Mike retires unexpectedly, in the best of spirits

The answer to “Mike retires unexpectedly, in the best of spirits” in the The Times Quick Cryptic crossword is MERRIEST — a 8-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Times Quick Cryptic crossword on August 29, 2026, a Saturday puzzle, at 23-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.

“Mike retires unexpectedly, in the best of spirits” answer

MERRIEST (8 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 MERRIEST.

What does MERRIEST mean?

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

When else has “Mike retires unexpectedly, in the best of spirits” appeared?

The Times Quick 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 29, 2026 (most recent) → MERRIEST. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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