Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?

Latest answer — August 11, 2026

13 Across

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Clue explained

REIGN is what a monarch may abdicate: one gives up their reign. The question mark signals the playful idea that abdication means not having ‘succeeded’ in maintaining this rule.

Clue type:
Pun or wordplay
A crown resting on an empty royal throne.

Times Cryptic Crossword

This clue's Tuesday, August 11, 2026 appearance

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

Across

  1. 1Supporters’ talk involving openings for youth team — what a surprise
  2. 6Bear with recurrent bad cough
  3. 9Recover two cities inside border
  4. 10Wrongly pick up circulating cash to clip
  5. 11Attracted by river in early light
  6. 12Goes for good record label with good prices
  7. 13Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?
  8. 14Where patient may be likely to lose guts after a week, in clumsy way
  9. 17Advanced with vigour and ripped dress open
  10. 18Half portion of pasta and cake
  11. 19Jaundiced, you will want to accept nothing
  12. 22Tight-lipped about son that creates a range of colours
  13. 24Illustrations of couple beginning to relax in boat
  14. 25Polymers holding last of rotting steps down
  15. 26Fail to recruit team for Union opponents
  16. 27Gloomy yet surprisingly wordy study?

Down

  1. 1Passenger, first to depart, got on
  2. 2Fruit tree can supply nursing home
  3. 3Agreed to accept caution, leaving with very strong feelings
  4. 4Flag device from horror studio with stomach-turning real gore at the end
  5. 5Eliot, Cromwell, as well as Hotspur: no one exceptional?
  6. 6More sensible of Scrooge for one to flip character at the start
  7. 7Observable, with the passage of time
  8. 8Colonnade steeply raked: I run up through it
  9. 13Salesman daily travelling around quietly free to return
  10. 15A new suggestion regarding first course
  11. 16For heroic deeds, Wagner’s operas satisfy
  12. 20Source of rubber in recent times
  13. 21Recombine elements of very lightweight gas
  14. 23Has to finish off pastry smelling stale

The answer to “Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?” in the The Times Cryptic crossword is REIGN — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Times Cryptic crossword on August 11, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle, at 13-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.

“Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?” answer

REIGN (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 REIGN.

What does REIGN mean?

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

(verb)

  • hold royal office; rule as monarch

When else has “Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?” appeared?

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

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?”?

The answer is REIGN, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Times Cryptic crossword on August 11, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?”?

5 letters: REIGN.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the The Times Cryptic crossword on August 11, 2026 (a Tuesday puzzle), at 13-Across.

Can “Abdicate, not having succeeded in this?” have a different answer?

Yes — The Times Cryptic 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 Times Cryptic answers?

The full grid for August 11, 2026 is on the Times Cryptic answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

The Times Cryptic Crossword is published by The Times; WordHint is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.

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