![]() ![]() Ĭreation – Allows you to create complete crossword puzzles in a user-friendly fashion, but without all the neat add-ons of Crossword Compiler. The online version includes a ‘Reveal Letter’ and ‘Reveal Word’ option, which is great for those frustrating moments when you just can’t solve a clue. Design – Well-designed crosswords in print and online form. For an extra fee their Pro Grid Filler add-on will fill in complete crossword grids to a professional standard. We’ve reviewed the 5 best tools below: Ĭreation – Offers a full range of features including American style crosswords and different shapes. Instead of creating your own grid, you may wish to use an online crossword generation tool. How many points a letter’s worth in Scrabble is also a good guide – the more points it’s worth, the harder it will be to find letters for other clues that match. The graph below shows how frequently different letters are used. J, X, Q and Z are the hardest to find matching words for. E, T and A are the most frequently used (but try to avoid A at the end of a word). For the best results, click Customize in the footer, then scroll down and tick Letters only (crossword puzzle mode).Īim to put letters that appear the most often in English on the intersecting spaces. For example, ?L?E? will give you 75 common words including ALIEN, ALLEY and ELVES. Simply enter the letters you have and question marks for those you don’t and it will show you a list of possible words. OneLook is a fantastic online crossword dictionary. If you’re struggling to find words that fit, there are various crossword dictionaries out there. For cryptic crosswords, I normally figure out what the clue will be for these long words too before I complete the rest of the grid.Ĭrosswords can be tricky to solve, so judge your target audience and make sure that they’ll know the vast majority of words you use both in the answers and clues. This means that if you need to backtrack as you just can’t find a word that fits, it won’t disrupt the whole puzzle.Īs a general rule – start with the longest words. If you start with those, then it neatly divides the crossword into four quarters. This is due to the number of places where the across and down answers interconnect.įor your first puzzle, feel free to use the grid below. The more black spaces, the easier it will be for you to find words that fit and the harder it will be for puzzlers to solve. This works well if it’s a gift for a friend with a short name, or the theme can be summarised down to 3 or 4 letters. Another alternative is to wite something with some of the black spaces. If you rotate them 180 degrees, they’ll look the same. 15x15 is a standard size for many newspapers. 11x11 is a small grid and would be where I’d recommend you start for your very first crossword. Creating the Grid – The manual approachįirst, decide what dimensions you’d like your first crossword to be. ![]() Martin Woods, creator of over 500 crosswords for The Big Issue reveals a step-by-step guide on how to create quick and cryptic crosswords. Millions of people around the globe enjoy solving crosswords. ![]()
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