Crossword Clue: Eight-legged web spinner
Here's the answer to the Eight-legged web spinner crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: SPIDER
The answer to "Eight-legged web spinner" is SPIDER. Spider runs 6 letters — 2 vowels and 4 consonants — opening with S and closing on R. 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
Spiders are arachnids with eight legs, and most spin silk that is remarkably strong for its weight. The web-crawling programs that index the internet are called 'spiders' for the way they move across linked pages.
Common usage
You'll see SPIDER in grids regularly — its 6-letter, 2 vowels shape is exactly what setters need to bridge trickier entries. When one intersecting letter is already in place, especially the S or R, SPIDER tends to fall fast.
Crossword trivia
Short answers like SPIDER are the connective tissue of a crossword. You'll meet SPIDER 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 SPIDER will often be the only word that fits the letters you already have.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue SPIDER — 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 SPIDER into the grid took no time at all."
- "Spider is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing 'Eight-legged web spinner' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in SPIDER almost immediately."