Crossword Clue: Senegalese capital
Here's the answer to the Senegalese capital crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: DAKAR
The answer to "Senegalese capital" is DAKAR. Dakar runs 5 letters — 2 vowels and 3 consonants — opening with D and closing on R. 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
Dakar occupies the westernmost point of continental Africa on the Cap-Vert peninsula. It once served as the finish line for the famous Dakar Rally. The nearby Goree Island was a somber center of the Atlantic slave trade.
Common usage
You'll see DAKAR in grids regularly — its 5-letter, 2 vowels shape is exactly what setters need to bridge trickier entries. When one intersecting letter is already in place, especially the D or R, DAKAR tends to fall fast.
Crossword trivia
Short answers like DAKAR are the connective tissue of a crossword. You'll meet DAKAR 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 DAKAR will often be the only word that fits the letters you already have.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue DAKAR — 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 DAKAR into the grid took no time at all."
- "Dakar is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing 'Senegalese capital' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in DAKAR almost immediately."