Crossword Solver

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Consider the all-important theme. Crossword writers frequently use themes or even tell stories with their clever puzzles. For instance, if the theme is ballet, an easy answer to “point of pain for dancers” might be “toe.” The prolific Margaret Farrar is succeeded at The New York Times by Will Weng, who is later succeeded by Eugene T. Maleska. The Universal Crossword is a daily crossword puzzle that is syndicated to newspapers and online publications around the world. The puzzle is created by a team of experienced crossword constructors, who are known for their skill and creativity in the field of crossword puzzles. Image via Universal Crossword Cryptic crosswords are like normal crosswords, but the clues tend to involve wordplay and also have very convoluted, intentionally confusing hints. If you’re doing a cryptic crossword, know that the definition is typically hiding in plain sight, and don’t lose heart! American seamstress said to have made the first American flag at the request of George Washington (1752-1836)

Matt Gaffney likes to start with the theme and then use a divide-and-conquer approach to create his crosswords. Make a first pass in one direction, usually starting with 1 Across, and solve the most obvious clues first. For instance, solve for fill-in-the-blank questions first, as they tend to be more obvious than others. USA Today Crossword: Besides free crosswords, USA Today also offers other games, like sudoku and mahjong. On Dec. 21, 1913, in a Sunday edition of The New York World, the first-ever “word-cross” puzzle appeared. The first-ever cruciverbalist, or person skilled in the creation or solving of crossword puzzles, was a journalist named Arthur Wynne from Liverpool, who’d immigrated to the states. A few weeks after the first word puzzle of its kind appeared, a typesetting error changed the name “word-cross” to “cross-word,” and it’s been called a crossword puzzle since.Repeat these steps, taking breaks occasionally to look at the crossword quiz answers in a new way. Do this until you’re done. Keep considering the theme, look out for anagrams, and consider consulting a synonym and antonym finder to find new words that are similar to the clues. Remember to think outside of the box when trying to fill in those boxes! A puzzle by Jeremiah Farrell published in The New York Times on the day of the U.S. presidential election is a Shrodinger puzzle; 39 Across, “Lead story in tomorrow’s newspaper (!),” can be either BILL CLINTON ELECTED or BOB DOLE ELECTED, and the rest of the puzzle works either way. Start with an easier puzzle, then work your way up. If you’re looking up Monday and Tuesday NYT crosswords’ cheats, don’t discourage yourself by trying a Thursday grid. Easy puzzles are a great place to start, with crosswords later in the week getting progressively harder. Don’t expect to be a wiz at a difficult crossword right off the bat! The book Two Across by Jeff Bartsch tells the story of a romance in which two brainy people communicate their love via clever crosswords. The Universal Crossword was first introduced in 1999, and has since become a popular source of entertainment and mental stimulation for crossword enthusiasts of all ages. The puzzle is known for its clever clues and challenging difficulty level, and is updated daily with new and interesting themes.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Crossword: The dictionary has a ton of word games, and this is just one of them. The World’s Sunday crossword begins to spread to other newspapers. The Pittsburgh Press publishes their first crosswords this year. Word Crossy: Cheats for Word Crossy can be found with our crossword-solver tool. Imagine crosswords but with coin collection and competition. Do your second pass, now with more letters to help you figure out new crossword answers. It’s a good idea to start from the top left and fill in words with some letters already filled in. This in-crossword help will give you more clues. If you’re still struggling, consider trying our anagram solver to help you find words with the letters you have. The most important tip is to practice. Max Deutsch took a month to master the Saturday New York Times crossword, and it required consistent practice, about 46 hours in total. He used a lot of memorization with letter training, memorizing crossword answers and clue pairings and completing a sizable number of puzzles. Practice is a huge piece of the puzzle but not the only piece, as harder puzzles like cryptic crosswords require divergent and flexible thinking.Somewhat ironically, The New York Times complains that crosswords are a “sinful waste” in which solvers “get nothing out of it except a primitive form of mental exercise, and success or failure in any given attempt is equally irrelevant to mental development.” ( The New York Times will later become famous for its top-notch crosswords.) We have the answer for David's role on "Friends" crossword clue in case you’ve been struggling to solve this one! Crossword puzzles can be an excellent way to stimulate your brain, pass the time, and challenge yourself all at once. Of course, sometimes there’s a crossword clue that totally stumps us, whether it’s because we are unfamiliar with the subject matter entirely or we just are drawing a blank. Image via Canva

Map out your grid. If you’re using a simple or free crossword-maker, you can move on to creating your list of clues. If you want to create an in-depth, professional-looking crossword, you’ll want to map out your grid first before moving onto the next step. Professional grids are typically in symmetrical squares; The New York Times crosswords are typically 15 squares by 15 squares. Question marks often imply wordplay or puns. Usually, crossword clues are written with no punctuation at all, so if you see a question mark, it implies that the answer won’t be as straightforward as you’d think. Think of puns, wordplay, homonyms, and less-obvious answers.

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Deletions involve deleting one or two letters to get a different answer. For instance, “mend” minus a letter could be “end” or “men.” Will Shortz, the famed crossword puzzle editor of The New York Times, begins his career. The next few decades are sometimes referred to by crossword fans as “the Shortz era.” If you’re a teacher or a parent trying to learn how to create a crossword puzzle as an educational tool, it’s quite easy! Many editors like homophones, which are words that sound like other words but are spelled differently. “Their,” “they’re,” and “there” are homophones. Did you know that you can actually submit your crosswords to be published? If you’re feeling confident, you can submit your finished, formatted puzzle to places like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or Simon & Schuster.