionToronto ⛅ 12°CCAD/USD 0.7145 · CAD/EUR 0.6384About UsOur TeamSourcesContactNewsletter

Crossword Mini — Free 5×5 Daily Mini, Play in Browser

A free 5×5 mini crossword you can solve in under five minutes — no app, no email, no paywall. 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.

Today’s 5×5 mini

Crossword Mini

5 × 5 Free · No app 00:00

A classic 5×5 word square: every row also reads as a word down its column.

Across

  1. 1 Cardiologist’s patient (5)
  2. 6 Dying coal (5)
  3. 7 Bullying, broadly (5)
  4. 8 Pine sap (5)
  5. 9 What’s hot online (5)

Down

  1. 1 City core (5)
  2. 2 Fire remnant (5)
  3. 3 Trust violation (5)
  4. 4 Amber raw stuff (5)
  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.

What is a mini crossword?

A mini crossword is a small five-by-five grid (sometimes with a black square or two) that takes most solvers two to five minutes. They became a phenomenon when The New York Times launched its free daily mini in 2014, and today nearly every major newsroom — from the Toronto Star to the Boston Globe — runs its own. The format is forgiving, the clues are short, and you can finish one over a coffee.

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