You’re sitting there with a coffee, pen hovering, and you hit it. That one empty spot in the grid. The clue just says "Ghost," and suddenly, your brain feels like it’s been wiped clean. It happens to the best of us. Whether you’re a New York Times Sunday devotee or a casual LA Times solver, the ghost crossword puzzle clue is one of those classic traps. It’s too short. It’s too vague. It’s honestly kind of annoying because it could mean a dozen different things depending on how many squares you have to fill.
Crossword constructors—the people like Will Shortz or Brendan Emmett Quigley who actually build these devious grids—love words like "ghost" because they are versatile. They can be nouns, verbs, or even adjectives. You might be looking for a spooky spirit, or you might be looking for a verb that describes what your last Tinder date did to you.
The Most Common Answers for a Ghost Crossword Puzzle Clue
Let’s get the basics out of the way. If you have a three-letter word, you’re almost certainly looking for APP. Wait, why? Because of "Ghost in the machine" or perhaps a specific tech reference? Actually, no. Usually, three letters for "Ghost" is SPO. No, that’s not right either. It’s BOO.
Just kidding. It’s usually PHO. As in "Phantasm," but shortened? Rarely.
Honestly, the most common three-letter answer is actually BOO, but that’s usually clued as "Ghost’s cry." If the clue is just "Ghost," and you have three letters, look at the surrounding words again. You might be looking for HUE, as in a ghost of a color. See how tricky this gets?
If you have four letters, the world opens up. SPEC or SPET? No. You’re looking for SPECTER or SPECTRE, but those are seven letters. For four, it’s almost always SHAD (short for shadow) or HOST. But let’s be real: the heavy hitter here is SPOOK. It’s a classic. It’s punchy. It fits the vibe.
Why the Length Changes Everything
A five-letter answer is frequently SHADE. This comes from classical literature. Think Virgil or Dante. In the Aeneid, spirits aren't just "ghosts"; they are shades inhabiting the underworld. If you’re doing a British cryptic crossword, they might even use WRAITH.
Six letters? PHANTOM. It’s the "Opera" one. It’s the "Menace" one.
Then you get into the weird stuff. If the clue is "Ghost" and the answer is TRACE, the constructor is playing with definitions. A "ghost of a smile" is a trace. It’s not a literal dead guy in a sheet; it’s a tiny amount of something. This is where most solvers get tripped up. We see "ghost" and we think Halloween. The constructor sees "ghost" and thinks "faint vestige."
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The Pivot to Modern Slang
If you’re solving a puzzle from 2024 or 2025, the ghost crossword puzzle clue might not be about the supernatural at all. Modern grids are increasingly hip. They use "Gen Z" slang.
If the answer is LEAVE, and the clue is "Ghost," you might be looking at the social phenomenon of "ghosting." To ghost is to leave someone on read. It’s to vanish.
I’ve seen clues like "Ghost someone" lead to the answer IGNORE. It’s a brilliant way to keep the puzzle fresh, but it’s a nightmare if you’re used to the old-school definitions. Crosswords are a living language. They evolve. If you’re stuck, stop thinking about haunted houses and start thinking about your smartphone.
Famous Ghosts in Crosswords
Sometimes the clue isn't just "Ghost." It’s "Famous ghost" or "Ghostly companion."
- CASPER: The friendly one. Five letters.
- SLIMER: The green one from Ghostbusters. Six letters.
- MARLEY: Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol. Six letters.
- CLYDE: One of the Pac-Man ghosts. Five letters. (Don't forget Inky, Blinky, and Pinky).
If the answer is BANQUO, you’re dealing with Shakespeare’s Macbeth. That’s a common one in the more academic puzzles.
The Technical Side of Grid Construction
Why do constructors use "ghost" so often? It’s the letters.
The word "Ghost" itself contains G, H, O, S, and T. These are high-frequency letters in the English language. Well, G and H are a bit tougher, but S and T are crossword gold. But more importantly, the answers for ghost clues—like SHADE, SPOOK, and SPIRIT—are incredibly "friendly" for a grid.
