With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.

Latest answer — September 11, 2026

1 Across

Scroll down for rest of crossword answers

Clue explained

FALSE pairs with 4-Down, START, to form “false start.” In the Mini-Meta context, a false start is an initial puzzle that turns out to be a misleading red herring.

Clue type:
Cross-reference
A visual diagram illustrating the phrase “false start” at a race starting line.

WaPo Mini Crossword

This clue's Friday, September 11, 2026 appearance

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Across

  1. 1With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.
  2. 6Baker who's a singer
  3. 7Cover for a hip-hop star?
  4. 8Mimic a mad mutt
  5. 9Her intercession may be sought in a Fr. prayer

Down

  1. 1Labubu dolls and barrel jeans, e.g., in the 2020s
  2. 2Limerick attribution, often: Abbr.
  3. 3Turkish bread?
  4. 4See 1-Across
  5. 5___ Fang Karate (dojo on "Cobra Kai")

The answer to “With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.” in the The Washington Post Mini crossword is FALSE — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Washington Post Mini crossword on September 11, 2026 at 1-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.

“With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.” answer

FALSE (5 letters)

Use the reveal tiles above to uncover the solution one letter at a time if you'd rather nudge yourself toward it than see the whole word at once. Prefer the full answer straight away? It's FALSE.

What does FALSE mean?

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

(adjective)

  • not according with truth or fact; incorrect
  • made to imitate something in order to deceive
  • illusory; not actually so

When else has “With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.” appeared?

The Washington Post Mini 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 11, 2026 (most recent) → FALSE. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.”?

The answer is FALSE, a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Washington Post Mini crossword on September 11, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.”?

5 letters: FALSE.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the The Washington Post Mini crossword on September 11, 2026, at 1-Across.

Can “With 4-Down, red herring in a Mini-Meta crossword week's first puzzles, e.g.” have a different answer?

Yes — The Washington Post Mini 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 today's WaPo Mini answers?

Every clue and answer from that day's puzzle is linked above, and the full grid is on the WaPo Mini answers page.

The Washington Post Mini Crossword is published by The Washington Post; WordHint is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.

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