Answers for today's NYT Mini Crossword are just ahead.New York TimesIn case you missed Sundays NYT Mini, you can find the answers here:Wondering what an important feature of the sentence "I like cooking, family and friends" might be? Not sure what the original color of peanut M&Ms was? Dont worry, because I'm here to help you with the answers for today's NYT Mini crossword.The NYT Mini is a quick and dirty version of the newspaper's larger and long-running crossword. Most days, there are between three and five clues in each direction on a five by five grid, but the puzzles are sometimes larger, especially on Saturdays.Unlike its larger sibling, the NYT Mini crossword is free to play on the New York Times website or NYT Games app. However, youll need an NYT Games subscription to access previous puzzles in the archives.MORE FOR YOUTo help you avoid getting stuck and having to reveal missing letters, here are the NYT Mini Crossword answers for Monday, December 16 (spoilers lie ahead, of course):NYT Mini Crossword Clues And AnswersNYT Mini Across Answers1 Across: Petting zoo animal GOAT5 Across: Important feature of the sentence "I like cooking, family and friends" COMMA6 Across: Labor alliance UNION7 Across: "All ___ are off!" BETS8 Across: Triage centers, for short ERSNYT Mini Down Answers1 Down: One who's doomed to fail GONER2 Down: Leaves out OMITS3 Down: "Famous" cookie maker AMOS4 Down: Original color of peanut M&Ms, introduced in 1954 TAN5 Down: Rubik's ___ CUBECompleted New York Times Mini crossword for December 15.New York TimesIt took me 0:40 to complete today's NYT Mini.I didnt get GOAT immediately, and spent too long thinking about it before moving on. Everything else was plain sailing except for OMOS, which I didnt know because we dont get those where I live. Pretty fun game though.Make sure to follow my blog for more coverage of the NYT Mini and other word games, as well as video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Also, follow me on Bluesky! Its fun there.