Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword made me pause right away. 1-Across asks for the thinnest US coin, and I thought of the right answer, then second-guessed myself, then went back to it. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Thinnest U.S. coins, at around 1/20th of an inch
Answer: DIMES

6A clue: «Sorry, already have plans»
Answer: ICANT

7A clue: Silent but deadly sort
Answer: NINJA

8A clue: George ___, pen name of the Victorian writer Mary Ann Evans
Answer: ELIOT

9A clue: «That’s great news!»
Answer: YAY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Wine pairing?
Answer: DINE

2D clue: In a chilly manner
Answer: ICILY

3D clue: In a chilly manner
Answer: MANIA

4D clue: Waiter’s «Hope you like the food!»
Answer: ENJOY

5D clue: Batting average, e.g.
Answer: STAT

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition always stumps me when there’s a category of last names. I end up grouping them together without even knowing which sport the athletes play — sometimes it works out, sometimes I’m tripped up. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.  

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Also Cubbies, or Twinkies.

Green group hint: You gotta be strong.

Blue group hint: Names of players.

Purple group hint:  Keep ____.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: MLB teams, familiarly.

Green group: Weightlifting terms.

Blue group: US women’s soccer players.

Purple group: Score ____

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is MLB teams, familiarly. The four answers are D-Backs, Jays, Sox and Yanks.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is weightlifting terms. The four answers are barbell, clean, jerk and snatch.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is US women’s soccer players. The four answers are Coffey, Fox, Rodman and Sonnett.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is score ____. The four answers are board, bug, card and keeper.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Todays NYT Strands puzzle involves my teenage daughter’s favorite food, which can be made in many varieties. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story. 

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: On the side.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: McDonald’s has great ones.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

• SATE, SEAT, SEEK, SEEKS, MEEK, LINE, KEYS, FACE, RINK, STIR, HOSS, RING.

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

• HOME, CURLY, CRINKLE, STEAK, WAFFLE, SHOESTRING.

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FRENCHFRIES. To find it, start with the F that’s four down on the farthest right row and wind backwards and up.