Quick Crossword (The Sydney Morning Herald)

About Quick Crossword (The Sydney Morning Herald)

The Quick is the straightforward partner to the Herald's daily cryptic, set for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Nine's Sydney and Melbourne papers. Each puzzle has a dated page, such as the one for Saturday 3 October 2026, and both papers show the same grid and clues. Setters are credited by initials: DA on 2 October and DS on 3 October.

The clues are short definitions with the answer length in brackets, for example Camera lens used for distant objects (9) or Pair of rhyming lines (7), and they carry a local flavour, such as SA resident (4-5). Multi-word answers show their word breaks, and the grid follows the British style with some unchecked squares.

Online, a timer starts when you press Start, and you can clear, check or reveal a letter, word or the whole puzzle. The SMH describes its crosswords as playable on the web, mobile and app as part of your digital subscription, and non-subscribers see a prompt to subscribe to unlock Daily Crosswords.

It suits subscribers who want a classic newspaper crossword without cryptic wordplay, and solvers working up to the cryptic.

How to play Quick Crossword (The Sydney Morning Herald)

1. Open the crosswords page on smh.com.au or theage.com.au, or the Herald app, and log in with a Premium Digital subscription.
2. Pick the Quick for today's date and press Start.
3. Click a clue or square and type; the numbers in brackets give the length and word breaks.
4. Use crossing answers to confirm letters, since some squares are unchecked.
5. Check or reveal a word if you get stuck.

Tips

• Expect Australian references and spellings, such as state abbreviations and local slang.
• Start with the short answers; they open up the long ones.
• Multi-word answers show their breaks, like (4-5), which narrows the options.
• When the Quick feels easy, move on to the same day's Cryptic.

Questions