Group in Mercury's orbit?

Latest answer — August 08, 2026

20 Across

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Clue explained

QUEEN was the rock group led by Freddie Mercury, so it is a “group in Mercury’s orbit” in the musical sense. The question mark signals this playful use of Mercury’s name.

Clue type:
Pop culture
Queen performing with Freddie Mercury onstage.

LA Times Crossword

This clue's Saturday, August 08, 2026 appearance

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Or reveal one clue at a time with the Hint and Answer buttons below.

Across

  1. 1Kitchen drawer?
  2. 6Follow
  3. 10NYC venue whose final show featured Patti Smith
  4. 14Economic justice topic
  5. 16Willie who broke the NHL's color barrier
  6. 17Forest formations with mythological associations
  7. 18Crux
  8. 19Useful element in making connections
  9. 20Group in Mercury's orbit?
  10. 21Causes of spiraling, at times
  11. 22Their feet may have claws
  12. 23Writers commissioned for tributes
  13. 25Tightens, perhaps
  14. 28Down for drama?
  15. 29Stuff
  16. 30Chrysler that won the 1978 Motor Trend Car of the Year Award
  17. 33Receive
  18. 34Offline
  19. 35Threw a pity party, perhaps
  20. 36Feature of HAL 9000 in "2001: A Space Odyssey"
  21. 38Nephric
  22. 39Coin bearing a bear
  23. 40Bear claw, e.g.
  24. 41Volunteer
  25. 42Result of productive talks
  26. 43Some bookmarks
  27. 44"Find out"
  28. 46Mercury, for one
  29. 49Nursing spot
  30. 50"Perfectly reasonable"
  31. 52Some Indigenous Canadians
  32. 53Clue in evolutionary history
  33. 54Cobbler's tool
  34. 55Around
  35. 56Maker of the One SL speaker

Down

  1. 1__ Romeo
  2. 2Filmmaker Johnson
  3. 3Poet frequently referenced in "Don Quixote"
  4. 4Bygone orbiter
  5. 5"All clear?"
  6. 6Boo-boos
  7. 7Curse
  8. 8Spaetzle, e.g.
  9. 9"Uh-huh!"
  10. 10Settles
  11. 11One may be taken on a date
  12. 12Shift workers?
  13. 13Kalshi actions
  14. 15Some bait
  15. 21Party poppers
  16. 22"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
  17. 24Vibed on
  18. 25Fixes
  19. 26Peut-__: French "perhaps"
  20. 27Animated superhero series featuring the voice of Tara Strong
  21. 28Word in Beaufort readings
  22. 30Setting for some on-line orders?
  23. 31Close
  24. 32How much scrolling is done
  25. 37Producer on seven U2 albums
  26. 40Dated
  27. 41Italian home of the world's oldest bank
  28. 42Coat put on in the kitchen?
  29. 43Verb in a polenta recipe
  30. 45Sticks in the water
  31. 46Longtime "PBS News Hour" anchor Ifill
  32. 47"Gah!"
  33. 48Top jobs?
  34. 50Letters expressing personal thoughts
  35. 51Team challenge

The answer to “Group in Mercury's orbit?” in the LA Times crossword is QUEEN — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the LA Times crossword on August 8, 2026, a Saturday puzzle, at 20-Across. Below you'll find why that fill fits, every other answer we've recorded for this clue, and links into the puzzle it came from.

“Group in Mercury's orbit?” answer

QUEEN (5 letters)

Reveal the solution one letter at a time with the tiles above if you'd rather nudge yourself toward it than see the whole word at once. Just want it outright? The answer is QUEEN.

What does QUEEN mean?

Reading the plain dictionary sense of QUEEN is often the fastest way to see why it answers this clue.

(noun)

  • the female ruler of an independent state, especially one who inherits the position by right of birth
  • the most powerful chess piece that each player has, able to move in any direction along a rank, file, or diagonal on which it stands
  • a playing card bearing a representation of a queen, normally ranking next below a king and above a jack

When else has “Group in Mercury's orbit?” appeared?

LA Times reuses clues across dates, sometimes with a different answer depending on the grid. Here's where this exact clue has shown up, and what the answer was each time — handy when you're checking whether today's fill is the only one.

August 8, 2026 (most recent) → QUEEN. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Group in Mercury's orbit?”?

The answer is QUEEN, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the LA Times crossword on August 8, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Group in Mercury's orbit?”?

5 letters: QUEEN.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the LA Times crossword on August 8, 2026 (a Saturday puzzle), at 20-Across.

Can “Group in Mercury's orbit?” have a different answer?

Yes — LA Times sometimes reuses a clue with a different solution to fit the grid. The answers we've recorded for each date it appeared are listed above when available.

Where can I find the rest of this day's LA Times answers?

The full grid for August 8, 2026 is on the LA Times answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

LA Times Crossword is published by Los Angeles Times; WordHint is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.

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