Serious-minded attention initially needs extremely serious thought

The answer to “Serious-minded attention initially needs extremely serious thought” in the The Times Quick Cryptic crossword is EARNEST — a 7-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Times Quick Cryptic crossword on September 10, 2026, a Thursday puzzle, at 22-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.

“Serious-minded attention initially needs extremely serious thought” answer

EARNEST (7 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 EARNEST.

What does EARNEST mean?

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

When else has “Serious-minded attention initially needs extremely serious thought” 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.

September 10, 2026 (most recent) → EARNEST. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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