Tool swung at a tree trunk

The answer to “Tool swung at a tree trunk” in the USA Today crossword is AXE — a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the USA Today crossword on August 23, 2026, a Sunday puzzle, at 67-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.

“Tool swung at a tree trunk” answer

AXE (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 AXE.

What does AXE mean?

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

When else has “Tool swung at a tree trunk” 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 23, 2026 (most recent) → AXE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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