The answer is ROLE, four letters. A character in a play or film is the part an actor takes, and ROLE is the four-square word for that part. Character is a broad clue, though, so CARD, NATURE, LETTER and PERSONA each answer a different meaning of it.
One Greek stamp behind every meaning
Character comes from the Greek kharakter, an engraved mark or the instrument used to make one. English picked it up in the middle 1300s for a symbol marked or branded on the body, and the word has been spreading into new territory ever since. By the late 1400s it meant a letter or graphic symbol. By the 1640s it meant the sum of qualities that define a person or thing, and by the 1660s a person in a play or novel. By 1712 it meant moral qualities assigned by reputation, and by 1773 it could mean an eccentric, as in quite a character.
Each of those senses now has its own crossword answers, which is why this clue feels slippery. A single word is carrying centuries of drift, and the setter only has to pick one layer. The table below maps the layers to the fills, and the crossings tell you which layer your puzzle is standing on.
Each sense of character and the fill it wants
Find your square count, then match the sense:
| Letters | Answer | Sense of character |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | AIR | An overall impression, as in an air of calm |
| 3 | ILK | Kind or type |
| 4 | ROLE | A part in a play or film |
| 4 | CARD | An amusing, slightly eccentric person |
| 4 | SORT | A kind of person, as in a good sort |
| 4 | TONE | The general feel of a place or event |
| 4 | AURA | A distinctive air around someone |
| 5 | ETHOS | The character of a group or culture |
| 5 | TENOR | The general drift of something |
| 6 | NATURE | Essential qualities |
| 6 | LETTER | A written or printed symbol |
| 6 | REPUTE | Standing or reputation |
| 7 | PERSONA | A public face or mask |
| 11 | PERSONALITY | The long, plain option |
Four letters is the crowded length, but it is less dangerous than it looks. ROLE, CARD, SORT, TONE and AURA begin with five different letters, so a crossing in the first square settles the length on its own. The second square is far less help, because ROLE, SORT and TONE all put an O there. At three squares, ILK suits wording about a kind or category, while AIR suits an overall impression that a person or place gives off.
ROLE was a roll of paper first
ROLE is a French borrowing from around 1600. French rôle meant a part played by a person in life, and it literally meant the roll of paper on which an actor’s part was written, from Old French rolle, a roll of parchment. So the answer preserves an old piece of theater equipment: before an actor had a character, the actor had a scroll of lines. The wider sense of any function someone characteristically performs dates from 1875, and role model is recorded from 1957.
PERSONA has a parallel story. In Latin it meant a mask, the false face worn by actors in Roman theater. English took it up in the early twentieth century, first for a literary character who voices the author and then, in Jungian psychology, for the outward social personality. A clue about a public image or a stage presence is heading toward PERSONA rather than ROLE, and the extra three squares will confirm it.
CARD, LETTER and the less obvious senses
Quite a character is a compliment with an eyebrow raised, and CARD is the crossword version of it. Informal English uses card for an amusing person, often slightly eccentric, which lets a setter write Character and expect four letters with no link to a deck of cards. If the crossings give you a C at the start, stop hunting for a quality and think about a person.
Six squares hold a different trap. LETTER, NATURE and REPUTE all fit, and LETTER and NATURE share only the T in the third square, so almost any other crossing separates them. A clue with a typing or printing flavor points to LETTER. A clue about temperament points to NATURE, and one about standing or good name points to REPUTE.
Frequently asked questions
What is the answer to the Character crossword clue?
ROLE is a common four-letter answer, meaning a part in a play. The clue has many senses, so CARD, SORT, TONE and AURA also fit four squares, NATURE, LETTER and REPUTE fit six, and PERSONA fits seven. The crossings decide which sense is live.
Why can Character mean LETTER?
The word comes from the Greek kharakter, an engraved mark. English used it for an alphabetic letter or graphic symbol from the late 1400s, well before the sense of personal qualities appeared in the 1640s. The symbol sense survives today in typing and computing.
Why is CARD an answer for Character?
Card is informal English for an amusing, often slightly eccentric person, the same idea as calling someone quite a character. When the crossings give you four letters starting with C, test CARD before reaching for a word that describes qualities.
