Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance (10)
Minute Cryptic Answer — September 19, 2026
Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance (10)
First letter shown — tap each tile or show the full answer below
Answer explained
Something spiked asks for something associated with spiking, specifically a ball game.
lovely provides the letters LOVELY for rearrangement.
spoiled instructs you to rearrange LOVELY, producing VOLLEY.
formal dance means BALL, giving the second wordplay piece.
Putting VOLLEY and BALL together produces VOLLEYBALL.
VOLLEYBALL fits Something spiked: it is the ball game where players spike the ball over a net.
Completed
volley+ball→volleyball
Explainer
Answer
volleyball
Recent clues
- Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance (10)Sep 19
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- The Origin of Species is Darwin's! (6)Sep 17
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The Minute Cryptic answer to “Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance” (10) is VOLLEYBALL — 10 letters. It ran on Saturday, September 19, 2026, set by Cory Calhoun, and it turns on anagram plus charade wordplay. Below you'll find the answer on its own, the clue taken apart a piece at a time, and what to look for the next time the same trick shows up.
“Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance” (10) — answer
VOLLEYBALL (10)
The letters run V • • • • • • • • L, and the tiles above spell the answer out in full. If you only wanted a nudge, the highlighted clue above gives you the indicator, the fodder and the definition one at a time, the same way the game does.
Why the answer is VOLLEYBALL
"Something spiked" asks for something associated with spiking, specifically a ball game.
"lovely" provides the letters LOVELY for rearrangement.
"spoiled" instructs you to rearrange LOVELY, producing VOLLEY.
"formal dance" means BALL, giving the second wordplay piece.
Putting VOLLEY and BALL together produces VOLLEYBALL.
VOLLEYBALL fits "Something spiked": it is the ball game where players spike the ball over a net.
Minute Cryptic also films a short explainer for this clue if you'd rather hear it walked through.
Other recent Minute Cryptic clues
Minute Cryptic runs one clue a day, so there's no sibling clue to cross-check against. Here are the most recent clues, with their answers:
- Northwest evacuated? (2,3,4) → UP AND LEFT
- The Origin of Species is Darwin's! (6) → THESIS
- Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible ingredient for one's gag reflex? (8) → LAUGHTER
- Scramble, scrambled, scrambles (8) → CLAMBERS
- Dad steps forward in spat... "What's happened?" (4) → PAST
- Kind of puppet taking direction from hand inside Miss Piggy? (6) → SHADOW
Looking for today's clue instead? Head to the Minute Cryptic answer today.
About Minute Cryptic
Minute Cryptic publishes one cryptic crossword clue a day at minutecryptic.com — no grid, no streak, just the clue, three nudges and a short video explainer. Scoring is golf-style: every clue carries a par counted in hints, and each nudge or revealed letter costs a stroke. Clues come from editor Liam Runnalls and from community setters. This one was set by Cory Calhoun, with a par of 3 hints.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Minute Cryptic answer to “Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance” (10)?
VOLLEYBALL — 10 letters. The clue ran on Saturday, September 19, 2026, set by Cory Calhoun.
Why is the answer VOLLEYBALL?
“Something spiked” is the definition. “spoiled” is the indicator, working on “lovely … formal dance”. That gives VOLLEYBALL.
How many letters is the answer to “Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance” (10)?
10 letters, running V • • • • • • • • L.
What kind of cryptic clue is “Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance” (10)?
An anagram plus charade clue. The indicator is “spoiled”.
What was par for “Something spiked spoiled lovely formal dance” (10)?
3 hints, and solvers average 1. Par counts nudges rather than guesses, so taking fewer than 3 on this clue puts you under par. 14 people have solved it.
Where can I find today's Minute Cryptic answer?
The Minute Cryptic answer today page always shows the current clue with every nudge highlighted.