Crossword Rules: How to Play, Clue Types and Strategies

What is a crossword?

A crossword is a grid of white and black squares paired with a list of numbered clues. Each clue describes a word or phrase, and your job is to write the answers into the grid, one letter per white square. Answers run either Across (left to right) or Down (top to bottom), and because they interlock, every answer you solve hands you letters for the words that cross it.

That interlocking is what makes crosswords so satisfying. A clue you cannot crack on its own often falls once two or three of its letters are in place, so the puzzle rewards both vocabulary and deduction. Unlike a word search, where the answers are printed for you, a crossword makes you work out every word from a hint.

Crosswords range from five-minute 5×5 minis to sprawling Sunday grids, and from gentle definition clues to the wordplay of the British cryptic crossword. The rules below cover the standard American-style puzzle you will find in most newspapers and apps.

A short history

The first published crossword is credited to Arthur Wynne, a Liverpool-born journalist whose "Word-Cross" puzzle appeared in the New York World on December 21, 1913. It was diamond shaped, had no black squares, and its clues were simple definitions. The name was soon flipped to "Cross-Word", and the puzzle became a regular feature of the paper.

The real boom came in 1924, when Simon & Schuster published the first book of crossword puzzles and it became a bestseller. Newspapers across the United States raced to add their own grids. The New York Times held out until 1942, when it launched its crossword under editor Margaret Farrar, who is credited with shaping many of the conventions still used today. Will Shortz became the paper's crossword editor in 1993 and brought more wordplay and modern references to its clues.

Britain took the puzzle in a different direction, developing the cryptic clue, while countries from Japan to Sweden built their own grid traditions. For a fuller timeline, see Wikipedia's crossword article.

The core rules

A standard crossword follows five conventions. Once they click, every puzzle works the same way:

1. 1One letter per white squareEach white square holds exactly one letter. Black squares are empty and simply mark where words end. Spaces, hyphens and punctuation in multi-word answers are ignored, so "ICE AGE" is written ICEAGE.
2. 2Answers run Across or DownAcross answers read left to right and Down answers read top to bottom. They never run backwards or diagonally.
3. 3Numbers mark where answers startA square carries a number if it begins an Across answer, a Down answer or both. The clue "5-Across" belongs to the word that starts in square 5 and runs to the right.
4. 4Crossing words share lettersWhere an Across answer meets a Down answer, both use the same letter. In an American-style grid every white square is part of two words, so every letter is checked twice.
5. 5The clue must match the answer exactlyClue and answer agree in tense, number and part of speech. A plural clue wants a plural answer, and an abbreviation in the clue (or a word like "briefly") signals an abbreviated answer.

The puzzle is finished when every white square is filled and every Across and Down entry is a real word or phrase that fits its clue.

A worked example

Here is a complete 5×5 mini crossword, the size many newspapers now publish daily. Notice how the grid obeys every rule: two black squares placed symmetrically, every white square in both an Across and a Down word, and no answer shorter than three letters.

Across: 1 Program on TV (4) SHOW; 5 Form or outline (5) SHAPE; 6 Consumed, as dinner (5) EATEN; 7 Something that happens (5) EVENT; 8 Untidy state (4) MESS. Down: 1 Use a razor (5) SHAVE; 2 Can't stand (5) HATES; 3 Unlocks, as a door (5) OPENS; 4 Headed off (4) WENT; 5 Appear to be (4) SEEM. If you solved 5-Across first, the P it gives you makes 3-Down (O?ENS) almost automatic. That chain reaction is the heart of every crossword.

How the grid works

You can solve a crossword without knowing why the grid looks the way it does, but these conventions explain a lot and occasionally help you spot an answer:

• Rotational symmetry. Most American grids look the same when turned upside down. If there is a black square near the top left, there is a matching one near the bottom right.
• Standard sizes. Weekday newspaper puzzles are usually 15×15. Sunday puzzles are larger, typically 21×21. Minis are 5×5 or thereabouts.
• No two-letter answers. American-style puzzles require every answer to be at least three letters long, which is why short, vowel-rich words like ERA, ORE and ALOE show up so often.
• Checked versus unchecked squares. American grids check every letter. British-style grids, including most cryptics, leave some squares unchecked, meaning they belong to only one word, so you get less help from crossings.
• Enumeration. Many puzzles, especially outside the US, print the answer length after the clue, as in "Capital of France (5)". Multi-word answers show each word's length, such as (3,4).

