NCAA wins by #16 seeds, say crossword clue
54 Across · WSJ Crossword, September 9, 2026 · 6 letters
Explanation
The answer to “NCAA wins by #16 seeds, say” is UPSETS. It appears as 54 Across in the Wall Street Journal crossword of September 9, 2026, a Wednesday puzzle titled “Cut The Cards” by Stephan Prock & Jeff Chen, and it fills 6 squares running left to right from row 11, column 10 of the 15×15 grid.
The clue gives an example and asks for the broader category it belongs to. The entry begins with U and ends with S, and contains 2 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. Wednesday puzzles sit mid-week on the difficulty curve, so expect the rest of this grid to be pitched at the same level.
Past appearances
UPSETS 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.