Compete
Crossword Answer — July 30, 2026
Think of a word that means to strive for victory or superiority in a contest! 🏆
USA Today Crossword
Thursday, July 30, 2026
By Zaineb Akbar
Tap a square to reveal a letter.
Or reveal one clue at a time with the Hint and Answer buttons below.
USA Today Crossword Clues
Across
Down
Crossword clues, hints, and answers
Across
- 1. It twinkles in the night sky — Answer: STAR. Hint: A little celestial sparkle you can spot after sunset ✨
- 5. Fancy neckwear — Answer: ASCOT. Hint: A dapper race-day accessory that ties neatly at the throat 🎩
- 10. Rounded hairstyle — Answer: AFRO. Hint: Big, full hairstyle with lots of natural volume and bounce 💇
- 14. Part of a book — Answer: PAGE. Hint: A single leaf you turn while reading 📖
- 15. Gave out light — Answer: SHONE. Hint: Past tense glow-up from a lamp or a star ✨
- 16. Gunky buildup — Answer: CRUD. Hint: Sticky stuff that programmers love to complain about 😖
- 17. Company leader, for short — Answer: EXEC. Hint: A bossy title trimmed down to office shorthand 🙂
- 18. "Frida" actor Hayek — Answer: SALMA. Hint: She’s the star who brought Frida Kahlo to life on screen 🎬
- 19. Signaled — Answer: CUED. Hint: Given a subtle prompt or cue, as if for a performance 🎭
- 20. Vast — Answer: WIDE. Hint: Broad and spacious, like a horizon stretching out 😊
- 21. Respected community member — Answer: ELDER. Hint: An older person often carries wisdom and standing in the community 👴
- 22. Disencumbers — Answer: RIDS. Hint: Gives a cluttered situation a quick clean-up 😄
- 23. "Hold on!" — Answer: INASEC. Hint: A quick plea to wait a moment, said with urgency. ⏳
- 25. Openly queer — Answer: OUT. Hint: Not hiding in plain sight, but proudly visible 🌈
- 26. Drifts through the air — Answer: WAFTS. Hint: Lightly floats along like a perfume on a breeze 🌬️
- 28. Za'atar and ___ (classic pairing in a dip) — Answer: OLIVEOIL. Hint: A Mediterranean duo that makes hummus sing 🫒
- 33. Sound heard in a dog park — Answer: ARF. Hint: A classic canine bark you’d hear all over the park 🐶
- 34. "Sagwa, the Chinese ___ Cat" (cartoon feline with a colorpoint coat) — Answer: SIAMESE. Hint: A pampered kitty breed famous for its striking colorpoint coat and TV cameos 😺
- 37. Medication-approving org. — Answer: FDA. Hint: U.S. agency that signs off on drugs and food safety 🏛️
- 38. Compete — Answer: VIE. Hint: Think of a word that means to strive for victory or superiority in a contest! 🏆
- 39. Unjust — Answer: NOTFAIR. Hint: A little too lopsided to feel right 😕
- 40. "Waterfalls" girl group — Answer: TLC. Hint: The trio that sang about chasing waterfalls 🤘
- 41. "___ the Pearl" (nickname for basketball player Monroe) — Answer: EARL. Hint: A basketball great once wore this royal-sounding nickname before his first name became the clue. 👑
- 43. Highlighter colors — Answer: NEONS. Hint: Bright, flashy shades that practically shout for attention ✨
- 44. Singular or plural pronoun — Answer: THEY. Hint: A pronoun that can cover one person or a whole crowd alike 😊
- 45. Break a fast — Answer: EAT. Hint: Have a meal to end the hunger stretch 🍽️
- 47. Recipient of many returns — Answer: IRS. Hint: The tax collector gets plenty of things mailed back its way 📬
- 48. Forest frolicker — Answer: DOE. Hint: A graceful woodland gal that often leaps through the trees and clearings 🦌
- 49. Comment made with a wink — Answer: HINTHINT. Hint: A sly little remark that practically doubles back on itself 😉
- 52. Central character in Toni Morrison's "Jazz" — Answer: VIOLET. Hint: She’s the woman at the heart of Morrison’s smoky Harlem tale, with a color in her name. 🎷
- 55. Itty-bitty mint — Answer: TICTAC. Hint: A tiny breath freshener you might pop after a meal 😄
