Sub contractors? crossword clue
1 Across · WSJ Crossword, July 23, 2026 · 5 letters
Explanation
The answer to “Sub contractors?” is DELIS. It appears as 1 Across in the Wall Street Journal crossword of July 23, 2026, a Thursday puzzle titled “Passions Run Deep” by Matt Gaffney, and it fills 5 squares running left to right from row 1, column 1 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 D 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 Down 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
DELIS 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.