The Times’ Mini Crosswords

I enjoy doing crossword puzzles, and especially enjoy the daily mini crossword puzzles offered by the New York Times’ iPhone app. The mini crossword is a five-by-five daily puzzle that is usually quickly dispatched. Sometimes, however, there’s one word or two that I just can’t get right away. In that case, abandoning the puzzle and coming back to it after a spell allows my mind to approach it fresh and I’m able to finish it up. Once in a while, though, I just can’t get it, and have to avail myself of a hint. After a hundred puzzles or so, I began to wonder how I do on them and, of course, I started keeping track.

On Saturday, June 25, 2016, I was surprised to find the daily puzzle to be a “midi” (7x7). Thinking it was a mistake, I just skipped it. However, since that time, every Saturday has been larger than a “mini” in some way. As a result, the statistics have been split into “mini” and “midi”.

Below are various statistics of the puzzles from August 21, 2014 though and including December 4, 2018.