Crossword Clue: Capital of France
Here's the answer to the Capital of France crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: PARIS
"Capital of France" points to PARIS, a 5-letter entry that starts with P and finishes on S and carries 2 vowels. Because every square it occupies also belongs to a down or across answer crossing it, you can often back into PARIS from the letters around it rather than the clue alone.
Origin & meaning
Paris takes its name from the Parisii, a Celtic tribe that settled on the Seine long before the Romans arrived. As a five-letter answer packed with common letters, it is a crossword staple, often clued through the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, or French geography.
Common usage
Compact, vowel-friendly answers such as PARIS are a constructor's staple: they slot into a 5-square space and play nicely in both directions. Solvers who recognize it on sight save real time on the daily puzzle.
Crossword trivia
Paris belongs to the small vocabulary of words that appear constantly in grids. Because it's only 5 letters, editors can drop it almost anywhere, which is why regular solvers know it on sight.
Stuck on this clue?
Stuck on "Capital of France"? Don't force it — solve the clues crossing this slot instead. One or two intersecting letters usually make PARIS obvious. Working from the crossings is the single most useful habit for getting faster.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue PARIS — 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
- "A 5-letter slot and a clue like 'Capital of France'? That's PARIS nine times out of ten."
- "I second-guessed it, but the crossing answers confirmed PARIS was right."
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing PARIS into the grid took no time at all."