Welcome back to the daily grind, where the squares are black and white, the coffee is hot, and the frustration of a single unsolved blank can ruin a perfectly good morning. If you’ve landed here, chances are you are staring down a grid with a few pesky gaps, specifically looking for help with a
crossword clue
that seems simple on the surface but is proving to be quite the brain-tickler.
Today, we are diving deep into a specific six-letter challenge: “Part away from the edge (6).”
When you encounter a
crossword clue
like this, the first thing to do is take a breath and look at the phrasing. Setters are notorious for using words that have multiple grammatical functions. Is “part” a noun, referring to a piece of something? Or is it a verb, suggesting an action of separation? Similarly, “edge” is one of those high-frequency crossword words that can mean anything from a physical border to an advantage in a competition.
In this case, the
crossword clue
is asking you to think spatially. If you aren’t at the perimeter, the boundary, or the margin, where exactly are you? This type of clue is a staple in puzzles like the New York Times, the LA Times, and the Guardian, where the setter wants to see if you can identify a synonym that describes a location.
One of the most common mistakes when solving a
crossword clue
of this length is overthinking the wordplay. While some six-letter clues rely on complex anagrams or hidden containers, others are straightforward definitions hidden in plain sight. Think about the anatomy of a circle, the layout of a town, or even the structure of a paragraph. If you move “away from the edge,” you are heading toward the heart of the matter.
For those of you working through a cryptic grid, you might be looking for a double definition. Does the answer also mean to “position” something or to “focus”? If you are working on a standard quick puzzle, you are likely looking for a common synonym for the interior or the midpoint.
The beauty of a well-crafted
crossword clue
is that once you see the answer, it feels obvious. The “aha!” moment is why we play the game. However, getting to that point requires a bit of lateral thinking. Consider the surrounding letters in your grid. Does the word start with a consonant? Does it have a vowel-heavy ending? Often, getting the cross-references is the only way to break the seal on a tricky six-letter word.
In the world of professional solving, we often categorize this kind of
crossword clue
as a “positional synonym.” It’s a word you use every day, perhaps to describe where you sit in a theater or how you like your steak cooked. It’s a word that defines the very essence of being “in” rather than “out.”
As you look at your grid and try to fit those six letters into place, remember that the setter is trying to lead your mind away from the simplest path. Don’t let the brevity of the clue fool you; sometimes the shortest sentences carry the most weight.
Keep your pencils sharp and your erasers ready. We’re going to break down the logic behind this
crossword clue
and look at the potential synonyms that fit the “away from the edge” criteria. If you have a few intersecting letters already, you might be closer than you think. Let’s look at the possibilities.
Available Answers:
INSIDE.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: Metro Quick Crossword Clues Thursday, 1 January 2026