Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for August 20

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle is legendary. But if you don’t have that much time, the Mini Crossword is an entertaining substitute. The Mini Crossword is much easier than the old-school NYT Crossword, and you probably can complete it in a couple of minutes. But if you’re stuck, we’ve got the answers.

The Mini Crossword is far from alone in the Times’ stable of games. Our home page also always has the answers for Wordle, Connections and Strands.

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

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: “That’s gonna leave a ___!”
Answer: MARK

5A clue: Great Lake that borders Buffalo.
Answer: ERIE

6A clue: Bee offensive?
Answer: STING

7A clue: Greek god of war.
Answer: ARES

8A clue: Something you might hold around a dumpster.
Answer: NOSE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: D.C.’s subway system.
Answer: METRO

2D clue: Zodiac sign for Nancy Pelosi and Tim Walz.
Answer: ARIES

3D clue: Hold under running water.
Answer: RINSE

4D clue: Big barrel of Bud.
Answer: KEG

5D clue: ___ Diego, Calif.
Answer: SAN

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.