Crossword Solver

How to become an expert at solving crossword puzzles?

If you're looking to become the best crossword solver out there, you have come to the right place.

We're here to help you find crossword puzzle answers for these really tricks crossword clues with our online crossword solver.

Simply take a crossword clue and enter it the search bar of the crossword helper. The crossword dictionary that powers our database will very likely already contain the crossword answer you're looking for. Our dataset contains millions of crossword clues and and equal amount of crossword answers that can help you solve even the most cryptic crossword.

Below we've put together everything you need to know to get started to becoming a crossword puzzle expert. So let's get started.

What you should know about Crossword Clues

Almost every crossword puzzle contains that tricky crossword clue that is just hard to solve. If you need some crossword puzzle help check out the following tips:

• The tense used in a clue match the crossword answers. Stick to the same past, future, or present tense that the clue is in when looking for crossword synonyms. E.g., the answer to the clue "said" would be "talked" rather than "talks" or "talking"

• Abbreviations in clues usually mean abbreviated answers. Think of abbreviated notations like roman numerals used in conjunction with letters, e.g. WWII.

• A question mark often implies a wordplay or pun. Generally, crossword clues are written without punctuation marks. The answer might not be straightforward if you see a question mark or exclamation point. These usually point to wordplays or puns.

• Fill-in-the-bank clues are the easiest. These clues are usually idioms, phrases, or pop culture references missing a specific word.

• If there's a theme to the puzzle, keep it in mind. Crossword creators often use themes in their puzzles, e.g., with the theme being basketball, the answer to the clue "scoring a _____" is probably "basket and not "goal".

• Use a crossword solver. In the olden days, some folks used to carry around physical crossword dictionaries. There's no need for that today, simply use an online crossword dictionary.

• Using a pencil will come in handy. If you're solving a crossword puzzle on paper, opt for a pencil instead of a pen. Everyone makes mistakes, so don't make yours permanent.

Newspapers with online crossword puzzles

If you are looking for great places to play word games online here's a list of the best Newspaper crossword puzzles out there that let you play a free crossword:

• New York Times Crossword Puzzle

• Wall Street Journal Crossword Puzzle

• Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzle

• USA Today Crossword Puzzle

• Washington Post Crossword Puzzle

• Boston Globe Crossword Puzzle

Tips on how to solve crossword puzzles

Like with all games there's also a strategy on how to solve a crossword puzzle clues. When solving a normal puzzle, you start with the corners. When solving a word cross you start with the obvious clues first. Already having some answer in the grid will make solving the tricky clues easier as there are already known letters along with the missing letters. If you looking to become an excellent word finder or word solver you need the think of ways to quickly find answers. The best way to do this is to anaylze the answer pattern of specific clue types. So let's break down down the strategy into the following steps:

1. Go through the puzzle horizontally, starting with 1 Across, and find crossword answers for the easy to solve clues first.

2. Now, go through the puzzle vertically, starting with 1 Down, and solve the easier crossword clues first.

3. After your first pass in both directions you should already have common words in your grid which will provide help to solving the trickier clues. Check if you can find words simply based on the already known letters and fill in the crossword answers.

4. Now repeat Steps 1, 2 & 3 until you've added all missing letters and have completes the crossword puzzle.

5. Go through all clues and check your crossword puzzle answers to make sure all horizontal and vertical answers fit the space and answer pattern.

If you still have some missing letters but you're out of answers, don't be afraid to use a crossword helper like an anagram solver which can come in pretty handy especially for the British crossword. Free crossword or not it's no shame to need some crossword help every once in a while. There are just some really though crosswords out there and using a crossword solver with help you solve even the most tricky word clue.

Tip for solving Cryptic crossword puzzles

The most important tip for solving difficult crossword puzzles is to practice. The more you practice, the better you'll become at the game. Thankfully, there are a variety of online tools, such as crossword puzzle solvers or dictionaries, that you can use to help you get better at solving them.

Cryptic crosswords explained

It’s no surprise that cryptic crosswords are challenging to solve; after all, the name itself implies that they ‘cryptically’ conceal their solutions. This type of crossword requires careful reasoning and deduction from often misleading or intentionally confusing clues. Based on their name, you might assume that cryptics have a rich history, and this impression would not be wrong. The first example of this puzzle actually dates back to 1913 but the popularity of these tricky puzzles only began to rise in the 1960s. Since then, these puzzling pieces have been published all over the world including in British newspapers.

Note: Not all British crosswords are cryptic. There is currently no upper limit on the number of clues you can have in a British-style crossword, although an excessive number might be unsolvable due to ambiguity or length. A degree of ambiguity or 'wordplay' is acceptable, as long as the puzzle is solvable. Ambiguity can include anagrams as well as two

How to solve a cryptic puzzle

The Cryptic puzzle is just like any other crossword, except they tend to be a bit tougher and the theme tends to have wordplay in the clues, which often contains intentionally confusing hints. Remember that the explanation is typically hidden in plain site, so don’t lose hope!

Cryptic crossword clues often come in different variaties. Here we've listed a few:

• Anagrams: You need to rearrange the order of the clues to form the crossword answer, e.g. "DEBIT CARD" becomes "BAD CREDIT".

• Reversals: Flip the order of the letters to reveal the answer to the crossword clue, e.g. "SERIF" = "FIRES".

• Homophones: Look for words that sound similar although they are spelled differently, e.g. "ROWS" and "ROSE".

• Containers: To solve this try inserting letters or words into another word to get to the answer, e.g. for the clue "Embryos right to be included in valuable items" the answer is obtained by putting "R" inside of "GEMS" to get "GERMS".

• Deletions: Try removing one or multiple letters to get from the crossword clue to a shorter answer, e.g. "WHEAT" becomes "HEAT".

Of course, it can get even harder! So once you begin to get the hang of being an expert crossword solver, you can start seeking out these exciting and incredibly difficult crosswords!

So have fun and remember we're always here to provide you with a little crossword help!