Mini Crossword

A five-by-five grid, a few black squares, ten clues split between ACROSS and DOWN, and a timer that starts with the page: that is the Mini Crossword in a nutshell. The page states the rule in one sentence: a five-by-five grid per day, the same for everyone, and time as the score. The grid is driven from the keyboard, with the active square in orange, the current word in pale blue and its clue highlighted in the left column. Above that column, a button marked with a check serves as a safety net, and the right column unfolds How to play, Settings, Scoring, FAQ and About.

1. Click a square on the grid: it turns orange, the word it belongs to shades in blue, and its clue lights up on the left.
2. Type letters, the cursor advancing automatically from square to square.
3. Toggle between across and down with the space bar, and jump to the next clue with the tab key.
4. Let crossings do the work when a clue resists: each square serves two words, so filling the perpendiculars is often enough.
5. Reserve the check-mark button for real blockages: the page states it flags wrong letters without correcting them, and its use is recorded as a help.

Twenty-five squares with a few black ones, and yet the game doesn't feel like a reduced crossword: it feels like a race. Because the grid is the same for everyone and the timer serves as the score, the question becomes not whether you'll finish but how fast, which completely changes how you read the clues. You skip those that don't come immediately, you go with the crossings, and the check button becomes a judgment call rather than a rescue since its use is recorded as a help. It's a breathless crossword, and it replays every morning.

Nothing is validated while typing. The grid merely moves its cursor, the active square turning orange and the current word pale blue, with the corresponding clue highlighted in the list. The only counter that moves is the timer in the top bar, which doubles as the score since the page designates it as such. Verification is a voluntary action requested with the check-mark button, and the page warns that it leaves incorrect letters in place while counting the action as a help.

Core play

A single default daily puzzle: a five-by-five grid with ACROSS and DOWN clues, the same puzzle for everyone each day, and a timer that starts with the page (the timer doubles as the score). The game offers this one mode and no alternate or additional modes.

• Don't leave the keyboard: the space bar rotates the entry direction and tab switches clues. On a grid this small, trips to the mouse cost more than tough clues.
• Do a first pass filling only what comes immediately. The page gives the figure itself: on a five-by-five grid, three certain entries will usually seed more than half the board.
• Read the pattern as well as the clue. Short fill leans toward common vocabulary and easy letters, so an unlikely stack of consonants almost always signals a wrong crossing rather than a misunderstood clue.
• The check-mark button has a cost: it is recorded as a help. It's better reserved for the full grid that refuses to close when a single letter lies somewhere.