Evening Standard Easy Crossword Answers
Pick today's puzzle to see the full solved grid, or browse the past week with one tap. Every Easy crossword answer the Evening Standard has ever published, kept in a clean searchable archive.
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Today's puzzleThe last 7 Easy crosswords
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About the Evening Standard Easy crossword
The Evening Standard Easy crossword is published every weekday morning by London's flagship free newspaper. It sits squarely between the breezy Quick and the head-scratching Cryptic on the difficulty ladder — a gentle introduction to British wordplay for new solvers, and a comfortable five-to-fifteen-minute morning routine for veterans.
The grid is a standard 13×13 square with around 19 across clues and 23 down clues. Definitions are dictionary-clean, with the occasional light wordplay nudge — a simple anagram, a hidden word, a homophone — but nothing approaching the full apparatus of a Times cryptic. Most days you'll spot the trick on the first read.
If you've been steadily solving the Quick and feel ready to start spotting wordplay, the Easy is the gateway. It will introduce you to anagram indicators, double definitions and a handful of crossword conventions without throwing you in at the deep end. Once it stops feeling like a struggle, the Cryptic is the next step up.
Standard Crosswords keeps a complete daily archive of every Easy puzzle the Evening Standard has published, from 2018 to today. You can browse by date or look up a stubborn clue with our search to read the breakdown on any individual answer page.
How to solve the Easy crossword
Four habits that turn an Easy crossword from a coffee-companion into a five-minute speedrun.
Start with the shortest answers
Three- and four-letter words have far fewer plausible options than longer ones. Knocking them out first gives you crossing letters that unlock the longer clues with much less guesswork.
Spot the wordplay indicator
Words like perhaps, oddly, in part and back are hints that wordplay is involved. Oddly usually means odd-numbered letters; back means reverse; in part usually means hidden inside the clue.
Read the enumeration
The number in brackets tells you the answer length. A clue with (3,4) is a two-word answer of three then four letters — often a familiar phrase like “old age” or “let go”.
Cross-check both directions
Unsure of an answer? See what letters it would force on intersecting clues. If those letters make sense in those clues too, you've almost certainly got it right.
Frequently asked questions
What time is the Evening Standard Easy crossword published?
The Evening Standard publishes a fresh Easy crossword every weekday morning, typically online by 06:00 UK time. Our mirror lifts the puzzle and posts the full answers around 01:22 UK time the following morning, so you can always find yesterday's solutions before the day even starts.
Is the Easy crossword the same as the Quick?
No — they sit at different rungs of the difficulty ladder. The Quick uses pure dictionary definitions and is built for solving in a few minutes. The Easy mixes definitions with light wordplay — simple anagrams, hidden words, the occasional homophone — making it the recommended bridge between the Quick and the full Cryptic.
How big is the grid?
The Evening Standard Easy crossword is a standard 13×13 British-style grid with around 42 clues per puzzle (19 across and 23 down, give or take). It's slightly smaller than the daily Cryptic but with the same broadsheet feel.
Are answers from previous days available?
Yes. Standard Crosswords keeps a complete archive of every Easy crossword going back to early 2018. You'll find the last seven days on this page as quick links, and the full archive is searchable by clue text — type a clue you've seen before and we'll surface the answer instantly.
Can I solve the Easy crossword for free?
Yes, completely free. The Evening Standard itself publishes the puzzle without a paywall, and Standard Crosswords mirrors the daily answers with no account, no signup and no ads-on-content. There's no subscription, ever.
What's the difference between the Easy and the Cryptic crossword?
The Easy mostly uses dictionary definitions with a sprinkle of wordplay. The Cryptic uses the full British cryptic toolkit: every clue contains both a straight definition and a wordplay route to the same answer (anagrams, charades, hidden words, container clues, double definitions). Cryptics take longer, reward more, and the conventions need learning. The Easy is the perfect place to start picking them up.
What if my answer fits the grid but doesn't match the clue?
Crossword setters often re-use the same answer with different clue wording across the years. If the letters fit and you've cross-checked the intersecting clues, you've almost certainly got the right answer — the clue wording is just one of many possible angles. Our individual clue pages show every other clue that has used the same answer, which can help confirm the trick.