Thorn in one's side
The crossword clue "Thorn in one's side" is answered by BANE, a 4-letter entry. Used 27 times across 15 distinct years; most recently in 2025; first recorded in 2002. It appears in 10 publications in the xd corpus.
The answer
BANE
4 letters. See every clue for this answer on the BANE answer page.
Used 27 times across 15 distinct years; most recently in 2025; first recorded in 2002. It appears in 10 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.
Other answers for this clue
The same clue has also been answered these ways in the xd corpus. Answers inside this collection link to their own answer page.
- BETENOIRE (1 uses in xd)
- IRRITATION (1 uses in xd)
- NUISANCE (1 uses in xd)
Other clues for BANE
Every other clue in this collection answered by BANE, most used first.
- Scourge - used 55 times, most recently in 2025
- Ruination - used 48 times, most recently in 2025
- Cause of ruin - used 43 times, most recently in 2026
Related clues
Clues in this collection of the same answer length that share a word with this clue, or match its answer pattern when no word is shared. Most used first.
- ___ one's time (wait) - BIDE, used 89 times
- On the sheltered side - ALEE, used 77 times
- Lose one's footing - SLIP, used 74 times
- Twiddling one's thumbs - IDLE, used 63 times
- "This one's ___" - ONME, used 59 times
- Have ___ in one's bonnet - ABEE, used 56 times
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