Free Alternatives to the NYT Mini, Honestly Compared

A quick note before the list

We make Morning Crossword, so one site on this list is ours. We describe every site by what its own pages, or a named source, say about it, and we tell you where ours falls short too. Morning Crossword is not affiliated with The New York Times, and none of the other sites here paid to be listed.

We checked everything below in November 2026. Newspapers change their puzzle pages often, so open a site to confirm the price or the archive before you rely on it.

What changed with the NYT Mini

For about eleven years, the Mini's daily puzzle was free to play, and only its archive needed a subscription. In late August 2025, the Times moved the Mini behind its paywall. The NYT's help page now says the Mini "is available to anyone with a New York Times subscription that includes access to Games," and that subscribers can also solve past Minis in the archive. The same page lists no free option.

The Times keeps some games free, such as Wordle and Connections. Its newer mid-size crossword, the Midi, is subscriber-only too.

The list at a glance

Morning Crossword

Morning Crossword is our site: a new 5x5 mini with about ten clues and a new 7x7 Midi with 14 to 16 clues every day, both free. Every past puzzle stays free in the archive, and nothing needs an account: your times and streaks are kept in your own browser.

• Help that teaches. Every clue has three step-by-step hints, from a nudge to the first letter, so you can get unstuck without giving the answer away. Each day also has a hints page and an answers page with every answer hidden until you tap it.
• Two sizes on one site. The mini takes most people one to three minutes; the Midi is a longer coffee break.
• Easy to read. Large squares, strong contrast, a dark mode and a font designed for low-vision readers. Every puzzle also prints on one page, with an answer key if you want one.
• Play with friends without signing up. After you solve, send a "challenge a friend" link with your time to beat, and see how your time compares with other players who used no hints.

Where we fall short: we are new. The first mini came out on November 4, 2026, so the archive is still short, and there is no app yet; it runs in your phone's browser instead. You can read how each puzzle is made and checked on our About page.

Washington Post Mini Crossword

The Washington Post's games site has a daily Mini Crossword that it describes as "the best free online crossword," new every day and made to fit a busy schedule. The games on that site are provided by Arkadium. The Post also runs the Mini Meta, a week-long set of connected minis that builds to a weekend puzzle, if you like a bigger challenge.

USA Today Quick Cross

The Quick Cross is the smallest grid on this list: four squares by four, so a solve takes moments. WordFinder's guide says you can play it online for free and that you need an account to see past puzzles. It is also in the USA TODAY PLAY app with the paper's daily crossword.

The Atlantic Crossword

The Atlantic publishes a daily crossword, and according to WordFinder its Monday puzzles are close in size to the NYT Mini, with the grid getting bigger later in the week. WordFinder also notes a free partial archive that goes back about two weeks.

Arkadium Daily Crossword

If you want a bigger puzzle, Arkadium's Daily Crossword is a full-size grid. WordFinder's guide says you can make a free account if you want one and play through an archive of past daily puzzles.

Crosswordle

Crosswordle mixes a crossword grid with Wordle-style colors, but it has no clues. You "swap scrambled letters on a 7×7 board until every tile turns green," and the site says it is free, with no download and no sign-up. It is a good daily logic puzzle, just not a crossword in the usual sense.

How to choose

• You want the closest thing to the NYT Mini, free: a 5x5 like Morning Crossword's mini or the Washington Post Mini.
• You want it over in seconds: USA Today's 4x4 Quick Cross.
• You want a little more than a mini: Morning Crossword's 7x7 Midi, then The Atlantic later in the week.
• You are new to crosswords: pick a site with step-by-step hints, so you learn how clues work instead of revealing answers. Our how-to-play guide explains the basics.
• You like to binge old puzzles: check that the archive is free before you start. Ours is.