After crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “After” are LATER, FOUND or TARDY, with 5 letters. Below are 37 answers from 3 to 13 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

Have some letters? Use the crossword solver

The best answers, explained

AFT 3 letters · adjective

(nautical, aeronautical) situated at or toward the stern or tail

LATE 4 letters · adjective

being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time “late evening”

LATER 5 letters · adverb

happening at a time subsequent to a reference time “he's going to the store but he'll be back here later”

GUIDED 6 letters · adjective

subject to guidance or control especially after launching “a guided missile”

POSTWAR 7 letters · adjective

belonging to the period after a war “postwar resettlement”

UNGUIDED 8 letters · adjective

not subject to guidance or control after launching “unguided missiles”

RECOVERED 9 letters · adjective

found after being lost

RECOVERING 10 letters · adjective

returning to health after illness or debility

CONSECUTIVE 11 letters · adjective

one after the other

SUBSEQUENTLY 12 letters · adverb

happening at a time subsequent to a reference time “he apologized subsequently”

RETROACTIVELY 13 letters · adverb

after the fact “he will get paid retroactively”

Telling them apart

With 5 squares, LATER, FOUND and TARDY all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: L → LATER · F → FOUND · T → TARDY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 3 squares, AFT, YET and NET all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: A → AFT · Y → YET · N → NET. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 9 squares, RECOVERED, PRACTICED, TWENTIETH, SIXTEENTH, PRACTISED and THROWAWAY all fit. The seventh letter tells them all apart: R → RECOVERED · C → PRACTICED · E → TWENTIETH · N → SIXTEENTH · S → PRACTISED · W → THROWAWAY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “afters” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “after” means

• adverb: happening at a time subsequent to a reference time (“it didn't happen until afterward”)
• adverb: behind or in the rear (“and Jill came tumbling after”)
• adjective: located farther aft

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as AFTER, and words whose definition is AFTER. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.