Bus. bigwig

Latest answer — August 18, 2026

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Clue explained

A CEO, or chief executive officer, is the top executive of a business and thus a business bigwig. CEO is a standard abbreviation for the title.

Clue type:
Abbreviation
A corporate executive working in an office.

WSJ Crossword

This clue's Tuesday, August 18, 2026 appearance

Tap a square to reveal a letter.

Or reveal one clue at a time with the Hint and Answer buttons below.

Across

  1. 1Snow for skiing
  2. 7Indian, e.g.
  3. 12Like a sunset silhouette
  4. 14Numero di giorni di settembre
  5. 15Releases with a pop
  6. 16Potent cocktail name
  7. 17Neighborhood near Canal Street
  8. 18Just managed, with “out”
  9. 20Golden Globe winner Poehler
  10. 21___-mo
  11. 22Legendary jazz trumpeter whose albums include “On the Corner” and 48-Across
  12. 26Payment promise
  13. 27Group selfies
  14. 28Gadot of “Justice League”
  15. 29Sales dept. worker
  16. 30Oatmeal gone wrong, say
  17. 31Veterans Day mo.
  18. 32Wall St. institution
  19. 34Bewildered
  20. 36So long
  21. 40Hasty flight
  22. 42Woodworking fastener
  23. 44Civil rights leader ___ B. Wells
  24. 45Furious
  25. 46Miembro de la familia
  26. 47Fender attachment
  27. 48Moody title of an iconic album by 22-Across, and a description of the corner answers in this puzzle
  28. 50Unruly head of hair
  29. 51More than most
  30. 52Prescription info
  31. 53___ mi (Vietnamese sandwich)
  32. 54Like a library vis-à-vis an amusement park
  33. 57Fugue sections
  34. 60Development site
  35. 61House guest, perhaps?
  36. 62Microsoft cloud computing platform
  37. 63“Oorah!” speaker

Down

  1. 1Immanuel Kant, for one
  2. 2Sommelier’s field
  3. 3Disappointing failures
  4. 4SPECTRE member on Crab Key
  5. 5She, in São Paulo
  6. 6Dangerous current
  7. 7Letters on a Kia Center scoreboard
  8. 8Bus. bigwig
  9. 9Involve
  10. 10Molecule parts
  11. 11Sails force?
  12. 13“Not with a bang but a whimper” poet
  13. 14Surname of a musical barber
  14. 16Hodgepodge
  15. 19Watches, with “on”
  16. 22Coffee container
  17. 23Mayor Mamdani’s faith
  18. 24Back
  19. 25“___-voom!”
  20. 31World’s third-smallest nation
  21. 33Vivacity
  22. 35Like space
  23. 37Paul of “The Holdovers”
  24. 38Home of the Oilers
  25. 39Stone used for the tip of some phonograph needles
  26. 41Put two and two together
  27. 43Summery top
  28. 45Social scene
  29. 46Hitchcock’s “Dial ___ Murder”
  30. 48Bad customer for a china shop
  31. 49Horace works
  32. 51“Barbie Girl” band
  33. 53Tolerate
  34. 55Screw up
  35. 56Wed. preceder
  36. 58Pro ___ (for now)
  37. 59Modern vaccine component

