Crossclimb · No. 870 · Thursday edition
LinkedIn Crossclimb #870 Answer (Sep 17, 2026)
Top & bottom: The top + bottom rows = Two words that complete the idiom “a ___ and ___ rule” meaning something that is fixed and cannot easily be changed. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom.
- Top rung
- Gathering or celebration (often used as a suffix, as after Oktober)
- Impressive achievement requiring a fair amount of skill
- Make warm
- “Hit the nail on the ___”
- Group of cattle
- Bottom rung
Hint: Solve the middle clues first; neighboring words differ by exactly one letter.
Show Crossclimb #870 answer as text
- The top + bottom rows = Two words that complete the idiom “a ___ and ___ rule” meaning something that is fixed and cannot easily be changed. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → FAST
- Gathering or celebration (often used as a suffix, as after Oktober) → FEST
- Impressive achievement requiring a fair amount of skill → FEAT
- Make warm → HEAT
- “Hit the nail on the ___” → HEAD
- Group of cattle → HERD
- The top + bottom rows = Two words that complete the idiom “a ___ and ___ rule” meaning something that is fixed and cannot easily be changed. Keep in mind: The first word may be at the bottom. → HARD
About Crossclimb #870
- Crossclimb #870 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: "Gathering or celebration (often used as a suffix, as after Oktober)"; "Group of cattle"; "Impressive achievement requiring a fair amount of skill"; "Make warm"; "'Hit the nail on the ___'".
- The shortest, "Make warm", runs 2 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.