Crossword Clue: Nigerian port city
Here's the answer to the Nigerian port city crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: LAGOS
LAGOS solves the clue "Nigerian port city". Spanning 5 letters (2 vowels, 3 consonants), it begins at L and ends at S. Like most crossword fill, it lives at the intersection of two words, so a single confirmed crossing letter frequently reveals the whole entry.
Origin & meaning
Lagos is Africa's largest city and a booming economic hub, though no longer Nigeria's capital. It sprawls across a lagoon and several islands on the Atlantic coast. Its name comes from the Portuguese word for lakes.
Common usage
Lagos turns up often in crosswords because of that letter mix. Words like LAGOS interlock cleanly with longer entries, so constructors reach for them to make a grid fit together without awkward clashes. Given a 5-square slot and a crossing letter or two, it's usually quick to confirm.
Crossword trivia
At 5 letters, LAGOS shows up in daily mini and themed puzzles far more than longer, obscure words. It's the kind of entry worth memorizing — the more common short words you know cold, the faster you solve.
Stuck on this clue?
If this clue won't come, leave it and fill the answers that cross it. Once a couple of LAGOS's letters are locked by neighboring words, the entry tends to reveal itself. Crossings beat staring at a clue every time.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue LAGOS — 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 second-guessed it, but the crossing answers confirmed LAGOS was right."
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing LAGOS into the grid took no time at all."
- "Lagos is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."