If you’re looking to flex your vocabulary muscles beyond the standard crossword, The Missing Letter crossword puzzle by Merriam-Webster is a daily brain teaser! This puzzle is not just filling in a grid, but an alphabetical hunt. With the clues, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet, the real challenge is figuring out which single letter has been left out. Here are the answers and the crucial missing letter for today’s puzzle, January 13, 2026.
The Missing Letter Answers Today: January 13, 2026
The Missing Letter is: G
By solving the clues provided, the letter G is the only one not utilised as a starting letter for an answer.
Across Answers: ➡️
- 1 Across: GEOGRAPHICAL NAME: “city and capital of Ecuador, located on a fertile plateau just south of the Equator population 1,607,734” – QUITO
- 6 Across: Spanish opposite of “guerra” – PAZ
- 9 Across: Pompeo on screens – ELLEN
- 10 Across: “May ___ excused?” – IBE
- 11 Across: VERB: “to waste time” – DALLY
- 12 Across: ADJECTIVE SUFFIX: “of, relating to, or originating in (a certain place or country)” – ESE
- 13 Across: GEOGRAPHICAL NAME: “country in southern North America…north of Guatemala and Belize” – MEXICO
- 15 Across: Traveling through – VIA
- 17 Across: VERB: “to have confidence based on experience” – RELY
- 19 Across: No mega-hotels – INNS
- 21 Across: NOUN: “warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion” – LOVE
- 22 Across: U.K. football powerhouse – MANU
- 23 Across: ADJECTIVE: “consisting of or amounting to only a small number” – FES
- 24 Across: NOUN: “[a] Semitic language” – HEBREW
- 27 Across: Neighbor of Isr. – JOR
- 28 Across: “___ in peace” – ICO0ME
- 31 Across: NOUN: “a beer that is brewed by fast fermentation with a quick-acting yeast” – ALE
- 32 Across: NOUN: “a deep pink” – CORAL
- 33 Across: NOUN: “a piece of furniture on or in which to lie and sleep” – BED
- 34 Across: Best way to sing – ONKEY
Down Answers: ⬇️
- 1 Down: “And that’s that,” to mathematicians – QED
- 2 Down: NOUN SUFFIX: “small one” – ULA
- 3 Down: ADJECTIVE: “rude” – ILLMANNERED
- 4 Down: COMBINING FORM: “at a distance” – TELE
- 5 Down: NOUN: “a translucent chalcedony in parallel layers of different colors” – ONYX
- 6 Down: NOUN PHRASE: “a complicated, difficult, or eccentric person” – PIECEOFWORK
- 7 Down: VERB: “to pardon or forgive (a sin)” – ABSOLVE
- 8 Down: NOUN: “the [final] letter [of the alphabet]” – ZEE
- 14 Down: Both online and offline, briefly – IRL
- 15 Down: NOUN: “robust energy and enthusiasm” – VIM
- 16 Down: Stuck – INAHOLE
- 18 Down: NOUN: “heavy fine-grained wood…[used to make] archery bow[s]” – YEW
- 20 Down: NOUN: “a naval vessel designed to operate underwater” – SUB
- 25 Down: Puerto ___ – RICO
- 26 Down: Nobel Prize category, briefly – EXON
- 27 Down: VERB: “to pointedly tease or mock (someone)” – JAB
- 29 Down: Astronaut Jemison – MAE
- 30 Down: Ron who played Tarzan in the 1960s – ELY
The Missing Letter Crossword Answer Image for January 13, 2026
This clue set felt pleasantly globe trotting, with lots of place names and short punchy entries that kept momentum high, and the theme note about the missing starting letter added a nice little auditing twist once the grid began to fill. The vocabulary range was solid too, mixing everyday phrases with a few more niche definitions that made you stop and think without tipping into obscure for obscurity’s sake. A couple of the cluing choices leaned a bit loose or jokey in wording, which can cause small speed bumps, but overall it was an engaging solve with a satisfying flow and a fun final consistency check, so I’d rate it 3 out of 5.
How to Play ‘The Missing Letter’
If you’re new to this Merriam-Webster classic, here’s how the “alphabetical twist” works:
- The Goal: Fill the grid using 25 words that each begin with a unique letter of the alphabet.
- Identify the Gap: Once the grid is complete, determine which of the 26 letters was not used as a starting letter.
- Weekly Reward: Keep track of each daily missing letter; at the end of the week, you can unscramble them to solve the Weekly Mystery Word.
