Elite eight of academia, or what 17-, 24-, 51- and 60-Across could be said to be part of? crossword clue

The answer to “Elite eight of academia, or what 17-, 24-, 51- and 60-Across could be said to be part of?” is IVYLEAGUE. It appears as 35 Across in the Wall Street Journal crossword of October 13, 2026, a Tuesday puzzle titled “The Old College Try” by Vasu Seralathan, and it fills 9 squares running left to right from row 8, column 4 of the 15×15 grid.

The question mark at the end of the clue signals wordplay: the surface reading is a misdirection, and the answer fits a punning or figurative sense of the words. The entry begins with I and ends with E, and contains 5 vowels and 4 consonants. If you are working from the crossings, two or three confirmed letters from the Down entries should be enough to lock it in. Tuesday puzzles stay approachable with light wordplay, so expect the rest of this grid to be pitched at the same level.