The answer is PASS (4 letters).
Why PASS fits
PASS is the workhorse answer. Overtake in ordinary use means to move ahead of something moving in the same direction, and pass is the plainest synonym. Watch the context, because in racing clues the answer is often LAP, which means overtaking by a whole circuit rather than simply going ahead.
Every answer by letter count
| Letters | Answer | When it is used |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | PASS | General overtaking |
| 3 | LAP | Racing, overtaking by a full circuit |
| 6 | OUTRUN | When the clue stresses speed |
| 6 | BEFALL | Archaic sense, as in misfortune overtook him |
| 7 | OUTPACE | Longer slots, same idea |
| 5 | CATCH | When the clue means to draw level |
Clues that share these answers
- Go by
- Move ahead of
- Leave behind
- Come upon suddenly
- Get past on the highway
The racing sense trips solvers most
LAP is the answer that catches people out, because in ordinary speech overtaking and lapping are not the same act. On a circuit, lapping means gaining an entire lap on a competitor, so you overtake them while being a full circuit ahead. Motorsport clues use it constantly and the three-letter slot is the giveaway.
The archaic sense is the other trap. In older English something could overtake a person the way a storm or a misfortune does, which is why BEFALL sits in the answer list at all. Cryptics still use that reading, usually with an ominous surface.
Overtake as a cryptic building block
In cryptic crosswords overtake frequently functions as an instruction rather than a definition. Take can signal that letters are to be removed, and over can signal a reversal or that one string sits above another. A cryptic clue containing overtake is often not asking for a synonym at all.
American solvers meeting British puzzles get caught by this repeatedly. The rule of thumb is that when a synonym answer refuses to fit the crossings, reread the clue as instructions instead of as a definition.
Confirming it in your grid
Count the squares before committing. If the length matches the row above and one crossing letter agrees, you can fill the rest with confidence. When two answers of the same length both fit the clue, the crossings decide it, and it is usually faster to solve the crossing entry than to argue with the definition.