Crossclimb · No. 863 · Thursday edition
LinkedIn Crossclimb #863 Answer (Sep 10, 2026)
Top & bottom: The top + bottom rows = A type of flower and what you might put it in. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom.
- Top rung
- What you use to tie up a boat at a pier
- Ready to eat, like fruit
- Clean with a rag, as a pane of glass
- “A word to the ___” (helpful hint)
- Gripping tool with two jaws
- Bottom rung
Hint: Solve the middle clues first; neighboring words differ by exactly one letter.
Show Crossclimb #863 answer as text
- The top + bottom rows = A type of flower and what you might put it in. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → ROSE
- What you use to tie up a boat at a pier → ROPE
- Ready to eat, like fruit → RIPE
- Clean with a rag, as a pane of glass → WIPE
- “A word to the ___” (helpful hint) → WISE
- Gripping tool with two jaws → VISE
- The top + bottom rows = A type of flower and what you might put it in. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → VASE
About Crossclimb #863
- Crossclimb #863 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: "Clean with a rag, as a pane of glass"; "Gripping tool with two jaws"; "Ready to eat, like fruit"; "What you use to tie up a boat at a pier"; "'A word to the ___' (helpful hint)".
- The shortest, "Gripping tool with two jaws", runs 5 words against 11 for the longest.
- One is a fill-in-the-blank and one adds 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.