Slow-moving gastropod

The answer to “Slow-moving gastropod” in the USA Today crossword is SNAIL — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the USA Today crossword on August 9, 2026, a Sunday puzzle, at 5-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.

“Slow-moving gastropod” answer

SNAIL (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 SNAIL.

What does SNAIL mean?

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

When else has “Slow-moving gastropod” 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 9, 2026 (most recent) → SNAIL. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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