Five minutes.
Few clues.
One very Indian
crossword

A mini daily ritual of Bollywood, cricket, Hinglish and 90s nostalgia. Handmade by Mangesh, solved over chai by thousands — from Mumbai to Miami.

Try me
Warm-up mini
Sat · August 15, 2026
00:00
1-Across SRK's surname, which also means "ruler" in Hindi
0/17 filled

What is the MG Mini crossword?

Questions
solvers ask

What is MG Mini?

MG Mini is a daily Indian mini crossword — a 5×5 grid that takes about five minutes to solve. The clues are written with an Indian sensibility: Bollywood, cricket, Hinglish and 90s nostalgia, rather than the American references most crossword solvers are used to. Play today’s mini.

Who makes the MG Mini crossword?

Every MG Mini is handmade by Mangesh Ghogre, an Indian crossword constructor published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times, and a recipient of the US Einstein Visa for his work on crosswords. There is no puzzle-generating software behind the grids. More about Mangesh.

When does a new puzzle come out?

A new MG Mini goes live every day of the week at 05:30 IST (00:00 UTC). Past puzzles stay available in the archive, which now holds more than 1,000 minis, midis and megas.

Is MG Mini free to play?

Yes — a rotating set of puzzles in the archive is always free to play, with no subscription. New accounts also get 30 days of full access free. After that, the daily puzzle needs a Standard subscription and the complete archive needs Premium — see the plans.

Do I need an account to solve?

An account is what keeps your solve times, streaks and leaderboard place, so solving is tied to one. The MG Wordbook is the exception: it is free to browse without an account.

What else comes with MG Mini?

Alongside the daily mini crossword, an MG Mini account includes SudoKa (a daily sudoku), the full archive of 1,000+ puzzles, daily leaderboards and streaks, and the MG Wordbook — a reference for the English spellings, native scripts and pronunciations of Indian and Hinglish words.

Are Indian crosswords different from American ones?

The grid mechanics are the same as an American-style crossword — interlocking across and down entries, every letter checked — but the vocabulary and the wordplay are Indian. Answers lean on Hindi and Hinglish words, Bollywood, cricket and Indian food and festivals. How to solve Indian crosswords.

More on subscriptions, pricing and accounts in the full FAQ.