Snare set up before long close to copse

The answer to “Snare set up before long close to copse” in the The Times Quick Cryptic crossword is NOOSE — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Times Quick Cryptic crossword on September 8, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle, at 3-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.

“Snare set up before long close to copse” answer

NOOSE (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 NOOSE.

What does NOOSE mean?

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

When else has “Snare set up before long close to copse” 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 8, 2026 (most recent) → NOOSE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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