Public crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Public” are WORLD, OVERT or PLACE, with 5 letters. Below are 92 answers from 4 to 13 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

OPEN 4 letters · noun

information that has become public “all the reports were out in the open”

WORLD 5 letters · noun

people in general considered as a whole

COMMON 6 letters · adjective

belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public “for the common good”

SERVICE 7 letters · noun

the act of public worship following prescribed rules “the Sunday service”

NATIONAL 8 letters · adjective

owned or maintained for the public by the national government “national parks”

CANDIDATE 9 letters · noun

a politician who is running for public office

APPEARANCE 10 letters · noun

the act of appearing in public view “the rookie made a brief appearance in the first period”

ADVERTISING 11 letters · noun

a public promotion of some product or service

UNRESTRICTED 12 letters · adjective

not subject to or subjected to restriction

ACCOMMODATION 13 letters · noun

living quarters provided for public convenience “the nearby hotel offers overnight accommodation”

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, OPEN, HIGH, TALK, BILL, SIGN and FAME all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: O → OPEN · H → HIGH · T → TALK · B → BILL · S → SIGN · F → FAME. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, WORLD, OVERT, PLACE, LIGHT, PEACE and FORUM all fit. The first letter settles most of it: W → WORLD · O → OVERT · P → PLACE, PEACE · L → LIGHT · F → FORUM. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 6 squares, COMMON, CHURCH, CLOSED, READER, CASINO and STROLL all fit. The second letter tells them all apart: O → COMMON · H → CHURCH · L → CLOSED · E → READER · A → CASINO · T → STROLL. 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: “publics” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “public” means

• adjective: not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole (“the public good”)
• adjective: affecting the people or community as a whole (“the public welfare”)
• noun: people in general considered as a whole (“he is a hero in the eyes of the public”)
• noun: a body of people sharing some common interest (“the reading public”)

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