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Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, March 28

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 28.

Headshot of Gael Cooper
Headshot of Gael Cooper
Gael Cooper
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.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, and generational studies Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read
Image of the New York Times Mini Crossword logo shown on a computer screen.

Need help with the NYT Mini Crossword?

 NYT/CNET

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today's Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today's NYT Mini Crossword is tricky -- especially 7-Across. I'm still not sure I get that one. Most of the others were pretty easy. 8-Across was a little confusing -- I knew the word, but not the meaning -- but the other clues helped me fill it in. Need some help with today's Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times' games collection. If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET's NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let's get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

completed NYT Mini Crossword for March 28 2025

The completed NYT Mini Crossword for March 28, 2025.

 NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Like crackers after the box is left open
Answer: STALE

6A clue: Targets of facial cleansers
Answer: PORES

7A clue: Patronized, as a restaurant
Answer: ATEAT

8A clue: House occupied by a Presbyterian minister (yes, there's a word for this!)
Answer: MANSE

9A clue: Material that's an anagram of 1-Across and 4-Down
Answer: SLATE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Bombards with texts, say
Answer: SPAMS

2D clue: The "z" in x + y = z
Answer: TOTAL

3D clue: Stadium's covered counterpart
Answer: ARENA

4D clue: Most's opposite
Answer: LEAST

5D clue: Lauder in the beauty aisle
Answer: ESTEE

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day's Mini Crossword for free, but you'll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.