Is a bad assistant? crossword clue
54 Down · WSJ Crossword, August 13, 2026 · 5 letters
Explanation
The answer to “Is a bad assistant?” is ABETS. It appears as 54 Down in the Wall Street Journal crossword of August 13, 2026, a Thursday puzzle titled “Product Recall” by Mike Shenk, and it fills 5 squares running top to bottom from row 11, column 5 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 A and ends with S, and contains 2 vowels and 3 consonants. If you are working from the crossings, two or three confirmed letters from the Across entries should be enough to lock it in. Thursday puzzles lean harder on misdirection, so expect the rest of this grid to be pitched at the same level.
Past appearances
ABETS 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.