You’re staring at a grid. Your coffee is getting cold. There is a four-letter or five-letter gap mocking you, and the hint just says "move a little." It sounds simple, right? Honestly, it’s a trap. Crossword constructors like Will Shortz at the New York Times or the team over at the LA Times live for these vague, high-synonym clues because they can mean ten different things depending on the day of the week.
Solving a move a little crossword clue requires you to step outside the literal. You aren't just looking for a word; you're looking for a specific vibe of movement. Is it a physical shift? A liquid wiggle? A tiny adjustment in a seat? The context of the surrounding letters is your only lifeline, but knowing the "usual suspects" in the constructor's dictionary changes the game entirely.
The most common answers for move a little
If you are currently stuck, the odds are very high that the answer is BUDGE. It’s the gold standard. It fits that classic five-letter slot that appears in mid-week puzzles. But wait. If you have three letters, it’s probably ADJ. Short for adjust. Or maybe STIR.
Constructors love STIR because it’s versatile. You can stir a drink, or you can stir in your sleep. If the clue is "move a little" and you see four boxes, try STIR or ITCH. Actually, ITCH is a bit of a stretch, but it works when the movement is reflexive.
Let’s talk about SHIMMY. That’s a six-letter beauty. It implies a bit of flair. You don’t just move; you move with a specific frequency. Then there is INCH. To inch along. It’s slow. It’s methodical. It is the definition of moving a little bit at a time. If the grid is fighting you, look at the crossing words. If you have an 'I' at the start, INCH is your winner.
Why constructors love the ambiguity
Crosswords are built on the "Aha!" moment. If every clue was a direct definition, the Sunday NYT would be finished in ten minutes. By using a phrase like "move a little," the creator creates a fork in the road.
- NUDGE: A physical push.
- SHIFT: A change in position.
- SPORE: (Okay, rarely, but sometimes in a biological context).
- WIGGLE: For the more playful puzzles.
Puns are the bread and butter of modern puzzling. Sometimes "move a little" isn't about physical distance at all. It could be about emotion. Did the movie "move" you a little? If so, the answer might be TOUCH. See what they did there? They swapped a physical verb for an emotional one. That is the kind of trickery that makes people throw their pencils across the room.
Decoding the difficulty by day
If it's Monday, don't overthink it. The answer is BUDGE or STIR. Monday puzzles rely on common vocabulary and direct synonyms. They want you to feel smart so you come back on Tuesday.
By the time Wednesday or Thursday rolls around, the move a little crossword clue becomes a different beast. Now, the constructor is looking for "REIG" or "EDGING." Maybe they want SHIE. To shie is to move suddenly, like a horse. It’s an older word, the kind that solvers over fifty tend to get faster than Gen Z players.
Friday and Saturday? All bets are off. The clue might be "Move a little, in a way" and the answer could be TEETER. Or it could be a reference to a specific type of dance step. At this level, you have to look for the "inflection" of the clue. Is it a verb? A noun? If the clue is "Moves a little," with an 's', your answer better end in 's' too. INCHES. BUDGES. SHIFTS.
The physics of the crossword grid
Think about the word SCOOT. It’s a great word. It sounds like what it is. You scoot over on a bench. It shows up frequently in the Universal Crossword or USA Today puzzles. These publications tend to favor "lively" language over the more academic style of the Wall Street Journal.
If you're looking at a British-style cryptic crossword, "move a little" might be part of an anagram. "Move a little" could be the indicator to rearrange the letters of another word in the clue. For example, if the clue is "Move a little pot (4)," the answer might be STOP. You moved the letters of "pots" a little bit to get "stop." Cryptics are a whole different headache.
Real-world examples from the archives
Looking at historical data from databases like XWord Info, the "move a little" prompt has appeared hundreds of times.
In a 2022 NYT puzzle, the answer was NUDGE.
In a 2019 LA Times Sunday edition, it was SHIMMY.
In a 2023 New Yorker puzzle—which are notoriously "vibey"—the answer was STIR.
The key is to look at the vowels. If you have an 'U', it's BUDGE or NUDGE. If you have an 'I', it's STIR, INCH, or SHIFT. Crosswords are basically a game of elimination and pattern matching. You are a biological computer trying to find the one word that satisfies both the horizontal and vertical constraints.
Misdirections to watch out for
Sometimes "a little" isn't a modifier for the movement; it's a noun. Like a "little" bit of something. This is where people get stuck for twenty minutes.
If the clue is "Move a little," it could mean "Move a small amount of liquid." Then the answer is DRIP or DROP.
If it means "Move a little child," the answer might be TOT. No, that doesn't make sense as a verb. But if the clue is "Little mover," then TOT is perfect.
You have to be careful with the parts of speech. A lot of people see "move" and immediately think of a verb. But in the weird world of crosswords, "move" can be a noun (like a move in chess). A "little move" in chess? Maybe a PAWN advancement? It’s unlikely, but when you're down to those last three squares, you start considering everything.
How to solve it when you're truly stuck
First, stop guessing. If you put in BUDGE and it’s actually SHIFT, you’re going to mess up all your vertical clues.
- Check the crossings. If you have a 'B' from a vertical word, BUDGE is a safe bet.
- Check the tense. Does the clue have an "-ing"? If it’s "Moving a little," the answer is INCHING or STIRRING.
- Say it out loud. Sometimes your brain recognizes the synonym through sound better than through sight.
- Walk away. Seriously. Go get a glass of water. When you come back, your brain will often just "see" the word SCOOT where it saw a blank space before.
The move a little crossword clue is a classic for a reason. It’s short, it’s punchy, and it has a dozen possible answers. It’s the bread and butter of puzzle construction. It fills those awkward little corners of the grid where you have a 'U' and a 'G' and you need something to make it work.
The evolution of the clue
Back in the 1950s, crossword clues were very dry. "Move a little" would almost always be STIR. Nowadays, with the rise of "indie" crosswords like Crossword Club or BEQ, the answers are more conversational. You might see BUDGE or even something slangy like BOOGIE if the "little" part is meant ironically.
Cultural shifts matter too. A "little move" in the 1920s might have been a JIG. Today, it’s more likely to be a TWEAK. Language is fluid, and the crossword is a living record of that fluidity. When you solve a puzzle, you aren't just filling in boxes; you're navigating the linguistic history of the person who wrote it.
Insights for the dedicated solver
If you want to get better at these, you need to start thinking like a constructor. They have "word lists" that rank words by how easy they are to use in a grid. STIR and INCH are high on those lists because they use common letters (S, T, I, R, N, C, H). These are the "ETAOIN SHRDLU" of the crossword world.
When you see a vague clue, always assume the answer uses high-frequency letters first. It’s just math. A constructor is much more likely to use SHIFT than QUAKE, simply because 'Q' and 'K' are a nightmare to cross with other words.
Next time you see "move a little," don't panic. Count the boxes. Check for a plural 's'. Look at the vowels you already have. Most of the time, the simplest answer—the one that feels almost too obvious—is the one they want.
Don't let a four-letter word ruin your morning. Usually, you're just one STIR or one NUDGE away from a completed grid.
To master these types of clues, your best move is to keep a mental "synonym bank" specifically for movement. Start with the basics: BUDGE, STIR, INCH, SCOOT, SHIFT, NUDGE, and EDGE. When you encounter the clue, cycle through these seven words first. Nine times out of ten, one of them will fit your crossing letters perfectly. If none of those work, only then should you start looking for more obscure options like SHIE, AMBLE, or REIG. This systematic approach saves you from the frustration of guessing and helps you recognize patterns in how different editors prefer certain words over others.