Are there spaces in a crossword puzzle

Try www. The longer the answer, the better. These answers should be the longest in your puzzle and the letters should take up 40 to 50 squares. The themed answers don't have to cross each other, but they must be placed symmetrically: In other words, if "Cat in the Hat" is an answer, and the answer is going to run across the puzzle, make sure you leave as many blank spaces to the left of the first letter c as you leave to the right of the last letter t.

If one answer starts four spaces from the top, and starts on the left edge of the puzzle, make the next one start four spaces from the bottom, and end at the puzzle's right edge.

When you're done, the puzzle should look the same upside down as it does right-side up. These squares will determine how long the other words in the puzzle can be, and where they will cross. The black boxes must be symmetrically placed.

Avoid creating L-shaped, or elbow, constructions because they're ugly. Each daily puzzle has 35 to 40 black squares. The words must be at least three letters long. Phrases and brand names also are acceptable, as long as they're widely known. Words with lots of vowels are easiest to build around. Words with unusual letters j, q, x, z, k, w are prized by most puzzlemakers. Daily puzzles have 72 to 78 words at most.

Is there a program with a blank grid in which I can enter my words, black out the spaces and make ready to print? You can do it through the puzzlefoundry.

It also has a crossword builder and word-pattern search functionality. Not Helpful 16 Helpful I'm making my own crossword. How can I black out or delete spaces that are not filled with a word? You can black them out with a pen or marker, if you've printed it out. If you're doing it on the computer before printing, you can do it with Paint or a similar program using the paint bucket tool. Not Helpful 14 Helpful Highlight the number of squares that will be used, then click border.

It will make your crossword puzzle stand out. Not Helpful 17 Helpful No, crosswords are made for people to think about the answer, not to be inputted by provided answers.

Not Helpful 27 Helpful There are many websites that allow you to create crossword puzzles. Most of them ask you for a grid size, the words you have chosen, and hints. On those websites, the placement of words is random. You could also use applications like MS Paint to create a crossword puzzle. There's really no practical reason for it. It's just an esthetic tradition.

You could construct a puzzle just as easily without that symmetry! No, but it would be good if you use words that most people would know. Not Helpful 6 Helpful Because in crosswords words are conjoined.

If there is a small word such eg. There is no rule saying you can't use short words. You might want to make it easy to figure out or maybe you've found a word that is hard to find e.

Not Helpful 5 Helpful How do I make a crossword puzzle related to science and how do I make one without printing it out? Starting off, you will need to make a list of words you want to be in your crossword. Don't make it a huge list because you might not be able to fit all of them in.

Next draw a square grid, preferably 15 by 15 squares. Then use a pencil to draft your words onto the grid, remembering to erase them off once you are done.

This is the chance to remove any words you couldn't fit on the grid from your list. The words have to be written in a conjoined format as shown above. Then you must prepare clues for your words so the person figuring it out can actually do it.

Write the the clues where the person can easily refer to them. Not Helpful 9 Helpful 8. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published.

Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References Co-authors: Updated: August 10, Categories: Word Games. Article Summary X To make a basic crossword puzzle, make a list of the words you want to use in your puzzle and then arrange them both horizontally and vertically in a grid format.

Those are usually the easiest. You already know more than you think you do. Your brain will fill them in even when there is no blank. Try this puzzle, with all fill-in-the-blank clues, and watch your brain work in ways you might not have expected:. Tip: You can confirm whether an answer is right by solving the entries that cross it. Crosswords are a game, and games are supposed to be fun. But even brains get tired, so if you are stuck at some point in the puzzle, one of the best things you can do is put it down and take a break from it for a while.

Your wheelhouse might be stuffed with sports trivia. In fact, you never know when it could lead to something more, like a marriage proposal. Solving a New York Times crossword is not easy, but it should be satisfying. Even if you only get a few answers the first few times, keep on solving. It just gets easier — and better — from there. Try to master the skills you need to get started, and then push yourself to go further into the week.

Clue: A crossword clue is a hint that the solver must decipher to find the answer that is then entered into the puzzle grid. Clues are not necessarily dictionary definitions; they can involve puns, anagrams and other types of wordplay. Crossing: The intersection between an Across entry and a Down one. Entry: The answer to a clue that solvers write into the crossword puzzle.

