A runner may need to pick it up

The answer to “A runner may need to pick it up” in the New York Times crossword is PACE — a 4-letter word. It most recently appeared in the New York Times crossword on October 11, 2026, a Sunday puzzle, at 116-Down. 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.

“A runner may need to pick it up” answer

PACE (4 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 PACE.

What does PACE mean?

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

When else has “A runner may need to pick it up” appeared?

New York 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.

October 11, 2026 (most recent) → PACE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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