The New York Times Crossword is a daily puzzle with a 15 by 15 grid from Monday to Saturday and a 21 by 21 grid on Sunday. Every white square belongs to one Across answer and one Down answer.
The week, from easy to hard
- Monday and Tuesday: direct clues and common answers. The best days to start.
- Wednesday: a little more wordplay, usually with a clear theme.
- Thursday: the trick day. Expect rebus squares, answers that turn corners or skip squares, or some other rule-bending idea.
- Friday and Saturday: no theme, long open areas and the hardest clues of the week.
- Sunday: the biggest grid, with a theme and a title, at about Thursday difficulty.
Reading the clues
- Question marks signal a pun or wordplay.
- Abbreviations in the clue (such as "Dept." or "Org.") mean the answer is abbreviated too.
- Tense and number match. A past-tense clue wants a past-tense answer, and a plural clue wants a plural answer.
- Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the easiest way into a corner.
- "Perhaps" or "for example" means the answer is one example of something larger.
Habits that help
- Skim every clue first and fill what you are sure of anywhere in the grid.
- Work from crossings. Two or three letters usually unlock an answer you could not see from the clue alone.
- Find the theme early on Monday to Thursday and Sunday. The longest answers usually share it, and knowing it helps with the rest.
- Learn the regulars. Short words with friendly letters, such as ERA, OREO, ALOE and ETNA, show up again and again.
- Take a break. A clue that made no sense at night often looks obvious in the morning.
Our daily page lists every clue with its length, then the first letters, then each answer and the solved grid, so you can check one entry without spoiling the rest.
NYT Crossword questions
When does the next NYT Crossword come out?
Monday to Friday puzzles are released at 10 p.m. Eastern the night before. Saturday and Sunday puzzles come out earlier, at 6 p.m. Eastern the day before. Our page for each date goes up once that date begins in Eastern time.
Which day is the hardest?
Difficulty rises through the week. Monday is the easiest and Saturday is the hardest. Sunday is the largest grid, 21 by 21, at about Thursday difficulty.
What is a rebus square?
A rebus square holds more than one letter, or sometimes a symbol. Rebus puzzles turn up most often on Thursdays. Our answer lists show the full entry for those squares.
Do I need a subscription to play?
The daily crossword on the New York Times site and app needs a Games or All Access subscription. The Mini can be played free.
Why does a clue end in a question mark?
A question mark means the clue is a pun or wordplay, so the answer will not be a straight definition.