Perfect fish supper, say, with no starter

The answer to “Perfect fish supper, say, with no starter” in the The Telegraph Cryptic crossword is IDEAL — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Telegraph Cryptic crossword on August 4, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle, at 26-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.

“Perfect fish supper, say, with no starter” answer

IDEAL (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 IDEAL.

Why the answer is IDEAL

A freshwater fish and a meal missing its opening combine to describe something flawless. 🐟

What does IDEAL mean?

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

When else has “Perfect fish supper, say, with no starter” 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) → IDEAL. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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