"__, but no cigar!"

The answer

CLOSE

5 letters. See every clue for this answer on the CLOSE answer page.

Used 9 times across 8 distinct years; most recently in 2024. It appears in 7 publications in the xd corpus. Frequency and last-seen figures come from the xd crossword corpus only.

Other clues for CLOSE

Every other clue in this collection answered by CLOSE, most used first.

• Nearby - used 57 times, most recently in 2026
• Shut - used 19 times, most recently in 2024
• Intimate - used 18 times, most recently in 2022
• Almost there - used 14 times, most recently in 2026
• Near - used 13 times, most recently in 2022
• In the neighborhood - used 12 times, most recently in 2026
• Buddy-buddy - used 9 times, most recently in 2019
• In the ballpark - used 9 times, most recently in 2025
• In the vicinity - used 9 times, most recently in 2025
• Like some calls - used 9 times, most recently in 2016
• Neck and neck - used 9 times, most recently in 2016
• Actress Glenn - used 8 times, most recently in 2026
• Very near - used 8 times, most recently in 2026
• Within walking distance - used 8 times, most recently in 2026
• "Almost!" - used 7 times, most recently in 2026
• Seal the deal - used 7 times, most recently in 2025
• Shut down - used 7 times, most recently in 2024
• Go out of business - used 6 times, most recently in 2025

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.

• Mild cigar - CLARO, used 99 times
• Nothing-but-net sound - SWISH, used 40 times
• Last but not __ - LEAST, used 32 times
• Can't help but - HASTO, used 31 times
• "... but I could be wrong" - ORNOT, used 29 times
• "... but to no ___" - AVAIL, used 25 times

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