Crossclimb · No. 868 · Tuesday edition
LinkedIn Crossclimb #868 Answer (Sep 15, 2026)
Top & bottom: The top + bottom rows = A compound word meaning to go on some adventurous travel with just a bag over your shoulders. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom.
- Top rung
- Outside covering of a tree
- Songbird whose name completes the phrase “on a ___”, meaning to do something impulsively or just for fun
- Shortage or absence of something
- Short taste, as of a lollipop
- Choose between a few options
- Bottom rung
Hint: Solve the middle clues first; neighboring words differ by exactly one letter.
Show Crossclimb #868 answer as text
- The top + bottom rows = A compound word meaning to go on some adventurous travel with just a bag over your shoulders. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → BACK
- Outside covering of a tree → BARK
- Songbird whose name completes the phrase “on a ___”, meaning to do something impulsively or just for fun → LARK
- Shortage or absence of something → LACK
- Short taste, as of a lollipop → LICK
- Choose between a few options → PICK
- The top + bottom rows = A compound word meaning to go on some adventurous travel with just a bag over your shoulders. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → PACK
About Crossclimb #868
- Crossclimb #868 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: "Choose between a few options"; "Outside covering of a tree"; "Short taste, as of a lollipop"; "Shortage or absence of something"; "Songbird whose name completes the phrase 'on a ___', meaning to do something impulsively or just for fun".
- The shortest, "Choose between a few options", runs 5 words against 18 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.