Stuck on the Mini Crossword clue “this one and that one”? The answer is BOTH. Four letters, ends in H, and once you see the logic, it clicks immediately.
Table of Contents
The Answer at a Glance
| Clue | Answer | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| This one and that one | BOTH | 4 |
Confirmed appearance: 1 Across, NYT Mini Crossword — May 31, 2025
Why the Answer Is BOTH
This is the kind of clue that is easier to feel than to explain. “This one and that one” does not point to a definition. It describes a situation — you are referring to two separate things at the same time, and you need one word to cover both of them. That word is both.
It is a function word. It does the job of grouping two things together without naming either of them. The New York Times Mini Crossword editors write clues like this often — conversational, almost throwaway in tone, but precise in what they are asking for. The answer is always the most natural word you would reach for in that sentence.
If you had said it out loud — “I want this one and that one” — you would have shortened it to “I want both.” The clue is exactly that.
About the NYT Mini Crossword
The Mini is a free daily puzzle from The New York Times, built on a 5×5 grid. It is shorter and quicker than the full NYT Crossword, which sits behind a subscription. Most solvers finish the Mini in under five minutes.
A few facts worth keeping in mind:
- The grid resets every day at 10 p.m. ET — earlier than most NYT Games, which reset at midnight
- It is available through the NYT Games app and the New York Times website, no subscription required
- Clues are written to sound casual but are carefully constructed to have one clean answer
The Mini has its own loyal daily following, separate from the full crossword crowd. Many solvers treat it as a warm-up before moving on to Wordle, Connections, or Strands.
How to Handle Clues Like This in the Future
When a clue reads like a fragment of casual speech rather than a textbook definition, the answer is almost always a short function word. Words like both, each, either, all, and none show up repeatedly in the Mini because they carry a lot of meaning in very few letters.
The trick with these clues is to read them as a sentence with a blank at the end, then fill in what you would naturally say. “This one and that one” spoken in conversation becomes “both of them” in under a second. The clue is banking on solvers overthinking it.
Other word types to watch for in similar clues:
- Pronouns (each, all, none, every)
- Articles and determiners (both, either, neither)
- Descriptors that indicate quantity or totality
Short, everyday clues in the NYT Mini almost always lead to short, everyday answers.
The NYT Mini Crossword clue “this one and that one” has one answer: BOTH. Four letters, simple logic, and a clue style that the Mini returns to regularly. Next time a clue sounds like something you would say at a dinner table rather than read in a dictionary, trust that instinct — the Mini is usually asking for exactly that word.