- 56. Make like new — Answer: RESTORE. Hint: Bring back to its former glory again ✨
- 57. Part of a canopy — Answer: TREETOP. Hint: Where the highest branches meet the sky, you’ll find this bit of a canopy 🌳
- 59. Newsroom figures — Answer: ANCHORS. Hint: People who keep the broadcast steady and on track 📺
- 60. Surfaces and Zenbooks — Answer: PCS. Hint: Think of the common abbreviation for personal computers, which includes both desktops and sleek laptops. 💻
- 61. One-___-million chance — Answer: INA. Hint: A tiny missing word makes this famous phrase feel impossibly slim 🎯
- 62. Cow's greeting — Answer: MOO. Hint: A barnyard hello from a bovine friend 🐄
- 63. Colorado time zone, for short — Answer: MST. Hint: Think of the standard mountain clock setting used in Colorado 😊
- 64. Tax ID — Answer: SSN. Hint: A government-issued number you’d rather not memorize 😅
- 65. Texting format — Answer: SMS. Hint: A very brief way to send a message by phone 📱
Down
- 1. Gush — Answer: SPEW. Hint: A sudden burst of words or liquid comes pouring out 💦
- 2. New York ___ Workers Alliance (drivers' union) — Answer: TAXI. Hint: Think yellow cabs and the folks behind the wheel 🚕
- 3. Features of May-December relationships — Answer: AGEDIFFERENCES. Hint: The age gap is the whole story here, with one side often seasoned and the other still fresh 🌗
- 4. Not that long ago — Answer: RECENT. Hint: Something from the near past, not ages ago 😉
- 5. Obnoxious people — Answer: ASSES. Hint: Rude folks who make life harder than it needs to be 😒
- 6. Fossil-yielding rock — Answer: SHALE. Hint: Layered sedimentary rock that often preserves tiny ancient imprints 🪨
- 7. Something that offers little consolation — Answer: COLDCOMFORT. Hint: A phrase for a comfort that barely warms the heart 😕
- 8. "This one's ___!" — Answer: ONME. Hint: A phrase for claiming ownership with a playful flourish, especially when grabbing the last slice 🍕
- 9. Eye drop? — Answer: TEAR. Hint: What your cheek might get after a sad movie scene 😢
- 10. Amass over time — Answer: ACCRUE. Hint: Gather little by little, like interest in a savings account 📈
- 11. Underwear brand whose logo is often misremembered as featuring a cornucopia — Answer: FRUITOFTHELOOM. Hint: A colorful clothing label that people keep swearing had a little harvest horn in the logo 🍇
- 12. Deeply regretted — Answer: RUED. Hint: Felt bad about it afterward 😞
- 13. Likelihood — Answer: ODDS. Hint: Chance figures you might wager on 🎲
- 24. The "A" of PTA (Abbr.) — Answer: ASSN. Hint: It’s the shortened form of a group or organization, like a club name in disguise. 🏷️
- 25. Not obsessed with anymore — Answer: OVER. Hint: No longer fixated on it, as if the spell has been broken. 🪄
- 26. Shore sight — Answer: WAVE. Hint: A seaside hello that rolls in and out with the tide 🌊
- 27. "___ Code" (opera podcast) — Answer: ARIA. Hint: A sung solo from an opera, fitting for a podcast title 🎶
- 29. Tilts — Answer: LEANS. Hint: Leverages a slant rather than standing perfectly straight 😏
- 30. Egyptian goddess — Answer: ISIS. Hint: A famous ancient deity linked with magic and motherhood, often confused with a certain organization today 😄
- 31. Doing nothing — Answer: IDLE. Hint: Sometimes it's nice to just kick back and relax without any plans! 😌
- 32. Like some lingerie — Answer: LACY. Hint: Delicately trimmed and a little see-through, in a romantic way 🪡
- 35. Tiny charged particle — Answer: ION. Hint: A minuscule particle with a bit of electrical attitude ⚡
- 36. Didn't dine out — Answer: ATEIN. Hint: Consumed supper at home instead of going out 🍽️
- 42. Frothy lavender drink, perhaps — Answer: LATTE. Hint: A creamy café pick that can be tinted all sorts of pretty colors ☕
