Fan club devoted to Sex Pistols bassist Sid? crossword clue
33 Down · WSJ Crossword, August 28, 2026 · 13 letters
Explanation
The answer to “Fan club devoted to Sex Pistols bassist Sid?” is VICIOUSCIRCLE. It appears as 33 Down in the Wall Street Journal crossword of August 28, 2026, a Friday puzzle titled “Set Piece” by Gary Larson & Amy Ensz, and it fills 13 squares running top to bottom from row 5, column 11 of the 21×21 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 V and ends with E, and contains 6 vowels and 7 consonants. If you are working from the crossings, two or three confirmed letters from the Across entries should be enough to lock it in. Friday puzzles are the Journal’s contest crosswords with a hidden meta answer, so expect the rest of this grid to be pitched at the same level.
Past appearances
VICIOUSCIRCLE has not appeared as an answer in any other WSJ puzzle in our index, which runs from May 2026 onward. It will be listed here the next time it turns up.