The NYTimes Mini Crossword is a reliable joy Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. The NYTimes Mini Crossword is a reliable joy Thank you, Joel Fagliano. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 25 Apr 2019 21 comments Two things that Trump and Obama have in common: they have both been President of the United States, and they both have five letters in their last names. This second fact means that they have both cropped up in the New York Times' Mini Crossword - a gem-like 5x5 treat that pops up online every morning and can be played for free. I love crosswords, by which I mean that I love the idea of them. If I have a whole day at my disposal I can just about get a Rufus cryptic finished, albeit with a little cheating, and I love to read about the form's strangest variants. The Listener, for example, is a cryptic so astonishingly challenging that a past example required solvers to finish the grid, cut it up into Tetris pieces, and then fashion them into a wall. That's a weekend right there, but quite a good weekend. If the Listener is at one end of the crosswords scale, the NYTimes Mini is at the other. The Mini, edited since its inception by Joel Fagliano, is a US joint for starters, so cryptic clues - a definition joined in a dainty muddle with a bit of wordplay - are out, although very occasionally a cryptic-like pun, with its familiar pincer movement feel, will turn up anyway. And black squares are often out too. It can be a bit daunting, coming from English crosswords, to see a grid in which almost every square is ready to receive a letter. Do not be daunted. This is the crossword as something to set your day in motion - five simple clues across and five down. You can whack on autocheck and get going and, on a good day, I will have the whole thing wrapped up in 40 seconds or so. Even a bad day clocks in at 1.48, and I am thick, remember, so imagine what you can do! On rare occasions a bit of US lingo will upset things, but then you can slice and dice from row to column. The dream of crosswords is a dream of precision and clarity and intelligence. The solver who can do a whole crossword during a commute and leave the paper with the grid filled for the next person to pick up and wonder at is clearly not a person to be messed with. To put it another way, smart-arses are good at crosswords. This may be why the NYTimes Mini plays a little jingle when you finish it - a jingle that inevitably calls to mind the intro music to Frasier. That's solving! Every morning I get to feel like Frasier, if only for 40 seconds. NYTimes, I'm listening. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 14 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store