Story trajectory

Latest answer — July 18, 2026

46 Across

Consider how plots often bend and flow through a tale! 📚

Scroll down for rest of crossword answers

USA Today Crossword

This clue's Saturday, July 18, 2026 appearance

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Across

  1. 1Like mint green
  2. 5Back muscle, for short
  3. 8"Women Are Not Roses" author Castillo
  4. 11It might be furrowed
  5. 12Ginger ___
  6. 13"Stay ___, Ponyboy"
  7. 15When dinosaurs roamed
  8. 19"___ in a Bottle"
  9. 20Monopolize
  10. 21Make a love letter better, maybe
  11. 23What rhinos wallow in
  12. 24___ and ___ (start of some envelope addresses)
  13. 26Fruits with navels
  14. 28Grads
  15. 30"Foodtastic" garment
  16. 32"Sounds about right"
  17. 33Dalai ___
  18. 34Savings plan letters
  19. 35Great Basin people
  20. 37Primary social media images, for short
  21. 41"This ___!"
  22. 42Where some RNs work
  23. 43Traditional Polynesian dance
  24. 46Story trajectory
  25. 49Hot, chocolaty drink
  26. 51Pay respect to
  27. 52"Nuh-uh" response
  28. 54The Toasters genre
  29. 56Owed
  30. 57Currency in Malta
  31. 58Site for a certain facial piercing
  32. 60Person
  33. 62Soda campaign whose 2026 iteration featured a polar bear rejecting Coca-Cola
  34. 66Part of a cruise ship
  35. 67Sense of self
  36. 68Versatile blackjack cards
  37. 69Rolled board game item
  38. 70"___ is me"
  39. 71Exam

Down

  1. 1School lunch staple
  2. 2Bitter salad green
  3. 3Worldbuilding overload, in a fantasy novel
  4. 4Actor McGregor
  5. 5Tool used in some facials
  6. 6"Leave the World Behind" actor Mahershala
  7. 7The "T" in STEM (Abbr.)
  8. 8Survey categories
  9. 9Neither here ___ there
  10. 10E.T., for one
  11. 14Sketchy, to a Brit
  12. 16The ___ (game with a "rosebud" cheat code)
  13. 17"___ Unfortunate Souls"
  14. 18"Mon ___!"
  15. 22Small recipe amt.
  16. 23Bad, in Spanish
  17. 25Wrapped garment
  18. 27Pro counterpart
  19. 29Tequila cocktail, casually
  20. 31Diet that avoids dairy
  21. 34"Go for it"
  22. 36Reverberate
  23. 38"Hurtful!"
  24. 39Periods in Taylor Swift's career
  25. 40"If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" film festival
  26. 44Relaxing airport spaces
  27. 45"___ we good?"
  28. 4632-Across, on a ship
  29. 47Sign on again
  30. 48Was invested
  31. 50Shabby ___ (interior design style)
  32. 51Halloween bounty
  33. 53"I ___ you'd say that"
  34. 55"Kourtney and ___ Take Miami"
  35. 59"Glad that's done"
  36. 61Core of an argument
  37. 63The "S" in STEM (Abbr.)
  38. 64A while ___
  39. 65Superlative suffix

The answer to “Story trajectory” in the USA Today crossword is ARC — a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the USA Today crossword on July 18, 2026, a Saturday puzzle, at 46-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.

“Story trajectory” answer

ARC (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 ARC.

Why the answer is ARC

Consider how plots often bend and flow through a tale! 📚

What does ARC mean?

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

(noun)

  • a part of a curve, especially a part of the circumference of a circle
  • a luminous electrical discharge between two electrodes or other points
  • (in a novel, play, or film) the development or resolution of the narrative or principal theme

When else has “Story trajectory” 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.

July 18, 2026 (most recent) → ARC. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Story trajectory”?

The answer is ARC, a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the USA Today crossword on July 18, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Story trajectory”?

3 letters: ARC.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the USA Today crossword on July 18, 2026 (a Saturday puzzle), at 46-Across.

Can “Story trajectory” have a different answer?

Yes — USA Today sometimes reuses a clue with a different solution to fit the grid. The answers we've recorded for each date it appeared are listed above when available.

Where can I find the rest of this day's USA Today answers?

The full grid for July 18, 2026 is on the USA Today answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.

USA Today Crossword is published by USA Today; WordHint is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.

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