Hapless chap playing with words, not initially clever Crossword Clue

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Here is the answer for the crossword clue Hapless chap playing with words, not initially clever last seen in Guardian Cryptic puzzle. We have found 40 possible answers for this clue in our database. Among them, one solution stands out with a 98% match which has a length of 7 letters. We think the likely answer to this clue is CUNNING.

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Crossword Answer For Hapless chap playing with words, not initially clever:

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40 Potential Answers:

RankAnswerLengthSourceDate
98% CUNNING Hapless chap playing with words, not initially clever (7) The Guardian Cryptic Mar 9, 2023
7% INTELLIGENTGENT Clever chap (15) New York Times Jun 29, 2026
5% PUN Play on words (3) Thomas Joseph Jul 15, 2026
5% WITS Clever, funny people (4) Newsday Jul 14, 2026
5% LAD Chap (3) Universal Jul 13, 2026
5% ABLE Clever (4) (4) Puzzler Jul 9, 2026
5% ACRONYM Word composed of initials (7) (7) Puzzler Jun 29, 2026
5% SLY Clever like a fox (3) Newsday Jun 24, 2026
5% BLOKE Chap (5) Eugene Sheffer Jun 19, 2026
5% ASTUTE Clever (6) (6) Puzzler Jun 14, 2026

Last appeared together with the following clues in Guardian Cryptic puzzle

Hapless chap playing with words, not initially clever Crossword Clue
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We found 40 solutions for Hapless chap playing with words, not initially clever. The top solutions are determined by popularity, ratings and frequency of searches. The most likely answer for the clue is CUNNING.

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With our crossword solver search engine you have access to over 7 million clues. You can narrow down the possible answers by specifying the number of letters it contains. We found more than 40 answers for Hapless chap playing with words, not initially clever.