NYT Mini Crossword Answers and Hints for Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026: Two Chopin Clues and a Pun on Socks

The New York Times (NYT) Mini Crossword for Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, is a five-by-five grid with 10 clues by Tracy Bennett. Black squares sit in the top left and bottom right corners, so 1-Across and 8-Across have four letters each. Below is a hint for every clue, each one hidden until you open it, then the full answers in a marked spoiler section.

Hints for every clue

Across

• 1-Across (4 letters), Work benefit

  an extra such as free lunch or a gym pass.
• 5-Across (5 letters), Delay airing, as a news story

  a two-word phrase meaning to hold something back for now.
• 6-Across (5 letters), ⏸, on a remote

  the button that stops the show for a moment.
• 7-Across (5 letters), Back-of-book search feature

  the alphabetical list of topics with page numbers.
• 8-Across (4 letters), They get socked

  a pun. Think of what goes inside a sock.

Down

• 1-Down (5 letters), Chopin’s instrument

  it has 88 keys.
• 2-Down (5 letters), Chopin practice piece

  a French word for “study,” the name of a short piece built around one technique.
• 3-Down (5 letters), Pinkish wines

  the plural of a French wine name that also names a flower.
• 4-Down (4 letters), Lego competitor

  a construction toy of rods and connectors, spelled with a K.
• 5-Down (4 letters), ___ and polish

  a phrase for a thorough shine, from soldiers cleaning their boots.

Solving tips

Start with 6-Across, the button on a remote, and 1-Down, the instrument. They cross in the first column of the third row. The second Chopin clue, 2-Down, runs next to the piano and starts with an E. Leave 5-Across for later: it is a two-word phrase written as one entry, and the Down answers fill most of its letters.

Keep a streak log on our printable weekly calendar or the October 2026 printable calendar.

More of Wednesday’s puzzles: Wordle hints, Connections hints, Strands hints, Spelling Bee hints and Pips hints. Tuesday’s grid is in our Mini answers for Oct. 27, and Thursday’s in our Mini answers for Oct. 29.

NYT Mini answers for Oct. 28, 2026 (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

Clue	Answer
1-Across	Perk
5-Across	Sit on
6-Across	Pause
7-Across	Index
8-Across	Toes
1-Down	Piano
2-Down	Etude
3-Down	Roses
4-Down	K’Nex
5-Down	Spit

Sit on fills five squares with no space, 3-Down is the plural of rosé without its accent, and K’Nex drops its apostrophe in the grid. The answers come from the puzzle’s official data.