If you’re looking to flex your vocabulary muscles beyond the standard crossword, The Missing Letter crossword puzzle by Merriam-Webster is a daily brain teaser! This puzzle is not just filling in a grid, but an alphabetical hunt. With the clues, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet, the real challenge is figuring out which single letter has been left out. Here are the answers and the crucial missing letter for today’s puzzle, January 13, 2026.
The Missing Letter Answers Today: January 13, 2026
The Missing Letter is: G
By solving the clues provided, the letter G is the only one not utilised as a starting letter for an answer.
1 Across: GEOGRAPHICAL NAME: “city and capital of Ecuador, located on a fertile plateau just south of the Equator population 1,607,734” – QUITO
6 Across: Spanish opposite of “guerra” – PAZ
9 Across: Pompeo on screens – ELLEN
10 Across: “May ___ excused?” – IBE
11 Across: VERB: “to waste time” – DALLY
12 Across: ADJECTIVE SUFFIX: “of, relating to, or originating in (a certain place or country)” – ESE
13 Across: GEOGRAPHICAL NAME: “country in southern North America…north of Guatemala and Belize” – MEXICO
15 Across: Traveling through – VIA
17 Across: VERB: “to have confidence based on experience” – RELY
19 Across: No mega-hotels – INNS
21 Across: NOUN: “warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion” – LOVE
22 Across: U.K. football powerhouse – MANU
23 Across: ADJECTIVE: “consisting of or amounting to only a small number” – FES
24 Across: NOUN: “[a] Semitic language” – HEBREW
27 Across: Neighbor of Isr. – JOR
28 Across: “___ in peace” – ICO0ME
31 Across: NOUN: “a beer that is brewed by fast fermentation with a quick-acting yeast” – ALE
32 Across: NOUN: “a deep pink” – CORAL
33 Across: NOUN: “a piece of furniture on or in which to lie and sleep” – BED
34 Across: Best way to sing – ONKEY
1 Down: “And that’s that,” to mathematicians – QED
2 Down: NOUN SUFFIX: “small one” – ULA
3 Down: ADJECTIVE: “rude” – ILLMANNERED
4 Down: COMBINING FORM: “at a distance” – TELE
5 Down: NOUN: “a translucent chalcedony in parallel layers of different colors” – ONYX
6 Down: NOUN PHRASE: “a complicated, difficult, or eccentric person” – PIECEOFWORK
7 Down: VERB: “to pardon or forgive (a sin)” – ABSOLVE
8 Down: NOUN: “the [final] letter [of the alphabet]” – ZEE
14 Down: Both online and offline, briefly – IRL
15 Down: NOUN: “robust energy and enthusiasm” – VIM
16 Down: Stuck – INAHOLE
18 Down: NOUN: “heavy fine-grained wood…[used to make] archery bow[s]” – YEW
20 Down: NOUN: “a naval vessel designed to operate underwater” – SUB
25 Down: Puerto ___ – RICO
26 Down: Nobel Prize category, briefly – EXON
27 Down: VERB: “to pointedly tease or mock (someone)” – JAB
29 Down: Astronaut Jemison – MAE
30 Down: Ron who played Tarzan in the 1960s – ELY
This clue set felt pleasantly globe trotting, with lots of place names and short punchy entries that kept momentum high, and the theme note about the missing starting letter added a nice little auditing twist once the grid began to fill. The vocabulary range was solid too, mixing everyday phrases with a few more niche definitions that made you stop and think without tipping into obscure for obscurity’s sake. A couple of the cluing choices leaned a bit loose or jokey in wording, which can cause small speed bumps, but overall it was an engaging solve with a satisfying flow and a fun final consistency check, so I’d rate it 3 out of 5 .
How to Play ‘The Missing Letter’
If you’re new to this Merriam-Webster classic, here’s how the “alphabetical twist” works:
- The Goal: Fill the grid using 25 words that each begin with a unique letter of the alphabet.
- Identify the Gap: Once the grid is complete, determine which of the 26 letters was not used as a starting letter.
- Weekly Reward: Keep track of each daily missing letter; at the end of the week, you can unscramble them to solve the Weekly Mystery Word .
