Tell crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Tell” are CALL, JOKE or LEAK, with 4 letters. Below are 31 answers from 3 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

SAY 3 letters · verb

express in words

CALL 4 letters · verb

make a prediction about; tell in advance “Call the outcome of an election”

STATE 5 letters · verb

express in words “state your opinion”

ASSURE 6 letters · verb

inform positively and with certainty and confidence

RECOUNT 7 letters · verb

narrate or give a detailed account of

EVIDENCE 8 letters · verb

give evidence

VOLUNTEER 9 letters · verb

tell voluntarily “He volunteered the information”

ANTICIPATE 10 letters · verb

make a prediction about; tell in advance

DISTINGUISH 11 letters · verb

mark as different “We distinguish several kinds of maple”

DIFFERENTIATE 13 letters · verb

mark as different

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, CALL, JOKE, LEAK, YARN and JEST all fit. The third letter tells them all apart: L → CALL · K → JOKE · A → LEAK · R → YARN · S → JEST. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, STATE, ORDER, CRACK and RUMOR all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: S → STATE · O → ORDER · C → CRACK · R → RUMOR. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 3 squares, SAY, KID, LIE and FIB all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: S → SAY · K → KID · L → LIE · F → FIB. 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: “telling” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “tell” means

• verb: express in words (“tell me what is bothering you”)
• verb: let something be known (“Tell them that you will be late”)
• verb: narrate or give a detailed account of (“Tell what happened”)
• verb: give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority

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