Minute Cryptic Answer Today
Minute Cryptic sets one cryptic crossword clue a day at minutecryptic.com — a single clue, a letter count, and a ladder of hints you try not to use. Stuck on today’s? Reveal the answer below, or pick any date for that day’s solution and a full breakdown of the wordplay. 49 clues in the archive and counting.
Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible ingredient for one's gag reflex?
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No spoilers — the answer stays blurred until you tap. Open this day’s page → · Full breakdown →
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Every clue, explained
Each clue has its own page with the answer, the definition, the wordplay and the device behind it.
Full archive — browse every date
Newest first — open a year, then pick your month and day to see that clue and its answer.
202649 answers
How to use this page
Find your date
Today’s clue sits at the top. For older days, open the year and pick the day from the grid.
Tap to reveal
The answer stays blurred until you tap, so you won’t spoil a clue you haven’t tried yet.
See why it works
Open the clue’s own page for the definition, the wordplay and the cryptic device in play.
What is Minute Cryptic?
Minute Cryptic is a free daily puzzle you can play in any browser at minutecryptic.com. Instead of a whole crossword grid it gives you one cryptic clue and its letter count, and asks you to crack it in about a minute. If you get stuck you can take hints — first the definition, then the fodder, then more — and your score is measured against “par”, the number of hints the setter expects you to need. Clues come from professional setters and from the Minute Cryptic community, and each day’s clue gets a short video walkthrough from whoever wrote it.
If cryptics are new to you, the trick is that every clue does the job twice. One end of the clue is a straight definition of the answer. The rest is wordplay that builds the same word a second way — an anagram, a hidden word, a reversal, a homophone, a container, a deletion or a charade of smaller pieces. Once you can spot which end is the definition, the rest is a lot less intimidating.
Minute Cryptic is an independent daily cryptic clue game. This page is an independent reference — not affiliated with minutecryptic.com — that publishes and explains each day’s answer for players who get stuck.