Saturday puzzles are always the ones that make you question your entire vocabulary. The New York Times Mini Crossword for February 7 doesn’t disappoint in that department, throwing some genuinely tricky clues your way while you’re probably nursing your morning coffee.
The standout here is definitely the DANTE clue. If you’ve been sleeping through literature class or just never got around to reading The Divine Comedy, you might have struggled with this one. The Italian author penned three massive works that basically map out the afterlife in excruciating detail. Heavy stuff for a Saturday morning puzzle.
When Your Brain Needs a Warm-Up
Look, we’ve all been there. You open up the Mini Crossword expecting a quick mental workout and suddenly you’re staring at “cerebral ___” wondering if you ever actually learned anatomy. CORTEX is one of those words that lives somewhere in your brain but refuses to come forward when summoned. It’s the part of your brain responsible for thinking, which makes it extra ironic when you can’t remember it.
The RUNAWAY clue is pretty clever actually. The image of someone stuffing clothes into a pillowcase and sneaking out in the middle of the night feels very young adult novel, very dramatic teenage years. It’s the kind of visual clue that makes crosswords more interesting than just raw vocabulary tests.
The INTWOS Revelation
Here’s where Saturday puzzles get sneaky. The Noah’s Ark reference throws you into biblical territory, which isn’t everyone’s strong suit. But once you remember the whole “two by two” thing, INTWOS clicks into place. These are the moments where crosswords feel less like Technology puzzles and more like memory archaeology.
CUMIN as the answer for Yotam Ottolenghi’s favorite spice is genuinely educational. If you’re not deep into the cooking world, this name might not ring bells. But Ottolenghi is a pretty big deal in food circles, and his obsession with cumin makes sense once you realize how versatile that spice really is. It shows up in everything from Mexican food to Middle Eastern dishes.
The Saturday Mini Crossword always feels like it’s testing whether you’ve been paying attention to culture beyond just your immediate bubble. Literature, anatomy, cooking, biblical references. It’s a weird mix that somehow works when you’re trying to fill in a grid before your second cup of coffee kicks in.
What’s interesting is how these puzzles have become part of daily routines for millions of people, turning what used to be a newspaper novelty into a news ritual that people genuinely look forward to. The Mini is short enough that you can’t use “no time” as an excuse, but challenging enough on Saturdays that finishing it feels like an actual accomplishment.
The beauty of crosswords is that they’re simultaneously completely useless and weirdly essential, teaching you random facts about Italian poets and celebrity chefs that you’ll probably never need but somehow make you feel just a bit more connected to the world around you.
