What do crossword puzzles look like

Learn why people trust wikiHow. Download Article Explore this Article parts. Printable Crossword Template. Related Articles. Article Summary. Part 1. Decide on a grid size. If you're using an online crossword puzzle maker or puzzle-making software, you may be restricted to a certain range of available sizes.

Make a list of words for your crossword puzzle. Usually you'll select words according to a theme of your choosing. Examples of common themes include foreign places or languages, words from a certain time period, famous people, and sports. Lay the words out in a grid format. This part of the process can feel as challenging as actually solving a crossword puzzle.

Once you've laid the words out, black out any unused squares. Every letter should correspond to both an Across word and a Down word, and be totally interconnected. If the answer to a clue is a phrase rather than a single word, there should be no spaces between the words. The answers should not include punctuation either. Many crossword puzzle creators automatically lay the words out for you. All you do is specify puzzle size and input the list of words and clues.

Number the starting square for each word. This can also be pretty mind-bending, and many people prefer to use software instead of doing it all manually. If you're using a crossword puzzle creator, it will handle the numbering for you automatically. Create a copy of the crossword puzzle. This time the starting square for each word should be numbered, but the squares themselves should be otherwise blank. Set aside the filled-in puzzle for use as an answer key. You can make as many copies of the blank one as you need.

Part 2. Begin with some straightforward clues. Add another level of challenge with indirect clues. These generally involve some sort of metaphor, or rely on lateral thinking. Use cryptic clues. This type of crossword clue is far more popular in the UK than in the US. They rely on various kinds of word play, and usually involve multiple levels of puzzling out. There is a huge number of sub-types within the cryptic clue category.

Reversals require solving a cryptic clue and then reversing the solution. Organize the clues in list form. Number them according to their placement in the puzzle. List all the Across clues together in ascending numerical order, and list all the Down clues together in ascending numerical order. Some crosswords contain a set of entries that all have something in common. Puzzle makers have a knack for spotting oddities in our language, and when they can put enough of the same kind of oddity together, they have developed a theme set.

As the solver, you not only get to do the crossword puzzle, you also get to piece together the theme. But most commonly they involve playing with words. They can use puns, anagrams, hidden words, common elements, letters added to familiar phrases to make new phrases, and much more. Some puzzle themes have visual themes. Be on the lookout for these, because they can be amazing.

Once you understand the theme and can guess what the other theme entries might be, you will have a leg up on solving the rest of the puzzle. Themes can be placed anywhere in the crossword grid, depending on the creativity of the puzzle constructor. But most commonly it will be in the longest Across and Down entries. Below is how these answers were clued in this puzzle. But do notice that these particular entries cover a range of topics: Topography, pop culture, sports and, well, a pun about book covers.

Some themes change part of a familiar word or phrase to make a pun. Three more long Across answers work similarly. In this puzzle, the theme entries were clued to make you think. Now imagine opening your Sunday New York Times Magazine to the crossword and seeing a museum come to life. Guggenheim Museum in New York City:. In this puzzle, the black squares imitate the spiral shape of the halls of the Guggenheim Museum, and works of art that hang in the museum can be found throughout the puzzle by artist name, along with the name of the museum and other bonus theme content.

The Times has even run puzzles where solvers had to write the theme outside the grid. Talk about thinking outside the box! There is so much wonderful variety in New York Times crossword themes. These examples are just to get you started, but once you dive in and start solving, prepare to be surprised by the incredible creativity of the puzzle makers. She believes that, with enough peer pressure, anyone can learn to solve crosswords and enjoy them.

Twitter: NYTimesWordplay. How to Get Started. They make you a calmer and more focused person. Becoming a good solver is about understanding what the clues are asking you to do. Look at me. I do The New York Times crossword puzzle every day, and I once tried to shoot a basket on the wrong hoop when I was on my 6th grade basketball team. Crossword puzzles are not about intelligence, they are about keeping your mind nimble and knowing what the sneaky trickster Will Shortz is asking of you.

Show Will Shortz who's boss by attempting the puzzle! It's fun, really! There is no shame in missing an answer or not finishing the puzzle. The key is learning what you missed.

The more puzzles you solve, the easier it gets. Try these clues that are designed to be easy for most people: 1. Ready for another mini?

The Mini Fill-in-the-Blanks Try this puzzle, with all fill-in-the-blank clues, and watch your brain work in ways you might not have expected:. Now what do you do? Still not sure looking things up is fair? Solve it any way you like. Solve With a Friend Tip: Solving with another person can work to your advantage. Are you ready to take your solving a step further?

Words to Know Clue: A crossword clue is a hint that the solver must decipher to find the answer that is then entered into the puzzle grid.

Fill: A general term for the words or phrases that fill a crossword. The Mini Tenses Read carefully! What would be the answer for these two clues? The Mini Part of Speech How well do you know your parts of speech?

Try this mini on for size. If a clue is plural, the answer has to be plural. The Mini Plurals See if you can keep your plurals matching. The Mini Cross-References Get some practice on these clues. The Mini Partners Partner up with this mini.

Some of the signals you see might include: Abbr. The Mini Abbreviations Can you tacking this mini, briefly? Words to Know Constructor: The person who creates the crossword puzzle. Occasionally, left-right or mirror symmetry is used instead. Cracking the Harder Clues. Puzzles are a kind of nonthreatening way to remind us that there is still mystery in the world. Here are some more clue types to conquer:. More Clue Types Clues With a "? But what if we told you that the answer is a four-letter word?

The phrases I settle on need to be symmetrical in length so they can offset each other in the grid. The only exception is an entry going across the middle of the grid, which provides its own symmetry. Did I miss any good ones? Let me know in the comments if so. Black square placement is next, guided by some long-established rules: Entries must be at least three letters long, so no TV Guide -style two letter words allowed.

And finally, the maximum word count permitted in the grid is Now for the toughest part of the process: Filling the grid, and not just with words that fit but with ones that are fun as well. My apologies to Mos Def, sometimes you have to change the grid. Usually your theme answers are the long ones that run across the grid, but sometimes you can sneak them in the corners, and this is really nice, royal flush happens to be 5 and 5, so I'm gonna put those in the corners.

A devotee of Dionysus, which I had to look up, and we'll finish this out here with F Major and tata for now. Pretty cool. So now that you've set the grid it's time to write the clues. There are easier clues on a Monday, harder clues later in the week, that's up to the editor's discretion, but let's write some clues for this puzzle. Alright, well let's start with one of the themers. Life-jacket could be clued as sea safety need. Texan, an easy Monday clue might be El Paso resident.

You always see U in the puzzle, we'll put it in the clue here. Umate for ram, and then let's put a tricky one in for Tony and do Bea Arthur won one for Mame, I think. Once you've written your clues you have to do a final check to make sure that none of the words in the clues appear in the grid already. So, I couldn't have for example for Texan, the clue could not be one who lives in El Paso because I have ones already as an answer in the grid, so El Paso resident works there.

And, voila, now you know how to make a New York Times crossword puzzle. And I couldn't help myself, I hid another puzzle in this video, the answer is a word that has to do with this theme. So, don't go any further, if you want to solve it go back and take a look. I'll wait. So how'd you do? Did you notice the different letters on my lapel pin? And you may have noticed that my shirt was changing color.

And that will help you put those letters in order. Diamond, which nicely completes our royal flush theme. And just for fun I hid three other words in the video as well that complete the set, but I'm not gonna tell you where those are.