Crossword Clue: Genre with 12-bar structure
Here's the answer to the Genre with 12-bar structure crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: BLUES
"Genre with 12-bar structure" points to BLUES, a 5-letter entry that starts with B 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 BLUES from the letters around it rather than the clue alone.
Origin & meaning
Blues is a music genre that originated among African Americans in the Deep South around the late 19th century. Its 12-bar structure heavily influenced rock and jazz.
Common usage
Compact, vowel-friendly answers such as BLUES 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
Blues 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 "Genre with 12-bar structure"? Don't force it — solve the clues crossing this slot instead. One or two intersecting letters usually make BLUES obvious. Working from the crossings is the single most useful habit for getting faster.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue BLUES — 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 'Genre with 12-bar structure'? That's BLUES nine times out of ten."
- "I second-guessed it, but the crossing answers confirmed BLUES was right."
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing BLUES into the grid took no time at all."