Our story
About Mini Crossword
MiniCrossword.me is a daily 5×5 word puzzle for people who love wordplay but don't have all day. New puzzles drop every morning - quick, clever, and just hard enough to make you grin. No app to install, no account to create, no paywall waiting at the third clue. Just a fresh grid, a blinking cursor, and a minute or two of pure focus.
Why we built it
We grew up on Sunday crosswords - the kind that took an hour and half a pot of coffee. Wonderful, but a luxury most weekday mornings don't have. The mini is the answer: same craft, same satisfying click of letters falling into place, distilled into a format that fits between the kettle boiling and your first email.
The big-name minis pioneered the format, and we love them for it. But most live behind subscriptions, app installs, or interfaces that have quietly grown busier every year. We wanted a version that stays free, stays fast, and stays out of your way.
What makes ours different
- Free, forever. Every puzzle, every day, no metered limits. No "log in to keep your streak."
- Handcrafted clues. Real humans write and edit every grid. No machine-generated filler.
- Tiny, focused interface. Timer, hints, autosave, and a printable view - nothing you won't use.
- A real archive. Every past puzzle stays playable. Miss a day, catch up whenever.
- Streaks that respect you. Your progress saves locally and syncs if you sign in. No guilt-trip popups.
How to play
- Click any white square, then type letters. Space toggles between Across and Down.
- Arrow keys move around the grid. Tab jumps to the next clue.
- Stuck? Use Check to spot wrong letters or Reveal to give yourself a nudge.
- Solve every day to build a streak. Your progress saves automatically.
Most solvers finish in under three minutes. The current record holders are well under one. No pressure.
Made by puzzle people
Mini Crossword is built and edited by a small team of constructors, word nerds, and former crossword bloggers. We test every puzzle on each other before it ships, argue about whether a clue is too tricky for a Tuesday, and quietly cheer when someone's streak hits triple digits.
If you have a puzzle you'd like to submit, a clue that bugged you, or a feature you wish existed, we want to hear it. The site is small enough that your email actually reaches a person.
What's next
We're working on themed weeks, a "play with a friend" mode, and a weekly mid-size 7×7 for solvers who want a little more. Everything we add follows the same rule: if it doesn't make the puzzle better, it doesn't ship.
Thanks for playing. See you tomorrow morning.