Crossword Clue: Brazilian gateway to the Amazon
Here's the answer to the Brazilian gateway to the Amazon crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: MANAUS
The answer to "Brazilian gateway to the Amazon" is MANAUS. Manaus runs 6 letters — 3 vowels and 3 consonants — opening with M and closing on S. In a grid it fills a 6-square slot whose letters are each shared with a crossing word, so the intersections do a lot of the heavy lifting when the clue itself is tough.
Origin & meaning
Manaus sits deep in the Amazon rainforest at the meeting of two great rivers. It boomed during the rubber trade, funding a grand opera house. The Meeting of the Waters, where dark and sandy rivers flow side by side, is a nearby wonder.
Common usage
You'll see MANAUS in grids regularly — its 6-letter, 3 vowels shape is exactly what setters need to bridge trickier entries. When one intersecting letter is already in place, especially the M or S, MANAUS tends to fall fast.
Crossword trivia
Short answers like MANAUS are the connective tissue of a crossword. You'll meet MANAUS again and again, and recognizing it instantly is one of the quiet skills that separates fast solvers from slow ones.
Stuck on this clue?
The fastest way past a stubborn clue like this one is the grid itself: pencil in the easy crossing answers first, and MANAUS will often be the only word that fits the letters you already have.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue MANAUS — sometimes with a straight dictionary definition, sometimes with wordplay, a pun, or a fill-in-the-blank — but the answer itself stays the same. Learning to spot the answer behind the disguise is a core crossword skill.
Example sentences
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing MANAUS into the grid took no time at all."
- "Manaus is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing 'Brazilian gateway to the Amazon' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in MANAUS almost immediately."