Crossword Insights

There’s something about a crossword. A blank grid, a cup of tea, and that lovely moment when a word you were stuck on suddenly fills itself in because of the letters crossing it.

Our Crossword page has 24 puzzles to work through, from quick minis to big weekend-sized grids. This guide explains how to use it, and shares some tricks for reading the clues that will help you finish more of them.

Choosing a puzzle

At the top of the page are two menus. The first picks a category: Food, Travel, Science, Arts, Sports or History. The second picks a size:

Six categories in four sizes makes 24 crosswords, with over 1,500 clues between them. If you’re new to crosswords, start with a Mini. They’re big enough to be satisfying but small enough to finish over a coffee.

The category gives each puzzle its flavour, so you’ll find plenty of themed answers, but crosswords borrow words from everywhere. Don’t be surprised to find an everyday word in the middle of a science puzzle.

Filling in the grid

Click any white square and start typing. The game highlights the whole word you’re working on and the matching clue, and moves along to the next square as you type. A few things make it quicker:

• Click a clue in the list to jump straight to that answer in the grid.
• Click a square again where two words cross to switch between Across and Down.
• Use the arrow keys to move around, and Backspace to go back a letter.
• On a phone or tablet, the puzzle shows its own on-screen keyboard, so your phone’s keyboard doesn’t pop up and cover the grid.

Below the puzzle you’ll find three more buttons. Check marks any letters you’ve got wrong, Show solution reveals the finished grid (untick it to hide it again), and Print gives you a paper copy.

How crossing letters help you

Here’s a tiny made-up example (it isn’t from any of our puzzles). Say you’re given:

• Across: Baked loaf, sliced for toast (5)
• Down: Bright thought, or a plan (4)

The Across answer is easy: BREAD. Now suppose the Down answer crosses BREAD at its E, and that E is the third letter of the Down word. Before you’ve even read the clue properly, you already know the answer looks like _ _ E _. Four letters, E in third place, “bright thought” – it has to be IDEA.

That’s the whole secret of crosswords. Every letter belongs to two answers, so each word you solve gives you free letters for the words that cross it. When a clue has you stumped, go and solve the words around it instead.

Reading the clues

Our clues follow a few simple habits. Once you know them, a lot of clues get easier.

“Pluralized” means the answer is plural. A clue like “Citrus fruits, pluralized” wants LEMONS, not LEMON. It usually means the last square is an S, which is a handy free letter.

“Or” means two meanings. Lots of clues give you two different definitions of the same word, joined by “or”. Something like “Tea cup with a handle, or a face, informally” is MUG. If one half of the clue doesn’t ring a bell, the other half might.

“Briefly” means an abbreviation. If a clue ends in “briefly”, the answer is a shortened form – initials or a clipped word – rather than the full thing.

Match the tense. If the clue is in the past tense, so is the answer. “Walked quickly” wants HURRIED, not HURRY. The same goes for “-ing” words and comparisons like “bigger”.

Blanks are gifts. A clue with a gap in it, like “___ and seek”, is a fill-in-the-blank. These are usually the easiest clues in the grid, so do them first.

Watch for language hints. If a clue says “in Latin”, “in Spanish” or “Scots word”, the answer is from that language. You may not know it, but the crossing letters often will.

More tips for finishing

Start with the short words. Three- and four-letter answers are quick to solve and they give you letters in lots of longer words.

Use Check sparingly. It’s brilliant when a section won’t come together – often one wrong letter is blocking everything. But try to find the mistake yourself first. It’s much more satisfying.

Remember the spelling. Our puzzles use American spellings, so expect COLOR rather than COLOUR and THEATER rather than THEATRE. If an answer is one square short, or the crossing letters don’t quite fit, that might be why.

Finish in one sitting, or print it. The puzzle doesn’t save your answers, so if you close or reload the page, the grid starts empty again. For a big XL puzzle you want to take your time over, press Print and do it with a pen.

Peek, then hide. If you’re truly stuck on one answer, you can tick Show solution, find the word you need, and untick it straight away. Just try not to look at the rest of the grid!

Questions people ask

Is it free?
Yes, all 24 puzzles are completely free, with no account needed.

Which puzzle should I start with?
Pick whichever category you enjoy most, in the Mini size. Once you’re comfortable, move up to Standard, then Large and XL.

Can I play on my phone?
Yes. The puzzle has its own on-screen keyboard on phones and tablets, so you can see the grid while you type.

Will my answers be saved?
No – the grid clears if you leave or reload the page. If you’d like to spread a puzzle over a few days, print it out.

Are these cryptic crosswords?
No, they’re straightforward “quick” crosswords. Each clue is a plain definition, so there are no wordplay tricks to decode.

Over to you

Put the kettle on, open the Crossword page, and pick a Mini to warm up with. And if you’d like something quicker between puzzles, try Word Scramble – ten words, thirty seconds each.

Happy solving!