Entries that are part of a theme are called — wait for it — theme entries. Fun fact: In a typical American-style crossword, an entry must have at least three letters. Fill-in-the-blank: A clue that contains a blank where the answer goes. One of the easiest types of clues to solve. For comparison, the size of a Times daily crossword is 15x15 and the Sunday crossword is 21x Some good news about crossword puzzles: A clue and answer pairing will always be fair, even if it takes solvers a while to see it.

But how are you supposed to win? How are you supposed to beat your braggart of an officemate in a solving race?

The key is to learn some easy-to-remember ways to read those devilish crossword clues. If a clue is in a certain tense such as past tense , then the answer has to be in that tense as well. This is an easy rule to start with that will immediately improve your solving. Give your new knowledge a try with this mini.

Some clues and answers will be present tense, some will be past tense. Just remember to make sure that the tenses of each clue and its answer match. Read the clues carefully! If a clue is primarily a noun, the answer will be a noun. If the clue is primarily a verb, the answer must be a verb. And so on. Take the word BOOK, for example.

BOOK can be both a noun and a verb, so you may see a noun clue or a verb clue for the word. The answer will be the same, but how you get there will be very different. In both cases, the answer would be BOOK. Then, come back when you have enough letters filled in from the crossings to solve the rest of the entry. See if you can keep your plurals matching. No surprise here. If you see a foreign language clue, expect a foreign language answer. If there is a non-English word or phrase in the crossword, the clue will signal it by either including a word or phrase in the same language, or by connecting the answer to a place where that language is spoken or a person who might speak it.

For the most part, foreign words or phrases included in puzzles they are very common words that most people will know, providing they paid attention in their high school language classes. And remember: If you need to, take a break and come back to the puzzle. And work those crossings. They just want you to stretch your mind a bit. Some clues can be split between different entries in order to connect the answers. All you have to do is follow the instructions.

Get some practice on these clues. So let your mind wander and try to think of possible partners for the word in the clue. In general, solvers will see some sort of signal that an entry is an abbreviation, an initialism or an acronym, although that signal may vary.

Some of the signals you see might include:. Occasionally, you will see abbreviations in the clues that have nothing to do with abbreviations in the answers. For reasons of succinctness, some words in clues are nearly always abbreviated, like "U. You now know enough clue secrets to get you most, if not all the way, through an early week puzzle. Ready to try it? Will Shortz has selected 11 of his favorite Monday puzzles from our archive for you, so you can get some practice.

Here's a sampling — hand-picked by Will Shortz — to get you started. Learn from them and move on. Above all, have fun.

Constructor: The person who creates the crossword puzzle. In other countries, the constructor might be called a compiler or setter.

Cross-Reference: Two entries whose clues are linked to each other. In the Mini Crossword below, 1-Across and 4-Across are cross-referenced. Grid: The diagram of black and white squares that contains the entries. Most daily puzzles are 15 squares by 15 squares and most Sunday puzzles are 21 squares by 21 squares.

Interlock: The crossing of entries inside the grid. In theory, a solver should be able to solve from any section of a puzzle to another without having to stop. Symmetry: Standard crosswords have degree rotational symmetry, which means that if you turn a crossword puzzle upside down, the black and white squares will still be in the same place.

Word count : The word count is the number of answers in a crossword. In a New York Times crossword, a themed 15x15 square puzzle typically has no more than 78 answers. A 15x15 themeless puzzle has a maximum word count of 72 answers. A 21x21 Sunday puzzle usually has no more than answers. From being duped by magic tricks to pondering those brain-twisting crossword clues, why do humans so love being fooled?

Of course, some solvers say simply that figuring out a really tricky clue makes them feel smart. Tip: A question mark at the end of a clue means that it should not be taken at face value. The answer is likely to be a pun, a misdirection, or some other type of wordplay. Ask yourself if the words in the clues might have different meanings from the ones you think they do. These are the forehead slappers of crossword clues. The puzzle maker and the editor are playing around with words and phrases in a clue like this, so free your mind up and think about other ways the words in the clues might be used.