Crossword Clue: 88-key instrument
Here's the answer to the 88-key instrument crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: PIANO
The answer to "88-key instrument" is PIANO. Piano runs 5 letters — 3 vowels and 2 consonants — opening with P and closing on O. In a grid it fills a 5-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
The piano is a keyboard instrument invented around 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori. A standard modern piano has 88 keys spanning seven octaves.
Common usage
You'll see PIANO in grids regularly — its 5-letter, 3 vowels shape is exactly what setters need to bridge trickier entries. When one intersecting letter is already in place, especially the P or O, PIANO tends to fall fast.
Crossword trivia
Short answers like PIANO are the connective tissue of a crossword. You'll meet PIANO 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 PIANO will often be the only word that fits the letters you already have.
This clue in different puzzles
The clue "88-key instrument" is just one way to arrive at PIANO. Across different puzzles and editors you may see the same answer clued as "Keyboard instrument". Recognizing that a single answer can wear many clues is one of the fastest ways to level up as a solver.
Example sentences
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing PIANO into the grid took no time at all."
- "Piano is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing '88-key instrument' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in PIANO almost immediately."