Cop out of action, initially useless

The answer to “Cop out of action, initially useless” in the The Telegraph Cryptic crossword is AVOID — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Telegraph Cryptic crossword on August 4, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle, at 25-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.

“Cop out of action, initially useless” answer

AVOID (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 AVOID.

Why the answer is AVOID

Think of dodging something, with a touch of emptiness hidden in the wordplay. 🕳️

What does AVOID mean?

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

When else has “Cop out of action, initially useless” appeared?

The Telegraph Cryptic 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 4, 2026 (most recent) → AVOID. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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