Cause of inflation

The answer to “Cause of inflation” in the The Washington Post crossword is AIR — a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Washington Post crossword on August 1, 2026, a Saturday 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.

“Cause of inflation” answer

AIR (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 AIR.

Why the answer is AIR

What fills a balloon and makes it puff up? 🎈

What does AIR mean?

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

When else has “Cause of inflation” appeared?

The Washington Post 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 1, 2026 (most recent) → AIR. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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