Each of the clues leads to a four-letter answer which is an anagram of three other answers (Some clues have been shortened to fit better here):
| LINE (A queue) | NEIL (First man on moon) | LIEN (Legal hold) | (The answer to this puzzle) |
| SORE (Achy) | ORES (Bauxite and galena) | ROSE (Flower) | EROS (God of love) |
| TUBS (Bath places) | BUTS (Companion of ifs and ands) | STUB (Injure a toe) | BUST (Boom opposite) |
| SPOT (Dog name) | POTS (Sinks a snooker ball) | POST (Washington newspaper) | STOP (Word on a red sign) |
| RAPT (Fascinated) | PART (Not whole) | TRAP (Snare) | TARP (Waterproof cover) |
| SNIP (Cut with scissors) | PINS (Wrestling bout enders) | SPIN (Turn rapidly) | NIPS (What Jack Frost does) |
| LIAR (Deceiver) | LAIR (Den) | RAIL (Mode of transport) | LIRA (The Euro replaced it) |
| META (Facebook company) | TAME (Not wild) | MATE (Ship officer) | TEAM (Squad) |
The answer to the puzzle must be an unknown word that is an anagram of LINE, NEIL, and LIEN. The only reasonably common word which matches this criteria is NILE.