Types of clues

Recognizing the kind of clue in front of you is half the battle. Standard crosswords mix these types:

• Straight definitions. A synonym or short definition: "Canine companion" gives DOG. Easy puzzles are made almost entirely of these.
• Fill in the blank. A familiar phrase with a gap: "Once upon a ___" gives TIME. They are usually the fastest clues in the grid, so start with them.
• Abbreviations. Words like "briefly", "for short" or an abbreviation in the clue itself signal a shortened answer. "Doctor, briefly" gives DR.
• Question-mark clues. A question mark warns you that the clue is a pun or plays on a double meaning. "A fan of current events?" is ELECTRICIAN, because the current is electrical.
• Theme clues. Many daily puzzles hide a theme in their longest answers, often tied together by a final "revealer" entry. Spotting the pattern can crack several long answers at once.
• Cryptic clues. British cryptics combine a definition with wordplay in every clue. They follow a separate set of conventions, covered in our cryptic crossword guide.

How to play: a step-by-step method

There is no single right way to attack a grid, but this routine gets beginners moving and keeps experienced solvers from stalling:

1. Skim every clue once. Read both lists quickly and fill in anything you know for sure. Even two or three answers give you a foothold.
2. Take the fill-in-the-blanks next. They are the most predictable clues, and each one seeds crossing letters for its neighbors.
3. Work outward from what you have. Solve the words that cross your first answers before jumping elsewhere. Each new answer makes the next one easier.
4. Use the letters you already have. A pattern like _A_E narrows a four-letter answer dramatically. Say the pattern out loud and let possible words come to you.
5. Pencil in guesses lightly. If an answer feels likely but not certain, write it faintly or type it and test the crossings. If the crossings make sense, it is probably right.
6. Move on when stuck, then come back. Switch to another corner. Returning with fresh crossing letters, or simply fresh eyes, often breaks the deadlock.

Strategies experienced solvers use

Once the basics feel natural, these habits separate a steady solver from a fast one.

Popular variations

The crossword family is large. These are the variants you are most likely to meet:

• Mini crosswords. Grids of about 5×5 that take a minute or two. They are a great way to learn clue conventions quickly.
• Themeless puzzles. No theme, lower black-square counts and long interlocking answers. Newspapers usually run them late in the week when the difficulty peaks.
• Cryptic crosswords. The British tradition in which every clue is a small riddle with a definition and wordplay. They take practice, but the conventions are learnable.
• Barred crosswords. Thick bars between squares replace black squares, allowing denser grids. They are common in advanced British puzzles.
• Diagramless crosswords. You get the clues and the grid size but not the black squares, so you must work out the shape of the grid as you solve.
• Acrostics. You solve a set of clues, then transfer the letters into a grid that spells out a quotation, with the first letters of the answers giving the author and source.

How difficulty works

Many daily puzzles follow a weekly difficulty curve, and The New York Times is the best-known example. Monday is the easiest, with plain definitions and a gentle theme. Tuesday and Wednesday add trickier clues and more wordplay. Thursday is famous for gimmicks such as rebus squares, where several letters share one square. Friday and Saturday are themeless and the hardest of the week, while the larger Sunday puzzle sits somewhere in the middle.

If you are new, start early in the week and move up a day once you can finish comfortably. Using a check or reveal feature on a digital puzzle is not cheating when you are learning; it is the fastest way to discover which clue conventions you have not met yet. You can browse the current grids on the New York Times crossword page.

Crosswords also pair well with number puzzles. If you enjoy the interlocking logic but want digits instead of words, Kakuro uses a crossword-style grid filled with sums, and Sudoku exercises the same step-by-step deduction.

Common mistakes

Most stuck grids come from one of these habits:

• Forcing an answer. If a word fits the clue but clashes with its crossings, the crossings are usually right. One wrong entry can poison an entire corner.
• Ignoring the length. Always count the squares before writing. A three-letter answer to "Consumed" is ATE, not a longer synonym.
• Taking the clue literally. Surface meanings are designed to mislead. Consider every sense of every word, especially in clues ending with a question mark.
• Skipping the theme. Theme answers are usually the longest in the grid. Ignoring them means leaving the biggest source of crossing letters unused.
• Giving up too soon. Put the puzzle down and return later. The answer that eluded you for ten minutes often appears instantly after a break.

Frequently asked questions