The New York Times (NYT) Mini Crossword is a fun game that I used to play almost every day. It served as a time-based teaser to the classic NYT Crossword, which requires a paid subscription. However, all of this changed in late August, when the Mini became paywalled like its larger counterpart. This decision disappoints many puzzle players like myself who really enjoyed this game.

The Mini Crossword is an entertaining and quick game to play. The objective is to fill a small rectangle with words horizontally and vertically based on the cues provided. Many words share letters, but unlike a traditional crossword, almost every letter is part of two different words. By having more shared letters, the Mini posed a unique challenge in a bite-sized format. In addition, the quick nature of the Mini allows you to challenge yourself and others to complete it faster every time. The NYT Games app allows you to invite friends and create a leaderboard of your game progress. I used to play the Mini every day to try to best the time of my friends. Now, I rarely open the app and miss that connection. We all would love it if we could play the Mini for free again.

So, this begs the question: will the NYT remove the paywall? I really hope they do, but that might not happen. At the end of the day, the NYT is a company, and chooses to prioritize their profit over our preference. If many people sign up for a subscription in order to play the Mini, then it will most likely stay paywalled. On the other hand, if people who used to play the Mini for free now no longer play any NYT games because of the paywall, then the Mini will possibly go back to being free to keep people playing. We have a difficult choice to make: subscribe to play the Mini, or hold back in hopes that it will become free again?

This dilemma could be easily solved by the New York Times themselves. The games subscription is already very successful, and the company does not need the extra revenue from Mini players. In 2025, Games subscribers accounted for 68% of all non-bundled customers. Over half all NYT subscribers are bundled, paying for multiple products. Based on the data, if a customer isn’t buying multiple subscriptions, they are most likely to buy a Games subscription. The NYT Games is already a lucrative business, so it doesn’t make sense why they need Mini players to also subscribe. If the company removes the paywall from the Mini, then players will be happier and a successful business will barely lose any money. I want to continue playing the Mini, so I will probably be purchasing a subscription in the near future. But to make everyone happy, the New York Times should make the Mini Crossword free so we can all enjoy it!