Play crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Play” are WORK, TURN or MEET, with 4 letters. Below are 84 answers from 3 to 14 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

ACT 3 letters · verb

play a role or part “She wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role”

WORK 4 letters · verb

cause to happen or to occur as a consequence “I cannot work a miracle”

BRING 5 letters · verb

cause to happen or to occur as a consequence “bring comments”

GAMING 6 letters · noun

the act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize)

SHIMMER 7 letters · noun

a weak and tremulous light “the shimmer of colors on iridescent feathers”

GAMBLING 8 letters · noun

the act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize) “his gambling cost him a fortune”

REPRESENT 9 letters · verb

play a role or part

THEATRICAL 10 letters · noun

a performance of a play

QUARTERBACK 11 letters · noun

(American football) the position of the football player in the backfield who directs the offensive play of their team “quarterback is the most important position on the team”

MODERNIZATION 13 letters · noun

a modernized version (as of a play)

REPRESENTATION 14 letters · noun

a performance of a play

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, WORK, TURN, MEET, ROMP, CAST and BLOW all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: W → WORK · T → TURN · M → MEET · R → ROMP · C → CAST · B → BLOW. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, BRING, SPORT, DRAMA, FLIRT, WAGER and WREAK all fit. The first letter settles most of it: B → BRING · S → SPORT · D → DRAMA · F → FLIRT · W → WAGER, WREAK. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 3 squares, ACT, FUN, BET, BID, TOY and END all fit. The second letter tells them all apart: C → ACT · U → FUN · E → BET · I → BID · O → TOY · N → END. 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: “played” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “play” means

• verb: participate in games or sport (“We played hockey all afternoon”)
• verb: act or have an effect in a specified way or with a specific effect or outcome (“This factor played only a minor part in his decision”)
• verb: play on an instrument (“The band played all night long”)
• verb: play a role or part (“Gielgud played Hamlet”)

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