Subscribers can play the Midi on The New York Times Games app, and the web at nytimes.com/crosswords.

Subscribers can also solve past daily Midi Crossword puzzles in The New York Times Crossword Archive—available on the web and in the Games app.

Each daily Midi is available for players the evening before the puzzle’s publish date. 

• Tuesday through Saturday puzzles are available at 10 p.m. E.T. the previous day.
• Sunday and Monday puzzles are available at 6 p.m. EST the previous day.
• To receive alerts on your device when the newest daily puzzle is available, you can enable push notifications in the Games app Settings. 
• If you previously rejected push notifications but want to re-enable them for the Midi, navigate to the Games app in your device settings and turn on Notifications. 

The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases that cross each other, by solving clues in the Across and Down columns which lead to the answers.

How do I know if I’ve successfully solved the puzzle? 

• When you solve the puzzle correctly, music will play and a congratulatory message will appear on the screen. 
• If the board is completely filled in and you don’t receive a message, this means there is at least one incorrectly filled square. 

Completion of the Midi is represented with a blue star; the Midi Crossword does not have a streak feature at this time.

Keyboard Shortcuts 

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts to play the Midi on a computer:  

• Arrow keys -  change direction within the same square, move in the direction of the arrow, jump back to the first blank in the word, or jump to the next clue. 
• Spacebar - clear the current square and advance, toggle between Across and Down. 
• Backspace (Delete on Macs) - remove words or a letter from a word. 
• Tab key - Jump to the next clue
• Shift + Tab keys - Jump to the previous clue
• Escape - Enter Rebus mode

Pen and Pencil Modes

When playing the Midi, you can alternate between pen and pencil modes. For both app and online, select the pencil icon to switch from one mode to the other.  

• Letters entered in the default pen mode are black, while letters entered in pencil mode are gray.
• Select the pencil icon (so it’s highlighted) to solve in pencil mode.
• Deselect the pencil icon to return to the default pen mode.

Letter Colors in the Midi 

The letter colors that appear in the Midi indicate the following:

• Black - Letters entered in the default pen mode.
• Gray - Letters entered in pencil mode.
• Blue - Letters that have been confirmed with Check.

How the Midi Timer Works 

You can time how long it takes to solve a puzzle using the timer, which displays above the puzzle. 

• Pause the time by selecting the pause button or leaving the puzzle. 
• Select the Continue button to resume puzzle play and start the timer again. 
• The timer will restart if the entire puzzle is cleared.
• To hide the timer, navigate to the Puzzle settings (gear icon) at the top of the puzzle and turn off the Show Timer option.

The New York Times offers many resources to help you solve puzzles and get better at solving puzzles.

In Game Help:

If you are stuck on a word, select the lifesaver icon at the top of the puzzle to check or reveal a square, an answer, or the entire puzzle:

• Clear - Clear the entire puzzle to start again.
• Reveal - Reveal the correct letters for a square, an answer, or the entire puzzle.
• Check - Checks a square, word, or the entire puzzle. You can also turn on Autocheck, which will automatically check each square as you input a letter or word into the puzzle.

If you are experiencing technical issues with the Games app, visit Mobile App Troubleshooting in the Help Center.

If you still have questions or are encountering any issues or have feedback, you can Report a Bug in your settings by selecting the gear icon.