Once named

The answer to “Once named” in the USA Today crossword is NEE — a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the USA Today crossword on August 7, 2026, a Friday puzzle, at 47-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.

“Once named” answer

NEE (3 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 NEE.

What does NEE mean?

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

When else has “Once named” appeared?

USA Today 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 7, 2026 (most recent) → NEE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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