Start where you are sure
Fill in the answers you are confident about first, especially short ones and fill-in-the-blank clues. Every confirmed answer gives you letters in the crossing entries, and crossings are what make long answers solvable.
Learn the crosswordese
Setters lean on short, vowel-heavy words because they make grids work. Words like ERA, ORE, ALOE, EPEE, OLEO, ESNE, ERNE, ETUI and ARIA appear far more in crosswords than in conversation. Recognizing them speeds up solving dramatically.
Read the clue signals
- A question mark at the end of a clue signals wordplay or a pun.
- Abbreviations in the clue usually mean the answer is abbreviated too.
- Tense and number match: a plural clue means a plural answer, a past-tense clue means a past-tense answer.
- In cryptic crosswords, words like broken, mixed or wild often signal an anagram. Our Anagram Solver helps with those.
Use pattern search thoughtfully
When you are stuck on one entry, a pattern search such as _r_s_ narrows the options without giving away the whole grid. Use the Crossword Solver for single words, then check the result against the clue.