You're staring at the grid. The black-and-white squares are mocking you. You’ve got a four-letter or maybe a six-letter gap, and the clue says strikes it rich crossword clue. It feels like it should be easy. I mean, how many ways can you say someone found a pile of cash? Plenty, as it turns out. Crossword constructors like Will Shortz or the team at the LA Times love these because they can pivot on a dime between literal mining terms and modern slang.
Most people get stuck because they're looking for a synonym for "wealthy." But crosswords don't always work in synonyms; they work in actions. If the clue is "Strikes it rich," the answer is usually a verb in the third person singular.
The Most Common Answers for Strikes It Rich
If you’re working on the New York Times crossword, the most frequent answer for this specific clue is CLEANS UP. It’s a classic. Think about a gambler at a Vegas table who just hit a heater. They aren't just winning; they are cleaning up. It fits that six-letter slot perfectly.
But wait. What if it’s five letters? Then you’re likely looking at HITS IT. Or maybe COINS.
Language is slippery. In older puzzles, you might see PANS OUT. This is a direct reference to gold prospecting. You’re literally shaking a pan in a riverbed hoping for a glimmer of yellow. If you "strike it rich," your efforts panned out. It’s a bit of a linguistic fossil, but it’s a staple in the puzzle world.
Why the Letter Count Changes Everything
Crosswords are a game of constraints. A three-letter answer for "strikes it rich" is almost certainly HAS. As in, "He has it all." It’s a weak answer, honestly, and usually used to fill a difficult corner where the constructor painted themselves into a wall.
Four letters? Look for MINT. As in "to mint money."
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Six letters? Aside from CLEANS UP, you might see SCORES. It's punchy. It’s common. It’s also a favorite for Monday or Tuesday puzzles because everyone knows it.
Seven letters starts to get interesting. CASHES IN is a heavy hitter here. You see this one a lot in the Wall Street Journal puzzles because it has a financial lean that fits their brand.
The Mining History Behind the Phrasing
We can't talk about striking it rich without talking about the 1849 Gold Rush. The phrase itself is deeply tied to the idea of physical impact. You strike the earth. You strike a vein of ore.
When a crossword constructor uses this clue, they are often playing with that literal history. HITS PAY DIRT is a massive 11-letter answer that shows up in Sunday puzzles. Pay dirt was the soil that actually contained enough gold to be worth the effort of washing. If you hit it, you were set.
Then there's STRIKES OIL. It’s a bit literal, isn't it? Sometimes the clue is a "hidden in plain sight" situation. If the clue is "Strikes it rich," and the answer is STRIKES OIL, you might feel cheated. It happens.
The Misdirection Trap
Crossword puzzles thrive on puns. If you see a question mark at the end of the clue—Strikes it rich?—everything changes. That little squiggle is a warning. It means the answer isn't what you think.
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Maybe the answer is REPS. Why? Because a "strike" could refer to a baseball player or a bowler. If a bowler "strikes it rich," maybe they’re just getting a high score. Or perhaps the answer is TENPINS.
You have to be careful. If you're too literal, you'll spend twenty minutes trying to fit "INHERITS" into a space that’s meant for a pun about a gold miner’s lucky day.
How to Solve This Clue Faster
Stop guessing words in a vacuum. Crosswords are about the "cross."
If you're stuck on the strikes it rich crossword clue, look at the intersecting down clues. If you have an 'L' and a 'P' in a seven-letter word, CLEANS UP becomes obvious. Without those anchors, you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall.
- Check the tense. "Strikes" ends in an 'S'. Usually, the answer will too. Look for HITS IT or COINS.
- Count the squares. This seems obvious, but people forget. A six-letter gap won't take MADE A KILLING.
- Look for the theme. Is the puzzle about money? Is it about mining? If the theme is "Labor Unions," then "strikes" might be a verb about a walkout, and "rich" might be a person's name.
Real Examples from Recent Puzzles
In a recent USA Today puzzle, the answer was HITS THE JACKPOT. That’s a long one, usually reserved for the "thematic" entries that run across the middle of the grid.
In a Universal crossword from last year, the answer was simply MADE IT. It’s generic. It’s almost frustratingly simple. But that’s the beauty of the game. The constructor wants to lead you toward complex financial terms so that when the answer is just two simple words, you're caught off guard.
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The Psychology of the "Aha!" Moment
There is a specific dopamine hit when you finally crack a clue like this. Expert solvers like Rex Parker or the folks over at Crossword Fiend talk about the "flow state." You get into the head of the person who wrote the puzzle.
You start to realize that "strikes" doesn't always mean "obtains." Sometimes it means "deletes." In some devious puzzles, if you "strike it," you're crossing something out. If you're "striking it rich," maybe you're deleting the word "rich" from a list? That's more of a cryptic crossword style, but the boundaries are blurring these days.
Most of the time, though, it’s about the money.
Modern Slang in New Grids
As younger constructors enter the fray, the vocabulary shifts. You might start seeing BAGS IT or GETS BREAD. While "gets bread" hasn't quite made it into the mainstream NYT grid as a synonym for striking it rich yet, it’s only a matter of time.
The New Yorker puzzles are famous for being "vibe-heavy." They use language that people actually speak. If you’re solving one of theirs, don't be surprised if the answer is something more colloquial than PROSPERS.
Actionable Tips for Your Next Puzzle
Don't let a blank grid frustrate you. It's just a box. Here is exactly what to do the next time you see this clue.
- Fill in the 'S'. If the clue is "Strikes it rich," the answer is almost certainly a third-person singular verb. Put an 'S' at the end of that word block immediately. It’s a 90% safe bet.
- Say it out loud. Sometimes your brain processes the sounds of words better than the sight. Say "Strikes it rich" and see what your mouth wants to say next. Often, "Cleans up" or "Hits it big" will just pop out.
- Use a pencil. Or if you’re digital, don't be afraid to delete. If HITS IT doesn't work because the 'H' doesn't fit the down clue, pivot to COINS immediately.
- Learn the constructors. If you see a puzzle by David Steinberg, expect something clever and maybe a bit modern. If it’s an older constructor, think more "prospector" and less "crypto bro."
- Check for pluralization. If the clue was "Strike it rich" (no 'S'), then the answer won't have an 'S' either. This is the golden rule of crosswords: the clue and the answer must always be the same part of speech and tense.
If you’ve read this far, you're probably deeper into a puzzle than you’d like to admit. Go back to your grid. Look at those intersecting letters again. Is there a 'C'? Is there an 'L'? If so, write in CLEANS UP and move on with your day. You’ve got a whole grid to finish, and the clock is ticking.