Crossword clues, hints, and answers

Across

  1. 1. Snow for skiing — Answer: POWDER. Hint: Fresh, fluffy snowfall is a skier’s favorite ❄️
  2. 7. Indian, e.g. — Answer: OCEAN. Hint: It may be a vast body of water named after a country 🌊
  3. 12. Like a sunset silhouette — Answer: REARLIT. Hint: A subject outlined against the setting sun is illuminated from behind 🌅
  4. 14. Numero di giorni di settembre — Answer: TRENTA. Hint: In Italian, this is the number of days September has 📅
  5. 15. Releases with a pop — Answer: UNSNAPS. Hint: These fasteners let go with a little snap 🫰
  6. 16. Potent cocktail name — Answer: MOLOTOV. Hint: This notorious incendiary device shares its name with a fiery mixed drink 🔥
  7. 17. Neighborhood near Canal Street — Answer: SOHO. Hint: This compact Manhattan district is famous for cast-iron architecture and galleries 🏙️
  8. 18. Just managed, with “out” — Answer: EKED. Hint: Barely got by, as when stretching limited resources 💪
  9. 20. Golden Globe winner Poehler — Answer: AMY. Hint: The comedian behind Leslie Knope also hosted the Golden Globes 🏆
  10. 21. ___-mo — Answer: SLO. Hint: Complete the phrase for motion captured at a reduced speed 🎥
  11. 22. Legendary jazz trumpeter whose albums include “On the Corner” and 48-Across — Answer: MILESDAVIS. Hint: This influential trumpeter helped shape cool and fusion jazz 🎺
  12. 26. Payment promise — Answer: IOU. Hint: This informal note acknowledges a debt to be paid later 💳
  13. 27. Group selfies — Answer: USIES. Hint: A selfie featuring several friends gets this playful plural nickname 📸
  14. 28. Gadot of “Justice League” — Answer: GAL. Hint: She portrayed Wonder Woman in the superhero film 🦸
  15. 29. Sales dept. worker — Answer: AGT. Hint: This representative helps bring in business. 💼
  16. 30. Oatmeal gone wrong, say — Answer: GLOP. Hint: It has turned into an unpleasantly thick, messy mixture. 🥣
  17. 31. Veterans Day mo. — Answer: NOV. Hint: This month honors military veterans in the U.S. 🇺🇸
  18. 32. Wall St. institution — Answer: NYSE. Hint: This famous exchange is where many stocks are traded. 📈
  19. 34. Bewildered — Answer: ATSEA. Hint: Feeling this way means you’re confused and unsure which direction to take. 🧭
  20. 36. So long — Answer: AGES. Hint: A casual farewell can also suggest a very long time. 👋
  21. 40. Hasty flight — Answer: LAM. Hint: This old slang term means to run away quickly. 🏃
  22. 42. Woodworking fastener — Answer: TNUT. Hint: This threaded insert gives a bolt a secure place to grip in wood. 🔩
  23. 44. Civil rights leader ___ B. Wells — Answer: IDA. Hint: She was a pioneering journalist and anti-lynching activist. ✊
  24. 45. Furious — Answer: MAD. Hint: Seeing red is a classic way to describe this feeling. 😡
  25. 46. Miembro de la familia — Answer: MADRE. Hint: Es la mujer que te dio la vida. 👩‍👧
  26. 47. Fender attachment — Answer: AMP. Hint: A guitarist may connect this device to make the instrument louder. 🎸
  27. 48. Moody title of an iconic album by 22-Across, and a description of the corner answers in this puzzle — Answer: KINDOFBLUE. Hint: This jazz classic by Miles Davis evokes a cool, melancholic mood. 🎷
  28. 50. Unruly head of hair — Answer: MOP. Hint: A messy mass of hair can look like a cleaning tool. 💇
  29. 51. More than most — Answer: ALL. Hint: This means everyone or everything in a group, without exception. 🌟
  30. 52. Prescription info — Answer: DOSE. Hint: The label tells you how much medicine to take at one time. 💊
  31. 53. ___ mi (Vietnamese sandwich) — Answer: BANH. Hint: This Vietnamese sandwich is usually served on a crisp baguette. 🥖
  32. 54. Like a library vis-à-vis an amusement park — Answer: QUIETER. Hint: A library has less noise than a theme park. 🤫
  33. 57. Fugue sections — Answer: STRETTI. Hint: These tightly overlapping passages are characteristic of a fugue. 🎼
  34. 60. Development site — Answer: UTERUS. Hint: This organ supports a developing baby during pregnancy. 🤰
  35. 61. House guest, perhaps? — Answer: SENATOR. Hint: A visiting lawmaker could be one if the house is the Capitol. 🏛️
  36. 62. Microsoft cloud computing platform — Answer: AZURE. Hint: Microsoft uses this cloud platform to host apps and store data ☁️
  37. 63. “Oorah!” speaker — Answer: MARINE. Hint: This enthusiastic military cry is associated with a U.S. service member 🪖