- 44. Fairy's under-the-pillow find — Answer: TOOTH. Hint: What kids hope to trade for a tiny nighttime treasure under the pillow 🪙
- 46. "In other words . . ." — Answer: THATIS. Hint: A phrase that politely says you’re about to restate it another way 💬
- 48. Nightclubs with mirrored balls — Answer: DISCOS. Hint: Party spots where the dance floor sparkles under spinning silver globes ✨
- 49. Letters before :// — Answer: HTTP. Hint: What your browser uses before the web address gets going 🌐
- 50. "Unless I'm mistaken . . .," in a text — Answer: IIRC. Hint: A quick texting shorthand for saying you may be recalling it correctly 🤔
- 51. Clickable desktop images — Answer: ICONS. Hint: Tiny picture shortcuts you tap to open things on a screen 🖱️
- 52. Viper's secretion — Answer: VENOM. Hint: What a snake leaves behind after a nasty bite 🐍
- 53. Makes a mistake — Answer: ERRS. Hint: Trips up and gets it wrong 🤭
- 54. It may require bubbling in answers — Answer: TEST. Hint: A quiz sheet can call for some bubbling, especially when you’re marking responses 📝
- 56. Male sheep — Answer: RAMS. Hint: Think of the flock’s horned fellows, not the woolly ladies 🐏
- 58. Prefix with "sexual" — Answer: PAN. Hint: Think of the prefix that broadens attraction beyond just one gender. 🌈
The answer to “Compete” in the USA Today crossword is VIE — a 3-letter word. This clue ran in the USA Today crossword on July 30, 2026, a Thursday puzzle, at 38-Across. If it's the entry standing between you and a clean grid, that's the word you need — and below you'll find why it fits, plus links to the day's other clues if more than one square is giving you trouble.
“Compete” answer
VIE (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 VIE.
Why the answer is VIE
Think of a word that means to strive for victory or superiority in a contest! 🏆
When else has “Compete” 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 before, and what the answer was each time — handy if you landed here from a puzzle on another date.
July 30, 2026 (this puzzle) → VIE. We haven't indexed an earlier appearance of this exact clue yet.
More clues from the USA Today Crossword on July 30, 2026
Stuck elsewhere in the grid? Here are some of the crossing and nearby clues from the same puzzle — tap any for its answer and explanation.
- Features of May-December relationships → AGEDIFFERENCES
- Shore sight → WAVE
- "___ Code" (opera podcast) → ARIA
- Medication-approving org. → FDA
- Unjust → NOTFAIR
- "Waterfalls" girl group → TLC
- Didn't dine out → ATEIN
- "___ the Pearl" (nickname for basketball player Monroe) → EARL
Want every clue in one place? The full USA Today answer list for July 30, 2026 is on that day's grid page, and today's live USA Today answers are always one tap from the today page.
About the USA Today Crossword
USA Today's daily crossword is a themed, accessible grid with no Monday-to-Saturday difficulty ramp — every day is written to be finishable in one sitting. This page covers a Thursday puzzle. Theme answers and short glue entries trade places in importance; when a theme clue stalls you, a confirmed crossing fill usually breaks it open.
Frequently asked questions
What is the answer to “Compete”?
The answer is VIE, a 3-letter word. It appeared in the USA Today crossword on July 30, 2026.
How many letters is the answer to “Compete”?
3 letters: VIE.
Where did this clue appear?
In the USA Today crossword on July 30, 2026 (a Thursday puzzle), at 38-Across.
Can “Compete” have a different answer?
Yes — USA Today 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 USA Today answers?
The full grid for July 30, 2026 is on the USA Today answers page, with every clue and answer from that puzzle.