Left crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Left” are NEAR, PORT or NIGH, with 4 letters. Below are 29 answers from 3 to 12 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

ODD 3 letters · adjective

not used up “some odd dollars left”

NEAR 4 letters · adjective

being on the left side “the near or nigh horse is the one on the left”

VERSO 5 letters · noun

left-hand page

STRONG 6 letters · adjective

freshly made or left

LIBERAL 7 letters · adjective

showing or characterized by broad-mindedness “a liberal newspaper”

REMAINING 9 letters · adjective

not used up “saved the remaining sandwiches for supper”

SOCIALISTIC 11 letters · adjective

advocating or following the socialist principles “socialistic government”

COLLECTIVIST 12 letters · noun

a person who belongs to the political left

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, NEAR, PORT, NIGH, GOOD, AWAY and WARM all fit. The fourth letter tells them all apart: R → NEAR · T → PORT · H → NIGH · D → GOOD · Y → AWAY · M → WARM. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 6 squares, STRONG, MEDIAN, PARKED, MEDIAL and FALLOW all fit. The sixth letter tells them all apart: G → STRONG · N → MEDIAN · D → PARKED · L → MEDIAL · W → FALLOW. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 8 squares, LARBOARD, ISOLATED, OPTIONAL, STRANDED, SINISTER and MAROONED all fit. The first letter settles most of it: L → LARBOARD · I → ISOLATED · O → OPTIONAL · S → STRANDED, SINISTER · M → MAROONED. 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: “lefts” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “left” means

• noun: location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east (“she stood on the left”)
• noun: those who support varying degrees of social or political or economic change designed to promote the public welfare
• noun: the hand that is on the left side of the body (“jab with your left”)
• noun: the piece of ground in the outfield on the catcher's left (“the batter flied out to left”)

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 LEFT, and words whose definition is LEFT. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.