Firms criticise one blocking move towards south

The answer to “Firms criticise one blocking move towards south” in the The Times Cryptic crossword is COMPANIES — a 9-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Times Cryptic crossword on August 24, 2026, a Monday puzzle, at 14-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.

“Firms criticise one blocking move towards south” answer

COMPANIES (9 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 COMPANIES.

What does COMPANIES mean?

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

When else has “Firms criticise one blocking move towards south” 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 24, 2026 (most recent) → COMPANIES. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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