Minute Cryptic Answers Today & Hints

What is Minute Cryptic?

Minute Cryptic is a daily puzzle built around a single cryptic crossword clue. Cryptic clues contain both a definition and a piece of wordplay, and the game teaches you to spot each part with progressive hints and a short video explaining the solution. Each clue has a par, the number of hints an average solver needs.

The game was created by a team of cryptic constructors as an on-ramp to cryptic crosswords, and many clues are set by community members.

How to play Minute Cryptic

Read the clue and the number in brackets, which is the answer's letter count. Type your answer, or ask for hints that reveal the definition, the wordplay device and the fodder step by step. After solving, watch the explainer to see how the clue was built.

How a cryptic clue works

Every cryptic clue has two halves. One is a straight definition of the answer, usually at the start or end of the clue. The other is wordplay that builds the answer from parts: an anagram, a hidden word, a charade of smaller words, a homophone, a reversal or a container. The surface reading is designed to mislead, so the trick is to find where the definition stops and the wordplay begins.

When does the new Minute Cryptic come out?

A new Minute Cryptic is published every day at midnight Eastern Time. We publish hints and answers as soon as the puzzle is available and keep every previous day in the archive above.

Minute Cryptic strategy and tips

1. 1Find the definition firstIt is almost always the first or last word or two of the clue.
2. 2Look for anagram indicatorsWords like broken, strange, mixed or wild signal that nearby letters are scrambled.
3. 3Count the lettersThe enumeration must match. Candidate words of the wrong length are out.
4. 4Spot hidden wordsA phrase like “in part” or “some of” often means the answer is hiding inside consecutive words of the clue.
5. 5Use the parA par of 2 means most people needed two hints. Take one before guessing wildly.

Official Minute Cryptic resources

GameAnswers.com is an independent site and is not affiliated with the publisher. To play the game itself, use the official sources below.

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More daily puzzles with their own hint hubs, for when one isn’t enough.

NNYT Crossword hintsThe full 15x15 daily crossword, 21x21 on Sundays.Wordle hintsGuess the five-letter word in six tries.Connections hintsSort 16 words into four hidden groups.Crossclimb hintsSolve clues, then order the words into a ladder.