Crossword: Custom Clues

Your words, placed into a grid

Paste a word list one per line, then the clues in WORD=Clue format. The generator searches for an arrangement where the words interlock, numbers the entries, and prints the Across and Down lists underneath. A solution page is optional.

Up to twenty words, three letters and longer.

Word choice decides whether it will place

Crossword generation is a search problem, and the search succeeds or fails on your list rather than on the settings.

Words interlock on shared letters, so a list rich in vowels and common consonants places easily. A list of long, unusual words with few letters in common will not, however hard the placer tries — there is simply nowhere for them to cross.

Practical rules: keep most words between four and eight letters, avoid having several that start with the same rare letter, and include a few short common words as connectors. If a list refuses to place, shorten the longest words before touching any of the settings.

The placement controls

• Grid size — leave it at 0 to let the generator choose one that fits.
• Require intersection — on, every word must cross another, which is what makes it a crossword rather than a word list on a grid.
• Minimum intersections — raise it for a denser, more connected puzzle and a harder search.
• Backtracking effort — how long the placer keeps trying alternatives before it gives up. High is worth it for an awkward list.
• Minimum length and maximum words.

Writing the clues

The clue is the puzzle. The grid is only the scaffolding.

A dictionary definition is the safe option and gives you a vocabulary test. A clue that makes the solver think gives you something better: for a revision crossword, describe what the thing does rather than what it is, so the solver has to reconstruct the concept to reach the word.

Say what kind of answer you want. If it is a person, hint at that. Solvers work partly from letter counts and partly from category, and a clue that gives neither is unfair rather than hard.

What it is for

Revision, mostly, and it is one of the few revision formats students will do voluntarily. A crossword of this term's key terms takes ten minutes to make and gets completed in a way a glossary does not.

Also: a personalised puzzle for a birthday or a wedding, where the words are names and in-jokes. Those place badly and are worth the fight.

Settings and printing

A title, your words, your clues, and the placement controls. A4 or US Letter, printed at 100%.

For a quick eight-word version there is the mini crossword, which uses the same engine with a smaller grid.