NYT Crossword Difficulty by Day
- Monday-Tuesday: Easiest, great for beginners
- Wednesday: Medium with clever themes
- Thursday: Expect tricks (rebus, unusual grids)
- Friday-Saturday: Hardest, expert level
- Sunday: Larger 21x21 grid, medium difficulty
Solving Tips
- Fill-in-the-blank first – usually the easiest clues
- Theme answers help – long answers often relate to the theme
- Learn crosswordese – ERA, EPEE, ALOE, OLEO appear often
- Clue tense = answer tense
Frequently Asked Questions
10 PM ET (Mon-Sat) or 6 PM ET Saturday for Sunday's puzzle.
Thursday puzzles feature tricks like rebus squares or unusual grid shapes.
The full crossword requires a subscription. The Mini Crossword is always free.