Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible ingredient for one's gag reflex? (8)
The Minute Cryptic clue “Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible ingredient for one's gag reflex?” (8) was set for Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Below is the answer — blurred until you tap — followed by the definition, the wordplay and why the letters land where they do.
Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible ingredient for one's gag reflex?
(8)
No spoilers — the answer stays blurred until you tap.
The clue, colour-coded
How this clue works
The definition
one's gag reflex?
Our definition here is 'one's gag reflex?' and note the question mark - it flags that our definition is a little stretchy. Our answer will be a word for a gag reflex (if you think outside the box).The wordplay
Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible
This clue's fodder is 'Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible'. We'll use these letters (or some of them) to reach our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s).The answer
The clue reads “Vanilla? Ugh! Terrible ingredient for one's gag reflex?” (8). The definition part — “one's gag reflex?” — points straight at LAUGHTER, and the rest of the clue builds it through wordplay.
Minute Cryptic publishes a short walkthrough for this clue — watch Bluejay’s own explanation →
What LAUGHTER means
The sound of laughing, produced by air so expelled; any similar sound.
“Their loud laughter betrayed their presence.”A movement (usually involuntary) of the muscles of the laughing face, particularly of the lips, and of the whole body, with a peculiar expression of the eyes, indicating merriment, satisfaction or derision, and usually attended by a sonorous and interrupted expulsion of air from the lungs.
laugh
This clue’s puzzle day
This clue was the Minute Cryptic for Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Open the September 16, 2026 puzzle page for that day’s write-up, or browse the full Minute Cryptic archive.