Okay so yesterday (August 27th) I’m doing my usual morning routine – coffee, check Instagram, do the NYT Mini crossword – and I hit this clue that just… broke my brain for a hot second.
“Reverse dunk?”
I’m sitting there like an idiot going “reverse dunk… reverse dunk… is this some basketball move I don’t know about?” Because honestly, my sports knowledge is pretty much limited to knowing that touchdowns are good and home runs are also good, so I figured maybe there’s some fancy basketball technique called a reverse dunk that I’m too uncool to know about.
But then I realized – wait, this is a CROSSWORD. They’re not asking me about sports. They want me to literally reverse the word “dunk.”
KNUD.
I felt so dumb and so smart at the same time, you know? Like, of course that’s what they meant, but also WHO THINKS OF THESE THINGS??
The Mini Crossword is Evil Genius Stuff
If you’ve never done the NYT Mini, it’s this tiny 5×5 crossword that’s supposed to take like 2-3 minutes max. Sounds easy right? WRONG. These puzzle makers are diabolical. Since they only have 25 squares to work with, every single clue has to be either super straightforward or incredibly sneaky. There’s no middle ground.
And they LOVE their wordplay. Like, they’re obsessed with it. Puns, reversals, double meanings – if there’s a way to make you think sideways instead of straight, they’ll do it.
I’ve been doing these for probably 6 months now and I swear they’ve made me both smarter and more paranoid. Now when I see any clue I’m like “okay but what’s the TRICK though?”
How I Finally Started Recognizing These Reversal Clues
After getting burned by clues like this probably a dozen times, I finally started picking up on the pattern. If you see words like:
- Reverse
- Flip
- Backwards
- Turn around
- Or honestly anything that sounds like movement or direction
There’s a good chance they want you to mess with the letters somehow instead of just thinking of a normal definition.
Last week there was one that was like “Flip phone?” and I immediately knew they didn’t want me to think about actual flip phones (RIP to those ancient artifacts). They wanted me to spell “phone” backwards. Which is… “enohp”… wait that doesn’t look right. Hmm, maybe that wasn’t the exact clue but you get the idea.
The point is, once you start looking for these signal words, you catch on way faster.
Why This One Blew Up
So apparently I wasn’t the only one who got stumped by “reverse dunk” because it was literally trending on Google yesterday. Which is both hilarious and makes me feel better about myself.
I think people love these clues because they’re the perfect combination of “ugh I’m an idiot” and “wait I’m actually brilliant” all at once. Plus they’re super shareable – everyone wants to be the person who posts the tricky clue and watches their friends struggle with it.
My sister texted me a screenshot of it around noon like “WHAT IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN” and I got to be all smug and explain it to her. Felt good, not gonna lie.
Other Sneaky Tricks They Pull
The reversal thing is just one weapon in their arsenal of making us feel dumb. Here are some other patterns I’ve noticed:
Letter swaps – Sometimes they’ll give you a clue that’s like one letter off from the real answer, and you have to figure out what to change.
Double meanings – Oh these are the WORST. They’ll use a word that could mean two completely different things and you have to guess which one they want.
Abbreviation nonsense – They love making you think about how words get shortened. Like if the answer is “DR” they might clue it as “Medical professional, briefly” or something.
Pop culture references that make me feel old – Last month there was some TikTok reference that completely whooshed over my head. I had to ask my younger cousin what it meant. Embarrassing.
My Daily Mini Routine (Yes I Have One Now)
I’ve gotten weirdly addicted to these things. Every morning:
- Open the app with my coffee
- Read all the clues first to see if any look obviously tricky
- Fill in the easy ones
- Stare at the hard ones until my brain hurts
- Either have a lightbulb moment or give up and check the answers
- Feel either very smart or very dumb
- Immediately forget everything and repeat tomorrow
The fastest I’ve ever finished one was like 47 seconds, which made me feel like a crossword GOD for approximately 5 minutes until I realized that probably isn’t even that impressive to real puzzle people.
My slowest was… well, let’s not talk about that. There was one about classical music that might as well have been written in ancient Greek.
Some Random Observations
- Thursday and Friday Minis seem to be the trickiest (or maybe I’m just tired by then)
- They really like food clues for some reason
- Pop culture references are hit or miss depending on your generation
- Sometimes the theme becomes obvious halfway through and then everything clicks
- Other times there’s no theme and it’s just chaos
The comment sections on these puzzles are honestly entertaining too. You’ll see people either bragging about their solve times or completely losing their minds over a clue that stumped them. Very relatable content.
If You Get Stuck (We All Do)
Don’t feel bad about looking stuff up! I definitely Google clues sometimes, especially if it’s some obscure reference I have zero chance of knowing. There are tons of sites that post the answers and explanations every day.
My personal strategy is to give myself like 5 minutes to struggle with it, and if I’m really stuck, I’ll peek at a hint. Life’s too short to spend 20 minutes staring at “Obscure 1970s prog rock band” or whatever.
Plus, seeing the explanation usually teaches me something for next time. Like now I know that any time I see “reverse” in a clue, my brain immediately goes to “okay what word needs to be spelled backwards here?”
Final Thoughts
These Mini crosswords are weird little brain teasers that somehow became part of my daily routine without me really noticing. They’re frustrating and satisfying in equal measure, which I guess is the point.
And honestly? Getting stumped by “reverse dunk” and then figuring it out was probably the highlight of my Tuesday. Which says something about either how clever the clue was or how boring my life is, but let’s go with the first one.
Anyone else get completely thrown by this clue or was I the only one having basketball thoughts at 7 AM? Please tell me I wasn’t alone in this…