The NYT Mini Crossword answers today, November 10, 2026, are CUTE, UNIX, PINTS, OGRE and NEAT across, and CUP, UNION, TINGE, EXTRA and SET down. This guide covers Tuesday’s Mini, not the full-size New York Times Crossword or the Mystery Mini.
Two ice-cream-and-beer clues provide the puzzle’s most useful distinction. One asks for units, the other for a container. Their answers differ in both length and grammatical number, so copying the same idea into both entries will not work.
For a smaller nudge before reading the individual solutions, look for familiar expressions at the beginning and end of the Across clues. The computer clue needs a four-letter operating-system name. The monster clue points toward a fairy-tale creature rather than a specific character.
Across answers:
1A, “___ as a button”: CUTE.
5A, “Computer operating system since 1969”: UNIX.
6A, “Units of ice cream or beer”: PINTS.
8A, “Green-skinned monster, perhaps”: OGRE.
9A, “___ as a pin”: NEAT.
Down answers:
1D, “Container for ice cream or beer”: CUP.
2D, “Worker’s collective”: UNION.
3D, “Slightest bit of color”: TINGE.
4D, “Background actor”: EXTRA.
7D, “Word before ‘… go!'”: SET.
PINTS is plural because the Across clue asks for units. CUP is singular because the Down clue asks for a container. UNION names the workers’ organisation, while UNIX belongs to the computing clue. Their shared opening letters make it particularly helpful to check the direction before entering either answer.
EXTRA means a background performer here, not an additional quantity. TINGE supplies the small trace of colour, while SET completes the familiar starting command. CUTE and NEAT finish the two short comparisons that frame the Across set.
For another puzzle, see today’s Quordle answers or browse our Word Games coverage.