Down

  1. 1. Immanuel Kant, for one — Answer: PRUSSIAN. Hint: The philosopher was an eighteenth-century German thinker and Königsberg native 📚
  2. 2. Sommelier’s field — Answer: OENOLOGY. Hint: It is the study and appreciation of wine 🍷
  3. 3. Disappointing failures — Answer: WASHOUTS. Hint: These are efforts or projects that ended in failure 🫤
  4. 4. SPECTRE member on Crab Key — Answer: DRNO. Hint: This Bond villain operates from the island of Crab Key 🕵️
  5. 5. She, in São Paulo — Answer: ELA. Hint: Use this Portuguese pronoun for a female person 🇧🇷
  6. 6. Dangerous current — Answer: RIP. Hint: Swimmers fear this narrow, powerful seaward current 🌊
  7. 7. Letters on a Kia Center scoreboard — Answer: ORL. Hint: These letters abbreviate the NBA team representing Orlando 🏀
  8. 8. Bus. bigwig — Answer: CEO. Hint: The top executive in a company holds this title 💼
  9. 9. Involve — Answer: ENTAIL. Hint: To bring something along as a necessary part of the deal 📎
  10. 10. Molecule parts — Answer: ATOMS. Hint: Tiny units combine to make up molecules ⚛️
  11. 11. Sails force? — Answer: NAVY. Hint: A playful take on “sails” points to a maritime military force ⚓
  12. 13. “Not with a bang but a whimper” poet — Answer: TSELIOT. Hint: This poet wrote The Waste Land and the quoted line ✍️
  13. 14. Surname of a musical barber — Answer: TODD. Hint: The demon barber of Fleet Street bears this surname 🎭
  14. 16. Hodgepodge — Answer: MESS. Hint: A jumbled assortment can be described this way 🧩
  15. 19. Watches, with “on” — Answer: KEEPSTABS. Hint: This expression means monitors something closely 👀
  16. 22. Coffee container — Answer: MUG. Hint: A handled vessel for sipping a hot beverage is this ☕
  17. 23. Mayor Mamdani’s faith — Answer: ISLAM. Hint: Identify the monotheistic faith associated with the mayor in the clue 🕌
  18. 24. Back — Answer: AGO. Hint: In time expressions, this word points into the past ⏳
  19. 25. “___-voom!” — Answer: VAVA. Hint: This exuberant phrase suggests glamour, energy, and dramatic flair ✨
  20. 31. World’s third-smallest nation — Answer: NAURU. Hint: Look to the tiny Pacific island nation known for phosphate mining 🏝️
  21. 33. Vivacity — Answer: ELAN. Hint: Think of lively energy, flair, and spirited style ✨
  22. 35. Like space — Answer: ENDLESS. Hint: Picture something with no visible boundary or limit 🌌
  23. 37. Paul of “The Holdovers” — Answer: GIAMATTI. Hint: He’s the acclaimed actor who plays a grumpy teacher in this film 🎬
  24. 38. Home of the Oilers — Answer: EDMONTON. Hint: Find the Canadian city where this NHL team plays 🏒
  25. 39. Stone used for the tip of some phonograph needles — Answer: SAPPHIRE. Hint: This durable blue gemstone was once used for record-player needles 💎
  26. 41. Put two and two together — Answer: ADD. Hint: Use the basic arithmetic operation that combines quantities ➕
  27. 43. Summery top — Answer: TEE. Hint: Think of a casual short-sleeved shirt for warm weather 👕
  28. 45. Social scene — Answer: MILIEU. Hint: This means the surrounding social environment or setting 🌐
  29. 46. Hitchcock’s “Dial ___ Murder” — Answer: MFOR. Hint: Fill the gap in the title between “Dial” and “Murder” 🎥
  30. 48. Bad customer for a china shop — Answer: KLUTZ. Hint: Picture a clumsy person surrounded by fragile dishes 🍽️
  31. 49. Horace works — Answer: ODES. Hint: These are lyrical poems associated with the Roman poet Horace 📜
  32. 51. “Barbie Girl” band — Answer: AQUA. Hint: Identify the Scandinavian pop group behind that bubbly ’90s hit 🎶
  33. 53. Tolerate — Answer: BEAR. Hint: To do this is to put up with something difficult or annoying 🐻
  34. 55. Screw up — Answer: ERR. Hint: Make a mistake, especially in a formal or old-fashioned way. 😅
  35. 56. Wed. preceder — Answer: TUE. Hint: Look at the calendar day immediately before Wednesday 🗓️
  36. 58. Pro ___ (for now) — Answer: TEM. Hint: The Latin phrase meaning “for the time being” provides this abbreviation ⏳
  37. 59. Modern vaccine component — Answer: RNA. Hint: Think about the genetic instructions that help produce proteins in your body! 🧬

The answer to “Bus. bigwig” in the Wall Street Journal crossword is CEO — a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal crossword on August 18, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle, at 8-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.

“Bus. bigwig” answer

CEO (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 CEO.

When else has “Bus. bigwig” appeared?

Wall Street Journal 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 18, 2026 (most recent) → CEO. We haven't indexed another appearance of this exact clue yet.

Frequently asked questions

What is the answer to “Bus. bigwig”?

The answer is CEO, a 3-letter word. It most recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal crossword on August 18, 2026.

How many letters is the answer to “Bus. bigwig”?

3 letters: CEO.

When did this clue appear?

Most recently in the Wall Street Journal crossword on August 18, 2026 (a Tuesday puzzle), at 8-Down.

Can “Bus. bigwig” have a different answer?

Yes — Wall Street Journal 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 WSJ answers?

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

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