I would've aced today's Mini Crossword if not for 1 Down. That was something I had never heard of before, and I tried a varietion on it as just a guess, then had to backtrack when

NYT Mini Crossword’s January 10 edition is now available to solve. For the unversed, it’s a simpler and easier crossword that can be cracked within a few minutes. Every day, players are given a 5×5 grid to guess words via provided hints and place them accurately.