Crossclimb · No. 866 · Sunday edition
LinkedIn Crossclimb #866 Answer (Sep 13, 2026)
Top & bottom: The top + bottom rows = A place to live, and a piece of furniture often found in it. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom.
- Top rung
- Awaken, or stir to action
- Cosmetics purchase for the cheeks
- ___ and tumble (turbulent)
- Hard to chew, like low-quality meat
- Affect one's heartstrings
- Bottom rung
Hint: Solve the middle clues first; neighboring words differ by exactly one letter.
Show Crossclimb #866 answer as text
- The top + bottom rows = A place to live, and a piece of furniture often found in it. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → HOUSE
- Awaken, or stir to action → ROUSE
- Cosmetics purchase for the cheeks → ROUGE
- ___ and tumble (turbulent) → ROUGH
- Hard to chew, like low-quality meat → TOUGH
- Affect one's heartstrings → TOUCH
- The top + bottom rows = A place to live, and a piece of furniture often found in it. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → COUCH
About Crossclimb #866
- Crossclimb #866 is a ladder of 7 5-letter words, each one letter away from the next.
- Listed alphabetically rather than in ladder order, the five middle clues are: "Affect one's heartstrings"; "Awaken, or stir to action"; "Cosmetics purchase for the cheeks"; "Hard to chew, like low-quality meat"; "___ and tumble (turbulent)".
- The shortest, "Affect one's heartstrings", runs three words against six 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.