Today's Mini Crossword Solutions from The New York Times for Saturday, December 21st
If you missed last Friday's NYT Mini, you can find the solutions here:
The NYT Mini is a compact, abbreviated version of the newspaper's more extensive and long-running crossword puzzle. Normally, there are between three to five clues in each direction on a 5x5 grid, but sometimes the puzzles can be larger, especially on Saturdays.
Contrary to its larger brother, the NYT Mini crossword can be played for free on the New York Times website or the NYT Games app. However, to access previous puzzles in the archives, you'll require an NYT Games subscription.
The NYT Mini is a delightful daily distraction that rarely takes longer than a minute to complete. I try to solve the weekday grid faster than that, but sometimes I struggle with one or two clues and need to reveal the answer.
To help you avoid doing that, here are the solutions for the NYT Mini Crossword (warning: spoilers ahead):
NYT Mini Crossword Clues and Answers
ACROSS
1) Zap with a beam of light - ZAPBEAM
5) _____ solstice, the shortest day of the year - WINTERSOLSTICE
7) 100 years - CENTURYYEARS
8) 100 years, for Jimmy Carter - CENTURYFORCARTER
9) Roll with it! - ROLLEASYGOWITHIT
10) Sports novices - ROOKIESNEWBIESINSPORT
12) Like each day relative to the day before it, for the next six months - LONGERDAYSLONGER
13) Eugene V. _____, five-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America - DEBSEUGENEDEBS
DOWN
1) First blank on a form, possibly - FIRSTBLANKFORM
2) Annoying kitchen insect - ANTINSECTONCOUNTER
3) Prepares for an exam - STUDIESFORTEST
4) More frightening - EERIERSCAREDEEPER
5) "Is everything fine between us?" - ALLGOODBETWEENUS
6) certain types of bread or a homophone for what they do in the oven - RYELOAVESORBAKE
7) Noted astronomer Sagan whose papers are archived in the Library of Congress - CARLSAGANARCHIVED
11) Intelligence agency in "Bridge of Spies" - KGBINTHEMOVIE
I struggled a bit with this puzzle today, particularly with the "lase" clue. According to science fiction books I've read, you don't "lase" things, you use a laser to do it. The day-to-day clue related to the Winter Solstice one took me a while to understand. But overall, it was challenging today.
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The NYT Mini Answers collection on the website includes the solution for the clue 'Zap with a beam of light', which is 'ZAPBEAM'. If you're looking for solutions to the NYT Mini Puzzle and subscribe to the NYT Games, you'll have access to previous puzzles' answers in the archives.
