Mini Crossword Hint Today: Answer for Oct. 12

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s a fun one, and not too difficult. I think 3-Down is a regionalism. We never used that term for gym class when I was growing up in Minnesota. Read on if you need help solving the puzzle today.

The Mini Crossword is a nice break from the tougher puzzles, and it takes only a fraction of the time of the vaunted, regular New York Times Crossword puzzle.

CNET publishes daily answers and hints for Wordle, The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Dot on a domino
Answer: PIP

4A clue: Person you secretly like
Answer: CRUSH

5A clue: Like the taste of many I.P.A.s
Answer: HOPPY

7A clue: Awards named for a cable sports channel
Answer: ESPYS

8A clue: Tina of “Mean Girls”
Answer: FEY

The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Oct. 12, 2026.

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: A little doodle, for example
Answer: PUPPY

2D clue: Game words before “… with my little eye”
Answer: ISPY

3D clue: The “P” of P.E.: Abbr.
Answer: PHYS

4D clue: One who’s skilled with a skillet
Answer: CHEF

5D clue: Valentine’s Day flower
Answer: ROSE

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

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