Your words and clues, turned into a real crossword — numbered grid, Across and Down clues and an answer key. Free, in your browser, no sign-up.
Live preview · page 1 puzzle, page 2 answer key
A crossword only works if every square belongs to a word with a clue. This maker checks that for you: two answers meet only on a letter they share, no answer runs alongside another one, and the numbers go left to right, top to bottom, so 1-Across and 1-Down start on the same square when they share it. Longer words go in first and the shorter ones are fitted around them; out of 40 layouts it keeps the one that places the most words in the tightest grid.
Clues work best when a child can answer them without looking anything up: a sound (“It says moo”), a job (“It pulls Santa’s sleigh”) or a fill-in (“Twinkle, twinkle, little ___”). For spelling practice, use the week’s words as answers and a short definition as each clue. Pair it with the word search maker for the same list, or try the word scramble maker.
Put the details after a # in the address and this page opens with the worksheet already filled in — handy for a class newsletter, a bookmark or a link from a chat assistant. The part after # stays in your browser; it is never sent to our server.
Parameters
#preset= a ready list: halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, animals, space#lines= your own words, each as ANSWER - clue#title= the puzzle titleCombine several with & (for example #title=…&words=…). Separate list items with |.
Examples
Type one word per line with its clue after a dash — “OWL - A bird that hoots at night” — or pick a ready list. The grid is built as you type: answers cross only where they share a letter, the squares are numbered in reading order and the clues are split into Across and Down. Press Print to get the puzzle on page 1 and the filled-in answer key on page 2.
Up to 20 lines, each answer 2–15 letters. Eight to twelve words makes the best page for kids: the grid stays big enough to write in (it never grows past 19 × 19 squares) and the clues fit in two columns.
A word has to share at least one letter with the grid to cross it, and it can never touch another word side by side — that would create letter pairs nobody asked for. Words that cannot be placed are listed under the preview. Add a word that shares letters with them, or press Shuffle: each shuffle tries 40 new layouts and keeps the one that places the most words.
Answers are written in plain capital letters, so “ice cream” becomes ICECREAM and “T-Rex” becomes TREX, the way printed crosswords do it. Accented letters lose the accent. Clues can contain anything.
Tick “Print a word bank” and every answer is listed at the bottom of the puzzle, in alphabetical order. Younger kids then match clues to words instead of recalling them from scratch — a gentler start for ages 6–7.
No — the crossword is built entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server: your last list is saved only in this browser, so it is still there next time. There is no watermark, account or fee.