Soldier for hire, for short crossword clue
21 Down · WSJ Crossword, September 25, 2026 · 4 letters
Explanation
The answer to “Soldier for hire, for short” is MERC. It appears as 21 Down in the Wall Street Journal crossword of September 25, 2026, a Friday puzzle titled “Rounding Error” by Jem Burch, and it fills 4 squares running top to bottom from row 2, column 16 of the 21×21 grid.
The shortening cue in the clue tells you to expect an abbreviation or initials rather than a full word. The entry begins with M and ends with C, and contains 1 vowel 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. 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
MERC 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.