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 could be tricky. Think of something that can hold both infants and flowers, and you’ll solve the confusingly phrased 7-Across. 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: «___ the whole world gone mad?»
Answer: HAS

4A clue: Cause of increased «Aww»s and decreased «Zzz»s
Answer: BABY

5A clue: Romantic dozen
Answer: ROSES

6A clue: Still competing
Answer: INIT

7A clue: Flower ___ (as described by 1-, 4-, 5- and 6-Across, read in order?)
Answer: BED

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Certain religious Jew
Answer: HASID

2D clue: Help with a crime
Answer: ABET

3D clue: The «S» of iOS: Abbr.
Answer: SYS

4D clue: Skeleton piece
Answer: BONE

5D clue: 4-Down in the chest
Answer: RIB

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.

I’ve been refreshing my knowledge of chess via Duolingo, so the green category in today’s Connections: Sports Edition was an easy one for me. 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: Zoom!

Green group hint: Checkmate!

Blue group hint: Friendly names for hoopsters.

Purple group hint: Kids love to do this.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Fast

Green group: Chess pieces

Blue group: NBA player nicknames

Purple group: ____ play

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 fast. The four answers are quick, rapid, speedy and swift.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is chess pieces. The four answers are king, knight, pawn and rook.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA player nicknames. The four answers are Dame, Joker, SGA and Spida.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ play. The four answers are double, match, power and stroke.

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.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle plays off the popular books that suggest various horrendous futures, many of which have been made into TV shows and movies. 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: A strange new world

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Hope this future never comes.

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:

• MALE, DALE, GALE, YALE, VINO, MOVE, HOVEL, HOVE, HIVE, TEAR, REAL, REAM, GATE, PATE, MATE, MEAT, TEAM, TEAL LATE

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’ve got 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:

• ANIMAL, FARM, HANDMAIDS, TALE, HUNGER, GAMES

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is DYSTOPIANNOVEL. To find it, start with the D that’s the first letter on the left on the top row, and wind down and around.