NYT Mini Crossword today: puzzle answers for Monday, December 23

By Sam Hill and Jesse Lennox Updated December 22, 2024 9:02 PM

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

Character who’s blue in the face? – SMURF
Mideast country that juts out from Saudi Arabia – QATAR
Loosen, as a knot – UNTIE
Author’s negotiator – AGENT
Labourite’s rival, in British politics – TORY

Down

What catchers do behind home plate … or an adjective that might describe their physique – SQUAT
Tropical fruit in a sweet salsa – MANGO
Say aloud – UTTER
Like stereotypical weather in the Pacific Northwest – RAINY
Bar on a guitar’s neck – FRET

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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

Move over, Wordle: The New York Times has a new puzzle game

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The New York Times has introduced the next title coming to its Games catalog following Wordle's continued success -- and it's all about math. Digits has players adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing numbers. You can play its beta for free online right now.
In Digits, players are presented with a target number that they need to match. Players are given six numbers and have the ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide them to get as close to the target as they can. Not every number needs to be used, though, so this game should put your math skills to the test as you combine numbers and try to make the right equations to get as close to the target number as possible.

Players will get a five-star rating if they match the target number exactly, a three-star rating if they get within 10 of the target, and a one-star rating if they can get within 25 of the target number. Currently, players are also able to access five different puzzles with increasingly larger numbers as well. I solved today's puzzle and found it to be an enjoyable number-based game that should appeal to inquisitive minds that like puzzle games such as Threes or other The New York Times titles like Wordle and Spelling Bee.
In an article unveiling Digits and detailing The New York Time Games team's process to game development, The Times says the team will use this free beta to fix bugs and assess if it's worth moving into a more active development phase "where the game is coded and the designs are finalized." So play Digits while you can, as The New York Times may move on from the project if it doesn't get the response it is hoping for.
Digits' beta is available to play for free now on The New York Times Games' website

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.