Crossword puzzles are a weird psychological game. You’re sitting there, coffee getting cold, staring at five empty white boxes that represent an easily defended crossword clue. Your brain starts cycling through military terminology or maybe legal jargon. You think of "forts" or "pleas." But then the "aha" moment hits, and it's usually something much more literal and frustratingly simple than you expected.
It happens to the best of us.
The reality is that crossword construction is an art of misdirection. When a constructor throws a phrase like "easily defended" at you, they aren't always looking for a synonym for "impregnable." They might be looking for a specific type of sports play or a basic physical posture. This specific clue has popped up in the New York Times, the LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal, often leading to the same five-letter answer: TENABLE.
Why the answer is usually Tenable
If you've been stuck on this, the word you're likely looking for is TENABLE.
Basically, if a position or an argument is tenable, it can be maintained or defended against attack or objection. It comes from the French word tenir, meaning "to hold." In the world of competitive crosswords—think the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) where speed is everything—seasoned pros like Dan Feyer or Erik Agard recognize "tenable" almost instantly because of its vowel-heavy structure.
Constructors love it. T-E-N-A-B-L-E.
Those vowels (E, A, E) are like gold for filling in difficult corners of a grid. If you see "easily defended" and the word count is seven, TENABLE is your best bet. If the clue is looking for a four-letter word, you might be looking at SAFE or even SNUG. It all depends on the surrounding architecture of the puzzle.
The tricky logic of crossword misdirection
Sometimes "easily defended" isn't about logic or arguments at all. It’s a trap.
Think about sports. In a basketball context, an "easily defended" shot might be a LAYUP or a PLINK. In soccer, it could be a weak SHOT. If the constructor is feeling particularly nasty, they might use the clue to describe a specific chess opening or a military MOAT.
Will Shortz, the legendary NYT crossword editor, often talks about how a clue should be a "miniature mystery." If a clue is too direct, the puzzle is boring. If it’s too obscure, it’s unfair. The sweet spot is that moment where the solver feels slightly stupid for not seeing the answer sooner. "Tenable" is the perfect example of this. It's a word we all know but rarely use in casual conversation when talking about, say, a physical fortress. We use it for debates.
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"A position is tenable if you can stand your ground without looking like an idiot." — This is the informal rule most solvers use to check their work.
If you’re staring at a grid and "TENABLE" doesn't fit, start looking for synonyms that imply a lack of vulnerability. SECURE is a frequent flyer. STABLE works too. But usually, the "easily defended" crossword clue is testing your ability to pivot from a physical definition to a philosophical one.
The linguistics of defense in puzzles
Crosswords are obsessed with Latin roots.
The word "defended" itself is a goldmine for wordplay. It can mean "protected," but in a legal sense, it can mean "argued for." This is why you see words like UPHELD or AVOWED appearing in similar spaces. If you're working on a Friday or Saturday puzzle—the hardest days for the New York Times—the clues get even more cryptic. "Easily defended" might not be a description of the answer, but a definition of the answer's result.
For example, a CINCH is something easily done, and by extension, a position that is easily held.
Let's talk about the letter distribution. In English, some letters are just more "useful" than others. This is why you see the same words over and over again. Crossword enthusiasts call this "crosswordese." While "tenable" isn't strictly crosswordese (it’s a real, common-ish word), it’s on the border. It’s a "utility word." It helps the constructor connect a difficult "theme" word to the rest of the grid.
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How to solve this clue every time
You need a system. Don't just guess.
First, check the length. Five letters? Check for CLEAN or SOLID. Seven letters? It’s almost certainly TENABLE. Six letters? Look at SECURE.
Second, look at the "crosses." These are the words that intersect your target. If you have an 'A' and an 'E' in the second and fourth positions, you are 90% of the way to TENABLE. If the letters don't match, you need to shift your brain into "sports mode" or "legal mode."
Is the clue capitalized? If it's "Easily defended?" with a question mark, the question mark is a massive red flag. In crossword-speak, a question mark means there is a pun involved. "Easily defended?" might lead to something like MOATED or even a joke about a "de-fenced" yard.
Common variations of the "defended" clue
Constructors aren't original. They iterate. You'll see these variations often:
- Capable of being maintained: TENABLE.
- Like a strong argument: TENABLE.
- Defensible: TENABLE.
- In no danger: SAFE.
- Hard to attack: SECURE.
Notice a pattern? They all circle back to the same linguistic neighborhood. The trick is to stop thinking about a castle under siege and start thinking about a person winning an argument at a dinner table. That shift in perspective is usually what clears the mental block.
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The role of the "Seed Word"
In grid construction, a "seed word" is the long, flashy answer the constructor starts with—something like "SQUID GAMES" or "CARBON NEUTRAL." Everything else in the grid is built around that seed. Often, words like "tenable" are the "connectors." They aren't the stars of the show; they are the supporting actors that make the flashy words possible.
Because they are connectors, they tend to have very standard, dictionary-style clues. "Easily defended" is a textbook dictionary definition. When you see a clue like this, it’s a signal that the constructor was probably struggling to fill that section of the grid and reached for a reliable, solid word.
Understanding the Solver's Mindset
Sometimes the reason we can't find the answer is that we've over-prepared. We know too much. We’re looking for the name of a specific general or a type of medieval shield.
The best solvers—the people who finish the Saturday NYT in under seven minutes—treat clues like a data matching exercise. They don't think about the meaning of the word as much as they think about the shape of the word. They recognize that "Easily defended" is a high-frequency clue for a specific set of answers.
If you want to get better at this, stop trying to be a historian and start being a pattern recognizer. Look at the word as a collection of vowels and consonants first, and a meaning second.
Actionable steps for your next puzzle
To conquer the "easily defended" clue and others like it, change your workflow.
Stop staring at the clue. If you don't get it in ten seconds, move on. The "crosses" are your best friends. By filling in the words around it, you'll often find that the answer reveals itself through the process of elimination. If you have _ E _ A _ L E, your brain will fill in "Tenable" automatically, even if you weren't thinking about it.
Keep a "clue bank" in your head. Certain phrases always point to certain words. "Earthy pigment" is always OCHRE. "Japanese noodle" is always UDON or SOBA. "Easily defended" is your new trigger for TENABLE.
Use a pencil. It sounds simple, but the psychological freedom to be wrong allows your brain to experiment with words that "might" fit. If you write in "Tenable" and the cross-word starts with a 'Z', you know you're wrong. Rub it out and try "Secure."
Study the constructor. Every creator has a "voice." Some, like Brendan Emmett Quigley, love indie rock and modern slang. Others are more traditional. If you’re playing a puzzle by a classic constructor, lean toward the more formal, Latin-based answers like "Tenable."
Next time you hit a wall, remember that the puzzle isn't trying to outsmart you; it's trying to dance with you. "Easily defended" is just a step in that dance. Once you know the rhythm, you'll never get tripped up by those five or seven empty boxes again.
Check the vowels, look for the 'T', and move on to the next one.