A "friendly" word is one that has a lot of vowels or common consonants that allow other words to cross through them easily. SPIRIT is great because of those Is and the S and T. SHADE is a dream because it ends in E.
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When a constructor is stuck in a corner and needs to connect a few difficult words, they often look for a word that can be clued simply. "Ghost" is a perfect "utility clue." It can point to so many different linguistic destinations that it helps the constructor escape a tight spot.
Misconceptions About Word Difficulty
A lot of people think that a short clue means an easy answer. That’s a lie.
In the crossword world, the shorter the clue, the harder it usually is. A long, descriptive clue like "The spirit of a deceased person that appears to the living" is easy. It’s GHOST. But a one-word clue like "Ghost" is a chameleon. It’s meant to mislead you.
It forces you to rely on the "crosses"—the words that intersect with it. If you can’t get the ghost, stop looking at the ghost. Work on the words going the other way. Eventually, the letters will fill in, and you’ll have that "Aha!" moment where you realize "Ghost" actually meant SOUL or EIDOLON.
(By the way, EIDOLON is a seven-letter word that appears in "hard" puzzles like the Saturday NYT. It’s a fancy Greek-derived word for a phantom. Keep that one in your back pocket.)
Dealing With Cryptic Crosswords
If you’re doing a British-style cryptic, a "Ghost" clue is a whole different beast. It might be an anagram. It might be a hidden word.
For example: "Ghost in the night is terrifying (7)."
The answer is WRAITH. Why? Because "wraith" is hidden inside "night is terrifying"? No. But maybe "Ghostly" is an indicator.
In cryptics, "ghost" can also be a "ghost theme." This is a theme that exists in the grid but isn't explicitly mentioned in any of the clues. You might notice that several answers are POLTERGEIST, SPECTRE, and PHANTOM, but there’s no "revealer" clue. That’s a ghost theme. It’s the ultimate flex for a constructor.
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Actionable Tips for Your Next Puzzle
So, the next time you see a ghost crossword puzzle clue, don't panic. Take a breath and run through this mental checklist:
Count the squares. * 3 letters? Try BOO or HUE.
- 4 letters? Try SHAD, HOST, or REVE. (Wait, REVE is French for dream, sometimes used in high-brow puzzles).
- 5 letters? Try SHADE, SPOOK, or SPORE (rare but possible).
- 6 letters? Try SPIRIT, WRAITH, or PHANTM (if it's an abbreviation).
- 7 letters? Try SPECTRE, PHANTOM, or EIDOLON.
Check the tense. If the clue is "Ghosts," the answer must be plural. SHADES, SPOOKS, WRAITHS. If the clue is "Ghosted," look for LEFT or VANISHED.
Think outside the graveyard. Is it a "ghost of a chance"? The answer might be SLIM. Is it "Ghosting" someone? The answer might be IGNORE.
Look for the "Ghost" as a prefix. Sometimes "Ghost" isn't the definition; it’s part of a compound word. "Ghost ____" could lead to WRITER, SHIP, or TOWN.
Use a crossword solver sparingly. If you’re really stuck, sites like OneLook or the Crossword Solver are great, but they rob you of that dopamine hit when you figure it out yourself. Try to get at least two intersecting letters before you give up and look it up.
Crosswords are essentially a battle of wits between you and the person who made the grid. They want to trick you. They want you to think "spooky" when they mean "small amount." When you finally fill in that ghost crossword puzzle clue, you aren’t just completing a word; you’re winning a tiny psychological war.
Keep a list of these common "crosswordese" words. The more you play, the more you’ll realize that "ghost" is just a code. Once you crack the code, the grid doesn't stand a chance. Go back to that puzzle, look at the crosses, and see if SHADE or SPOOK fits. Chances are, one of them is the key to the whole section.
The beauty of the crossword is that the answer is always right there, hiding in plain sight, just like—well, you know.