How to solve a crossword puzzle

The grid

A puzzle crossword, a crossword game puzzle, and a page of cross words are the same object. American puzzles use black squares to cut the grid into words. A number in the corner of a square starts an across word, a down word, or both. The clue list repeats those numbers in two groups.

It crossword puzzles, in the way the phrase shows up in search, are still crossword puzzles: the pronoun does not name a second sport. You solve them by reading a clue, guessing a word that fits the length, and testing it against the word that crosses it. Length is the first filter. A three-letter clue cannot be 'elephant.'

Fair grids give every white square two words. That is why a mini crossword can be short and still sharp. Our 5 by 5 minis use that rule. The 7 by 7 daily splits into four chambers so each three-letter word is checked by another three-letter word. The 9 by 9 Sunday does the same at a larger scale.

A solving sequence

Click a square or a clue. Type a letter. The cursor moves forward in the current direction. Backspace deletes. An arrow key moves and sets across or down to match the arrow. Space switches direction in the square. Tab jumps to the next clue.

Pencil is for guesses you do not trust. Autocheck compares each new letter with the answer key immediately. Check Letter, Check Word, and Check Grid wait until you ask. Reveal does the same scopes but writes the correct letter and marks it blue so you can see what you did not earn.

Start with clues that define concrete nouns. Then fill crossings. If the grid fights you, the earlier letter is usually wrong. Clear puts the diagram back to empty and resets the timer. Progress otherwise stays in this browser until you clear it.

Clue language

A straight clue defines the answer: 'Household feline' for CAT. A blank wants a phrase completion. A question mark warns you that the clue is playful. An abbreviation in the clue often wants a short form in the grid. 'And' inside a clue can join two parts of a phrase the answer must match in order.

The clue page on this site walks through those patterns with examples from our own word list, not from a newspaper's copyrighted clues. Use it when a clue feels like a code. Then go back to the grid and let the crossing vote.

Newspaper puzzles from the New York Times, the LA Times, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal all use this language. Learning it once transfers. You do not need a different method for each logo.

A first grid, square by square

Open the mini. The top row of a Folio 5 by 5 is a block, three white squares, and a block, so the first across word is three letters. The three middle rows run the full width, so those across words are five letters. The bottom row matches the top. Every white square is also in a down word. You can confirm that by selecting a square and pressing space: the highlight should swing from a row to a column, or the other way, and both highlights should cover at least three squares.

Type a letter you trust. The cursor steps forward. If you are wrong, later crossings will complain, or Check Letter will mark the square. Backspace removes the letter and steps back. If you want a guess you can see as a guess, turn pencil on first. Those letters draw lighter. They are still real entries. Clearing the grid drops them, resets the clock, and keeps your autocheck preference so you do not have to set the tools up again.

When the grid matches the key, the timer stops. If any square was revealed, the note says the blue letters were revealed. If you filled every square yourself, the note says every letter matches. That is the whole game. There is no score beyond the clock and that note. You can print the same diagram, solve it on paper, and type the letters in later. The printable page leaves the solution off the sheet.

After the mini feels small, move to the daily. Expect four separate 3 by 3 chambers, not one snaking crossword. Each chamber is a word square of three-letter entries, across and down. The Sunday grid is 9 by 9 and uses five islands of the same idea. Newspaper dailies are commonly 15 by 15 and newspaper Sundays commonly 21 by 21. Those larger sizes leave room for a theme. These sizes leave room to learn the cursor, the checker, and the clue list without a fifteen-minute commitment.

People search puzzle crossword, crossword game puzzle, cross words, and it crossword puzzles for this same object. The spelling changes. The solve does not. A mini crossword is the short version of that object, not a different sport. If a clue mentions and, decide whether and is joining two ideas, as in 'Palm and fingers' for HAND, or whether the answer is the word AND itself. Then let the crossing vote. That vote is the method, on a 5 by 5 and on a Sunday newspaper grid alike.