Type 2 to 40 answers with clues, get a numbered crossword layout, and print the puzzle with an answer key as a PDF.
A crossword maker lays your answers out on a grid so that they cross on shared letters, then numbers the squares and lists the clues. This tool tries up to 40 layouts from a seed number and keeps the one that places the most answers, then the smallest grid. In each try the order is set by length plus a little random jitter from the seed, so longer answers tend to go first and each seed gives a different layout. The first answer is written across, and every later answer must cross one that is already there on a matching letter, in the other direction. Two answers never touch side by side, so every run of two or more letters in the grid is one of your answers and nothing else. The sample list of 10 planet and space words (Mercury to Neptune, Moon and Comet) fits an 11 by 11 grid with 10 crossings at seed 1, and all 10 are placed.
Squares are numbered in reading order, left to right and top to bottom. A square gets a number when an across answer or a down answer starts there, and a square that starts both gets one number. In the sample, number 6 is the start of MARS across and of MERCURY down. Across and Down clues are listed in number order. Each clue ends with the letter count in brackets: (7) for Mercury, (3,5) for ice cream and (1-5) for T-shirt. Spaces and hyphens stay in the count but not in the grid. Write each line as the answer, a colon, then the clue. A comma, a bar, a tab or a spaced dash also works, and a comma inside the clue is kept. A line with no clue is allowed, but a puzzle needs clues to be solved.
Every answer needs at least one letter in common with another answer to be crossed, so a word such as AAA cannot join a list of words with no A. Answers that cannot be placed are listed under the grid and in a notice with their count, the PDF leaves them out, and the answer key page says how many. Press New layout to try another seed, or add words that share letters. You can use 2 to 40 answers of 2 to 20 letters each, clues up to 120 characters, and the answers use the letters A to Z only: accents are removed, and a repeated answer counts once. Layouts are not symmetric and there are no black squares. The tool does not make themed shapes, check that clues are good, or fill a grid from a dictionary.
Download PDF makes the puzzle on Letter or A4 paper: the title, the numbered empty grid and the Across and Down clues in two columns. If the clues need more room they continue on extra pages. The last page is the answer key with the letters filled in. The PDF uses the standard Helvetica font, which prints Western European letters (the Windows-1252 set), digits and common punctuation, so a title or clue in another alphabet switches the button off and says why. The words, clues and PDF stay in this tab. On the page, Show the answers on screen fills the grid with the letters.
Type each answer with its clue on its own line, like MARS: The red planet. With 2 or more lines the grid appears at once. Press New layout until you like the arrangement, then press Download PDF for the puzzle and the answer key.
A word can only be placed if it shares a letter with a word already in the grid and fits without touching others side by side. AAA and BBB share no letter, so one of them is left out. The page lists the words not placed. Add words with common letters, or press New layout.
The PDF always ends with an answer key page showing the same grid with every letter filled in. On the page, turn on Show the answers on screen to see the letters in the grid.
The seed is a number from 1 to 999,999 that decides the random choices in the layout. The same words and the same seed give the same grid, so you can note a seed and come back to it. New layout picks a new seed for you.
Yes. Spaces and hyphens are removed in the grid but kept in the letter count, so ICE CREAM shows (3,5) and T-SHIRT shows (1-5). Digits and symbols are not allowed in an answer, and the error message names the line number.
Yes. Press Play this crossword online under the result. It opens the Crossword Puzzle game with your words, clues and seed in the part of the link after the # sign, up to 8,192 characters. Copy the link from the new tab to share it. Browsers never send that part to a server.
No. The text is processed in your browser and not uploaded. The PDF is built on your device. Only the options, such as the title, page size and seed, are saved in this browser, never your words or clues.