Purple or green herb

The answer to “Purple or green herb” in the The Washington Post crossword is BASIL — a 5-letter word. It most recently appeared in the The Washington Post crossword on August 23, 2026, a Sunday puzzle, 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.

“Purple or green herb” answer

BASIL (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 BASIL.

What does BASIL mean?

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

When else has “Purple or green herb” 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 23, 2026 (most recent) → BASIL. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

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