NYT Mini Crossword today: puzzle answers for Sunday, December 22

By Sam Hill and Jesse Lennox Published December 22, 2024 5:30 AM

The Mini open in the NYT Games app on iOS. — Sam Hill / Digital Trends

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

A bite-sized version of the New York Times’ well-known crossword puzzle, The Mini is a quick and easy way to test your crossword skills daily in a lot less time (the average puzzle takes most players just over a minute to solve). While The Mini is smaller and simpler than a normal crossword, it isn’t always easy. Tripping up on one clue can be the difference between a personal best completion time and an embarrassing solve attempt.

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Just like our Wordle hints and Connections hints, we’re here to help with The Mini today if you’re stuck and need a little help.

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Below are the answers for the NYT Mini crossword today.

NYT Mini Crossword answers today

New York Times

Across

Longtime first name in the House of Representatives – NANCY
Word that aptly fills in these blanks: S_ _rano’s p_ _form_nce – OPERA
Bad thing to go up without a paddle – CREEK
Assistant – AIDE
Toilet paper layer – PLY

Down

“For real!,” in popular slang – NOCAP
When Tax Day is – APRIL
Requiring a lot of attention – NEEDY
Indigenous people of Canada – CREE
Beast also known as a “grunting ox” – YAK

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Gaming Guides Editor

As Digital Trends' Gaming evergreen lead, Sam Hill is here to help you find your new favorite game and dive right in. The…

Gaming

Wordle’s wild year: New York Times breaks down the phenomenon’s big 2022

Close-up of Wordle up on a smartphone.

If you logged onto Twitter exactly one year ago, you can probably recall the moment you began to see your feed fill up with gray, yellow, and green boxes. Though it launched in 2021 and gained mainstream popularity in December of that year, Wordle became a sudden cultural phenomenon in early 2022 that was inescapable outside of a muted words list. It was a rare gaming success story, one that could reach a broad audience thanks to its elegant simplicity.

Wordle’s fortune would escalate just as quickly as its user base. In late January 2022, the New York Times announced it had acquired the puzzle game from creator Josh Wardle in an undisclosed, low-seven-figure deal -- a left-field move that almost eclipsed Sony’s announcement that it was acquiring Destiny 2 developer Bungie just hours earlier. The move would spark some worry among fans, who feared that a corporate takeover of the most independent game imaginable could steal its soul.

Gaming

CES 2023: Wordle will take to the skies thanks to Delta Air Lines

Someone playing Wordle on an iphone

The New York Times appeared at CES 2023 alongside Delta to confirm that the publication's game lineup is part of the upcoming Delta Exclusives Hub. Delta Air Lines passengers will soon be able to play Wordle, Spelling Bee, and more during flights via the airline's free Wi-Fi.
Currently, those flying on a Delta flight only get free access to iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. Starting on February 1, though, Delta Air Lines plans to offer free Wi-Fi on its flights to Delta SkyMiles members, and lots of content will be accessible from a new landing page called the Delta Exclusives Hub.
When Delta Exclusives Hub launches sometime in spring 2023, its hub will give passengers access to games like Wordle, Spelling Bee, and The Crossword on domestic U.S. flights free-of-charge, whether they are New York Times subscribers or not.
This announcement comes almost a year after The New York Times acquired Wordle at the height of its status as a social media phenomenon. While it's not as trendy as it was a year ago, Wordle still attracts a lot of players and is a major part of The New York Times Games' offerings. In particular, The New York Times seems keen to expand the places people can play Wordle, as they integrated it into their Crossword app in December 2022.
By including Wordle and its other games in the Delta Exclusives Hub, The New York Times Games will get its offerings in front of even more people while also ensuring that players will always have a chance to check out that day's Wordle, even if they're traveling all day.

Gaming

Wordle is now playable on New York Times Crossword app

A person plays 'Wordle' on an iPhone.

The New York Times announced that Wordle is now playable within The New York Times Crossword app on Android and iOS. Players can access the popular word guessing game in the same app as three other games: The Crossword (the app's namesake), The Mini Crossword, and Spelling Bee.

https://twitter.com/NYTGames/status/1562470378483888130