Crossword Clue: Playful river-dwelling mammal
Here's the answer to the Playful river-dwelling mammal crossword clue, with an explanation and where it has appeared.
Definition & answer: OTTER
The answer to "Playful river-dwelling mammal" is OTTER. Otter is a 5-letter word made up of 2 vowels and 3 consonants, beginning with O and ending with R. In a crossword grid it occupies a 5-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
Otters are sleek, playful members of the weasel family that thrive in rivers and along coasts. Sea otters famously hold hands while resting so they don't drift apart, and they use rocks as tools to crack open shellfish.
Common usage
Otter turns up frequently in crosswords precisely because of that letter mix. Short, vowel-friendly words like OTTER 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 5-letter slot and already have a crossing letter or two, OTTER is often quick to confirm — especially once the O or R is in place.
Crossword trivia
Because it is only 5 letters long, OTTER 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 "Playful river-dwelling mammal" 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 OTTER 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 OTTER — 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 OTTER into the grid took no time at all."
- "Otter is the kind of answer that clicks the moment you spot one letter."
- "Seeing 'Playful river-dwelling mammal' in the clue list, an experienced solver pencils in OTTER almost immediately."
- "Once the O was confirmed by the crossing word, OTTER was the only entry that fit."