Free crossword puzzles

Three new crosswords every day: a quick 5×5 Mini, a 7×7 Midi and a bigger Themed puzzle whose answers all come from one topic. Tap a square (or a clue) and type. Each daily puzzle has a leaderboard; New puzzle gives you unlimited practice crosswords.

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Today's mini crossword

Check

Reveal

Across

Down

How to play

Pick Mini, Midi or Themed. Today is the daily puzzle everyone gets; New puzzle starts an unranked practice crossword.
Tap a square to select it and tap it again to switch between across and down. Tapping a clue jumps to its answer. The bar under the grid always shows the clue you are on.
Type with your keyboard or the on-screen letters. Next (or Tab / Enter) moves to the next clue; arrow keys move around the grid, Backspace clears.
Stuck? Check marks wrong letters in red and adds 10 seconds to your time. Reveal fills in the answer but makes that day's puzzle unranked.
Fill every square correctly to stop the clock and post your time to the daily leaderboard.

The three daily crosswords

Puzzle	Grid	Style
Mini	5×5	American-style grid with a few black squares; every letter is part of an across and a down answer. Most people finish in one to five minutes.
Midi	7×7	The same style with longer answers (up to 7 letters) and more crossings.
Themed	up to 13×13	A free-form crossword of 10 to 12 answers from one topic (Food, Animals, Science, Sports…), rotating every day.

Where the clues come from

Every clue is written from a definition in Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0) and rewritten in crossword style: first clause only, short and to the point, and never containing the answer itself. When a definition doesn't work as a clue, we use a one-word synonym instead. We have clues for 14,595 everyday words. No clue is copied from a newspaper or puzzle publisher.

Answers are common words from our public-domain ENABLE dictionary that WordNet defines, so you won't meet abbreviations, names or obscure fill, and offensive words are filtered out. The grids are filled by our own generator and checked so that every across and down entry is a real word with a clue. There are 366 puzzles of each size in the rotation, so the daily puzzle doesn't repeat for a year. More detail is on the methodology page.

Tips for faster solving

Start with the short answers: 3- and 4-letter entries give you crossing letters for the long ones.
Clues that start with a verb ("Move fast…", "Make level…") usually want a verb; "Someone who…" wants a person.
Stuck on a word? Our crossword solver lists every word that fits the letters you already have.

Frequently asked questions

Are these crossword puzzles free?

Yes. All three daily crosswords and every practice puzzle are free to play in your browser, with no sign-up and no paywall.

Is there a new crossword every day?

Yes. The Mini, Midi and Themed puzzles change at midnight in your time zone, and each has its own daily leaderboard. Practice puzzles are unlimited.

Do Check and Reveal count against me?

Check adds 10 seconds to your time each time you use it. Reveal shows the answer, so a daily puzzle with revealed letters can't be saved to the leaderboard.

Can I play on my phone?

Yes. The grid fits any screen, and the on-screen letters mean your phone keyboard never covers the puzzle. Tap the clue bar to switch between across and down.

Is this the New York Times Mini?

No. These are our own puzzles, built from our own word list and open-licensed definitions. We are not affiliated with The New York Times or any newspaper.