Crossclimb · No. 829 · Friday edition
LinkedIn Crossclimb #829 Answer (Aug 7, 2026)
Top & bottom: The top + bottom rows = Two words with opposite meanings that often appear together idiomatically, as in the sentence “The opportunity has ___ and ___.” Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom.
- Top rung
- A system to encrypt words to send a secret message
- The most frequently appearing value in a data set
- Burrowing animal, or a unit of measurement in chemistry
- Something that can be dug in the ground
- Sharpen, as one’s skills
- Bottom rung
Hint: Solve the middle clues first; neighboring words differ by exactly one letter.
Show Crossclimb #829 answer as text
- The top + bottom rows = Two words with opposite meanings that often appear together idiomatically, as in the sentence “The opportunity has ___ and ___.” Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → COME
- A system to encrypt words to send a secret message → CODE
- The most frequently appearing value in a data set → MODE
- Burrowing animal, or a unit of measurement in chemistry → MOLE
- Something that can be dug in the ground → HOLE
- Sharpen, as one’s skills → HONE
- The top + bottom rows = Two words with opposite meanings that often appear together idiomatically, as in the sentence “The opportunity has ___ and ___.” Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → GONE
About Crossclimb #829
- Crossclimb #829 is a ladder of 7 4-letter words, each one letter away from the next.
- Listed alphabetically rather than in ladder order, the five middle clues are: "A system to encrypt words to send a secret message"; "Burrowing animal, or a unit of measurement in chemistry"; "Sharpen, as one’s skills"; "Something that can be dug in the ground"; "The most frequently appearing value in a data set".
- The shortest, "Sharpen, as one’s skills", runs four words against ten for the longest.
- Two add a qualifier after a comma, and clues like that are usually the fastest to pin down.
- Settle the middle five before touching the top and bottom rungs: those two share one combined clue that opens only once the middle is in ladder order.