Why Crosswords Get Harder Through the Week
If a Monday puzzle feels breezy and a Saturday feels brutal, that’s entirely by design. Most major American crosswords — the Wall Street Journal included — deliberately ramp up difficulty as the week goes on, so solvers of every level have a day that fits them.
What actually changes
The grid size usually stays the same; the cluing is what gets harder. Early in the week, clues are direct and definitions are plain. Later, constructors lean on puns, misdirection, trickier trivia, and clues with question marks that signal wordplay — the kind we unpack in how to solve the WSJ Crossword.
The WSJ week, day by day
- Monday–Tuesday: the friendliest grids — ideal for newer solvers.
- Wednesday–Thursday: trickier themes and more playful cluing.
- Friday: the celebrated WSJ contest crossword, which hides a second “meta” puzzle inside the grid.
- Saturday: the largest, most demanding grid of the week.
Note that the WSJ publishes six days a week, Monday to Saturday — there’s no Sunday edition. If you’re building skills, start early in the week and move later as you get comfortable. And whenever a late-week clue stumps you, our home page has every day’s WSJ answers, while 10 tips to solve faster will help you keep pace as the week sharpens.
Frequently Asked Questions
What day has the easiest crossword?
Monday. Early-week puzzles use the most direct cluing, which makes them the best entry point for newer solvers.
Does the WSJ have a Sunday crossword?
No. The Wall Street Journal Crossword runs Monday through Saturday, with the contest meta on Friday and the biggest grid on Saturday.
