NYT Mini Crossword Answers and Hints for Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026: 5 by 5, 10 Clues

The New York Times (NYT) Mini Crossword for Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026: a hint for each of Joel Fagliano's 10 clues on a 5-by-5 grid with no black squares.

By Fresh Calendars News Desk

Published November 7, 2026, 10:30 p.m. ET 3 min read

NYT Mini Crossword answers for Nov. 8, 2026: a blank five-by-five crossword grid — The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026; hints come first, the full grid of answers at the end. Illustration: Fresh Calendars

In this article

Hints for every clue
The coat clue and the shape of the grid
Today’s NYT Mini answers (spoilers)

Joel Fagliano built the New York Times (NYT) Mini Crossword for Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, a 5-by-5 grid with 10 clues and not one black square. Every answer is five letters long. Tap any hint below for a nudge, and keep scrolling to the marked spoiler section only when you want the full grid.

Hints for every clue

Across

1-Across (5 letters), Thin winter coat?
the question mark hints that “coat” means a layer of tiny ice crystals on a window or lawn; it starts with F and ends with T.
Show the answer
Frost
6-Across (5 letters), When morning people like to wake up
an adverb for well before the usual hour; it starts with E and ends with Y.
Show the answer
Early
7-Across (5 letters), Option on the “How would you like to receive your receipt?” screen
the digital choice that sends a message to your inbox instead of printing paper; it starts with E and ends with L.
Show the answer
Email
8-Across (5 letters), “Please, it would be my pleasure”
a polite offer to take a task off someone’s hands, spoken as two short words that the grid runs together; it starts with L and ends with E.
Show the answer
Letme
9-Across (5 letters), Villain’s facial expression
a scornful look with a curled lip; it starts with S and ends with R.
Show the answer
Sneer

Down

1-Down (5 letters), Perceives by touch
a verb in the third person singular that also covers emotions; it starts with F and ends with S.
Show the answer
Feels
2-Down (5 letters), Japanese dish with a name from Chinese (“pulled noodles”)
a noodle soup served in broth; it starts with R and ends with N.
Show the answer
Ramen
3-Down (5 letters), Give a grand speech
to talk formally and with flourish before an audience; it starts with O and ends with E.
Show the answer
Orate
4-Down (5 letters), Gooey kids’ toy
green goo that comes in a tub and stretches through your fingers; it starts with S and ends with E.
Show the answer
Slime
5-Down (5 letters), ___ Durden, Brad Pitt’s character in “Fight Club”
the character’s first name; it starts with T and ends with R.
Show the answer
Tyler

The coat clue and the shape of the grid

The least literal clue is 1-Across. “Thin winter coat?” does not ask about outerwear. The question mark tells you the word coat is used for a covering that forms on a cold morning, and you can picture it on a car windshield. Solve 1-Down first if you want a start, since its first letter is the same as 1-Across.

The fourth row is the odd one. 8-Across answers a spoken line, so the grid packs several words into one entry; its last letter is also the fourth letter of 5-Down, which gives you a check.

The grid has 25 squares and none are black. Every cell is shared by one Across and one Down answer.

Count	Across	Down
Entries	5	5
5-letter entries	5	5
Letters covered	25	25
Black squares	0	0

How the 10 clues break down by type

Clue type	Count	Which clues
Fill-in-the-blank	1	5-Down
Wordplay with a question mark	1	1-Across
Spoken line in quotation marks	1	8-Across
Plain definition	7	6-Across, 7-Across, 9-Across, 1-Down, 2-Down, 3-Down, 4-Down

Only 5-Down names a person and a film. The seven plain definitions make up most of the grid.

Today’s puzzle is 5 by 5; the rules for a Mini are on our Mini Crossword page.

Keep a solving streak on the November 2026 printable calendar or our printable weekly calendar.

Sunday’s other pages: Wordle hints, Connections hints, Strands hints, Spelling Bee hints and Pips hints. The Midi is in our Midi answers for Nov. 8, and the big grid is in our daily Crossword answers for Nov. 8. Saturday’s grid is in our Mini answers for Nov. 7.

Today’s NYT Mini answers (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

Clue	Answer
1-Across	Frost
6-Across	Early
7-Across	Email
8-Across	Letme
9-Across	Sneer
1-Down	Feels
2-Down	Ramen
3-Down	Orate
4-Down	Slime
5-Down	Tyler

The filled grid, with each clue number in its first square. Drawn from the official puzzle data published by The New York Times.

The answers come from the puzzle’s official data.

Yesterday's Mini Crossword answer

The Mini on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026: Across 1 Dog, 4 Fin, 7 Are, 8 Rna, 9 Dentist, 11 Guest, 12 Rainbow, 14 Ann, 15 Eco, 16 Poe, 17 Eke; Down 1 Dad, 2 Oregano, 3 Genuine, 4 Frisbee, 5 Instock, 6 Nat, 10 Ten, 12 Rap, 13 Woe. Yesterday's hints and full solution.

Frequently asked questions

Who made the Nov. 8, 2026 NYT Mini?

Joel Fagliano constructed it, according to the puzzle data.

Does today's Mini have any black squares?

No. The 5-by-5 grid is completely open, so each of the 10 answers has five letters and every cell sits in one Across and one Down entry.

Which clue has the one question mark?

1-Across, which reads Thin winter coat? The question mark signals that the word coat is meant as a layer on a surface, not a piece of clothing.

What are the NYT Mini answers for Nov. 8, 2026?

Spoilers: Across, Frost, Early, Email, Letme, Sneer; Down, Feels, Ramen, Orate, Slime, Tyler.

Sources

The Mini Crossword (The New York Times)

Fresh Calendars News Desk

Editorial team, daily puzzles

The Fresh Calendars News Desk is the editorial team behind Fresh Calendars News. It publishes the daily puzzle pages for games such as Wordle, NYT Connections, Strands, Pips, Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword and Contexto, each with graded hints first and a clearly marked answer section after them. Answers come from the publisher's own game data where it exists and are checked against that saved data before a page goes live; for games without official data, a page waits until two independent published solutions agree. The desk also handles reader tips and correction reports for the whole site, works with the editors who cover holidays, school calendars, money, time changes and seasonal events, and notes each correction at the end of the article with the date it was made.