They might wipe the slate clean

The crossword question is likely related to a word associated with cleaning a writing surface, such as a blackboard or a whiteboard. The answer to this question is “erasers.” Erasers are commonly used to clean or remove markings from a writing surface, hence the phrase “wipe the slate clean.” Erasers come in various shapes and sizes, including pencil erasers and larger block erasers that can be used on a marker board. In summary, the answer to the crossword question “They might wipe the slate clean” is “erasers.”