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.

I was so stumped by one clue in today’s Mini Crossword that I wondered if the vaunted New York Times had made a typo. (Spoiler: They did not, and I eventually figured out 2-Down.) Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

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 to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Paradise» or «Lost»
Answer: SHOW

5A clue: Hawaiian island with the famous Road to Hana
Answer: MAUI

6A clue: ___Zeneca (pharma company)
Answer: ASTRA

8A clue: «Stainless» metal
Answer: STEEL

9A clue: One half of a centaur
Answer: HORSE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Massive success
Answer: SMASH

2D clue: Must
Answer: HASTO

3D clue: ___ boroughs (term for the non-Manhattan parts of New York City)
Answer: OUTER

4D clue: Electrician’s specialty
Answer: WIRES

7D clue: Bar beverage
Answer: ALE

It’s the height of the aurora borealis season, but the skies have been relatively calm lately, with only a few mild auroras over the last month. Get ready, though. The northern lights may light up the skies over parts of the US over the next couple of days, giving people in northern states a chance to marvel at rainbow skies.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Monday and Tuesday’s auroras are brought to Earth by a rather large X1.4-class solar flare that erupted from the sun late on March 29 and was caught on video by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flare came from region 4405 of the sun, an area known to be magnetically complex and highly active. The flare lasted for hours and peaked at 11:19 p.m. ET Sunday night. 

The flare also launched a coronal mass ejection, a large burst of plasma that can create auroras, and that ejection should at least partially interact with Earth’s geomagnetic field. Any auroras from the solar storm likely won’t be too strong, but NOAA did issue an R3-level radio blackout. High-frequency radio communications were affected for about an hour, and navigation satellite signal quality was degraded for a while. This primarily affected Australia and Southern Asia, which were the sunlit parts of the world when the solar flare erupted. 

Auroras this week

Monday’s aurora isn’t anything to write home about unless you’re in Alaska or Canada, although northern states like Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota may see some action. 

Tuesday’s aurora is forecasted to be more of a show, with 15 states potentially in line to see the northern lights. Some people in Washington state, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota and the northernmost reaches of Wisconsin should for sure see something. People who climb high enough and face north may see some northern lights on the horizon if they’re in Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, New York State, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The 15th state is Alaska, which will have its usual outstanding view of the aurora across virtually the whole state. 

Tips on seeing the aurora borealis

The method for viewing the northern lights varies depending on how far south you are. Residents in Alaska, Washington, Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota and the northern half of Wisconsin will have a much easier time than everyone else. All they’ll need to do is go outside, get away from lights, and look up. The aurora should be all over the sky, so it’s pretty easy to spot once you get away from city and suburban lights.

Viewing will be tougher for the other states listed. The aurora borealis should be at least partially visible along the northern horizon of those states, which means the key to seeing them is getting up as high as you can. The higher up you can get, the better your odds will be. 

The rumored iPhone Fold will feature the «most significant overhaul» to Apple’s iconic mobile device yet, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter, Gurman wrote that the upcoming foldable will feature a «whole new design.»

Every couple of generations, Apple makes notable changes to its signature device. Gurman points out the iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X as examples of phones that altered the iPhone’s form and function. But according to Gurman, the iPhone Fold will be the «first actual form-factor change» in iPhone history.

As unconfirmed iPhone Fold reports continue to leak out, a picture of Apple’s first foldable phone is coming into focus. This phone is expected to be a book-style foldable with a large inner screen for multitasking. The iOS 27 software update is rumored to allow the first Apple foldable to open apps side-by-side, so phone owners could watch videos, play games and more concurrently on their device.

In March 2025, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo detailed specific design predictions for the device. Kuo reported that the iPhone Fold could have a 5.5-inch outer screen that unfolds into a 7.8-inch internal screen, a hinge made from stainless steel and titanium alloy, similar battery cells to the iPhone 17, two rear cameras, a front-facing camera and a Touch ID side button.

More recently, CAD files for the purported device surfaced online, showing an iPhone with dimensions more akin to a Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold than a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

According to the CAD files, the back of the device borrows a shape familiar to iPhone lovers: It’s a hybridized design of the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone Air, including a raised rectangular platform with two cameras, a flat Apple logo flush with the rest of the phone and rounded corners on the non-hinged side of the phone.

There’s a good chance that Apple will reveal the rumored iPhone Fold in September, alongside an iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

An Apple representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Start saving up now

If the iPhone Fold materializes this year, expect it to cost a pretty penny. Foldable phones are generally quite expensive — the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold sell for around twice the price of the companies’ flagship devices.

Industry analyst Kuo predicts that the rumored Apple foldable could be priced between $2,000 and $2,500, matching the price band of other book-style foldable phones currently on the market.

Managing editor Patrick Holland, who leads CNET’s mobile team, notes that when Apple finally enters a new product category, it often addresses many of the complaints around existing devices in that space.

«If Apple were to launch an iPhone Fold, it would likely come with a design that solves or answers many of the biggest shortcomings that foldables currently have: software, durability, the screen crease and showing the benefit over a regular iPhone,» Holland said. «The fact that Apple already makes the iPad addresses many of those issues. And over the last couple of years, we’ve seen companies make foldable phones thinner, more powerful and have better cameras.»

Holland wonders if Apple can live up to the hopes for a foldable iPhone.

«The question for me is, how can Apple launch a foldable phone at scale?» he said. «Even if it’s the lowest-selling iPhone, that’s still a much larger volume of foldable phones than many phone makers currently sell.»