How to make a crossword
- Type one answer per line with its clue, for example
COMET - Icy visitor with a tail. Up to 40 answers. - Press Make crossword. The grid, the numbers and the Across and Down clue lists appear on a white puzzle sheet.
- Not happy with the shape? Press New layout for another arrangement of the same words. Add a word bank if the puzzle is for younger students.
- Print for a puzzle page and an answer-key page, or copy the clues as text.
How the grid is built
The longest answer goes down first. Each next word is tried at every square where it shares a letter with the grid, in both directions, and kept only where it follows the rules of a proper crossword: it must cross at least one word, a new letter may not touch any letter it does not cross, and the squares just before and after the word must be empty. Among the legal spots it takes the one with the most crossings, then the one that keeps the grid smallest. Because equal choices are broken at random, the tool repeats the whole build 60 times and keeps the best result.
What we tested
On October 14, 2026 we ran the tool’s own functions on 300 random lists of 8 to 24 everyday words (4800 answers in all). An independent check read every row and column of every finished grid and confirmed that each run of two or more letters is exactly one listed answer, starting at its numbered square.
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Answers placed | 4800 of 4800 |
| Lists with every word placed | 300 of 300 |
| Letter runs that are not a listed answer, or wrong numbers | 0 |
| Grids with a disconnected part | 0 |
| Same check with the no-touching rule switched off (to prove the check works) | 580 violations found |
In Chromium the sample space puzzle (12 answers, including SOLAR SYSTEM shown as (5,6)) built a 15x11 grid with 12 numbered clues; printing gave exactly 2 pages, the puzzle and the answer key, with none of the settings on paper; a word that shares no letters with the rest was reported as not connected; and the page fitted a 390 px phone screen with no errors.
Tips for a good classroom crossword
Ten to twenty answers make a puzzle that fits on one page and takes a lesson’s worth of time. Mix long and short words: long words give the grid a spine and short ones fill in the crossings. Write clues the class can answer from what you taught rather than definitions copied from a dictionary, and keep the word bank for younger students or for review sessions. For a puzzle with no clues to write, the Word Search Maker takes the same word list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Built by Derek Giordano · Part of Ultimate Design Tools