Crossword Clue: Thick ground-level cloud
Here's the answer to the Thick ground-level cloud crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: FOG
The answer to "Thick ground-level cloud" is FOG. Fog is a 3-letter word made up of 1 vowel and 2 consonants, beginning with F and ending with G. In a crossword grid it occupies a 3-square slot, and each of its letters also forms part of a word crossing it — so even if the clue stumps you, the crossing entries will usually hand you enough letters to fill it in.
Origin & meaning
Fog is essentially a cloud that forms at ground level when moist air cools to its dew point. San Francisco's residents have even nicknamed their persistent summer fog 'Karl.'
Common usage
Fog turns up frequently in crosswords precisely because of that letter mix. Short, vowel-friendly words like FOG are a constructor's best friend: they interlock cleanly with longer entries and help a grid come together without awkward letter clashes. When you see a 3-letter slot and already have a crossing letter or two, FOG is often quick to confirm — especially once the F or G is in place.
Crossword trivia
Because it is only 3 letters long, FOG appears far more often in daily mini and themed puzzles than longer, more obscure words. Regular solvers come to recognize it on sight, and it is exactly the kind of entry worth committing to memory: the more common short words you know cold, the faster your solve times become.
Stuck on this clue?
If "Thick ground-level cloud" has you stuck, don't force it — jump to the clues crossing this slot instead. Filling in even one or two intersecting letters usually makes FOG obvious. That crossing-first approach is the single most useful habit for improving at crosswords, and it works on everything from the quick daily Mini to a full Sunday grid.
This clue in different puzzles
Setters vary how they clue FOG — sometimes with a straight dictionary definition, sometimes with wordplay, a pun, or a fill-in-the-blank — but the answer itself stays the same. Learning to spot the answer behind the disguise is a core crossword skill.
Example sentences
- "I had the crossing letters, so writing FOG into the grid took no time at all."
- "Fog is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing 'Thick ground-level cloud' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in FOG almost immediately."
- "Once the F was confirmed by the crossing word, FOG was the only entry that fit."