Crossword Puzzles

Cryptic puzzles, also called cryptograms, rely on wordplay and missing letters that lead to a hidden answer. Cryptic puzzles have their roots in encrypted messages used by governments and the…

Amazon has reworked and improved many aspects of the hardware and software in the Kindle, like increasing the screen's contrast and boosting the battery performance. One of the ways Amazon works to…

"My Mathematical Life" is an educational game developed by Sunburst. The game is a life simulation from high school graduation to retirement. Geared toward middle school and high school students,…

Word games such as crossword puzzles can be a fun activity for both adults and children. In addition to being a mental challenge, crossword puzzles also have the potential to be an effective learning…

Cryptic clue fest is an annual event held by the maker's of "RuneScape." It is available to both free and member players and offers special prizes that cannot be won at any other time. This event…

Doing jigsaw puzzles is a great brain-building activity. Not only does it build observation skills, it can improve spatial reasoning and memory. Plus it's fun, too! Puzzles come in many sizes, but the…

The crosswords in "TV Guide" contain a mixture of general-topic clues and clues relating specifically to television shows. Most of the television clues involve the names, characters or casts of shows,…

You can create your own crossword puzzles for kids and adults using a free crossword puzzle maker. You supply the words and hints and the puzzle maker does all the work. You can print out one or more…

If you spend your Sundays doing the New York Times crossword puzzle, you may think you know so much about crossword puzzles that you can create your own. If so, you are not alone. According to Will…

A fill-in word puzzle includes empty blocks you complete vertically and horizontally. As the letters intercept, a new word forms to help you solve the missing letters. To complete the fill-in puzzle,…

Wooden puzzles come in all shapes and sizes, some even in three dimensional figures. The difficulty of a wooden puzzle is part of its fun, but if you have been struggling at your puzzle for too long,…

Crossword puzzles sometimes require more than a knowledge of words. Sometimes they require new ways of thinking. The makers of crosswords often come up with bizarre clues for ordinary words.

Crossword puzzles are a popular pastime. You can find one in most newspapers, and there are crossword puzzle websites, books, and online tools for generating them. These tools make it easy to create a…

Puzzles come in many styles -- from logic puzzles to jigsaw puzzles -- and they are all designed to test our reasoning abilities. Difficult or hard puzzles will challenge even the most intelligent…

Crossword puzzles could be considered one of the most popular word games in the world. However, they have a relatively short history: though the first published crossword appeared in an Italian…

Crossword puzzles are a fun and strategic way of exercising the brain. Setting up your own crossword puzzle on paper is easy, but several computer and web-based programs offer more options, allowing…

Countless English speakers worldwide enjoy crossword puzzles as a pastime or fun educational tool. The completely interlocking crosswords found in newspapers and magazines are made using specialized…

Creating crossword and cube puzzles has never been easier. The Internet offers many programs that require users to merely enter in basic information about formatting and content, and the programs do…

"To govern." That was the first clue of the first published crossword puzzle, created in 1913 by Arthur Wynne. (The answer was "rule.") On Feb. 1, 1930, the New York Times published its first…

A fossil crossword puzzle is a regular crossword puzzle. The thing that makes it different is that all the questions and answers are related, in some way, to the subject of fossils.

Creating a crossword puzzle can be a challenge for a wordsmith, but making the grid to build the crossword on is a simple enough project. The most common grid size for a crossword is 15-by-15, but…

Amazon's Kindles are small, portable electronic reading devices that allow individuals to download and read digitized books, magazines and newspapers. The Kindle editions with Internet access expand…

Time goes by faster when you have a crossword puzzle to complete during a long wait time in a doctors office or on a long commute home from work. You can even create your own customized crossword…

Crossword puzzles are a mixture of vocabulary, logic, pop culture and spacial thinking that all combine to create a game often associated with intellect. These puzzles have been solved by regular…

Crossword enthusiasts may wish to create their own puzzles to their specific tastes. It is possible to do so with a word processing program such as Microsoft Word. You can make your puzzle as large or…

A crossword puzzle is a challenging word game based on a grid. Players use the accompanying hints and numbered squares to guess the answers that will fit into specific areas of the grid. The numbers…

Crossword puzzles are a way to challenge your mind, increase thinking speed, and jog your memory. They can be used in the classroom to reinforce new concepts and ideas in a fun, entertaining, and…

You can make free, personalized crossword puzzles online to suit any occasion. You could fill a puzzle with inside jokes to give to family and friends, or design a crossword puzzle study aid for your…

As we age, our mental capacity may decline, resulting in memory loss and concentration issues, among other various cognitive problems. While proper diet and regular exercise contribute to keeping the…

If you want to make your own professional looking crossword puzzle, it's easy to do online. You might want to make a puzzle to use as a party invitation or as an activity or game for a family reunion.…

Crossword puzzle enthusiasts thoroughly enjoy completing crossword puzzles, while others find it just as much fun to create them. The Internet provides numerous websites for creating your own math…

Addiction comes in many forms: alcohol, drugs, crossword puzzles. You know you are addicted when the first thing you do every morning is pull out your paper and begin working on the crossword puzzle.…

Whether you've never filled in an answer or you're a Sunday Times regular, crossword puzzles are fun, challenging and come every day in most major newspapers. The most most people do puzzles, the…

Crossword puzzles are fun for children. They also help build brain power and strengthen reasoning skills. You can make crossword puzzles yourself to help your children with schoolwork or just to keep…

Whether you consider yourself to be a crafty, do-it-yourself type or simply hate to throw things away, it can be rewarding to repurpose items destined for the junk pile. If, after nights of reading,…

In the just under 100 years since their inception, crossword puzzles have become one of the most popular and widespread word games in the world. They are created for classrooms, magazines, newspapers…

Crossword puzzles have been a treasured but challenging pastime since the early 1900s. You are given clues and told the number of letters in each answer word, but that doesn't necessarily make it…

Creating a crossword puzzle is an entertaining way to learn new vocabulary words and can be done around almost any theme. Simple puzzles are fairly easy to create with graph paper and a pencil. To…

The periodic table of the elements is one of the primary tools needed for the study of chemistry. Contained in the table is a great deal of information regarding the elements and their atomic…

Crossword puzzles are a great way to pass the time. When on long road trips and other forms of entertainment are not available, you may want to create crossword puzzles for your kids. This not only…

A mainstay of newspaper entertainment pages, crossword puzzles can sharpen the mind as you try to figure out words from the creatively cryptic clues. A personalized crossword makes a wonderful gift…

Cryptic (or British) crosswords can be the most challenging of puzzles. Though they mostly appear in America only in magazines ("Harper's," "The Atlantic") or collections, they are very popular in…

When riding on public transport or sitting idly in a cafe, a crossword puzzle is an excellent way to pass the time. Although widespread now, the puzzles you know today have a relatively short history.

Crossword puzzles can be fun and educational. With so many crossword puzzle software programs available on the market and on the Internet, you can easily create your own crossword puzzles and use them…

Accomplishment isn't always measured in money and big corner offices. Something as simple as solving a difficult crossword puzzle can be equally as fulfilling. Actually, anyone who has solved a…

The Sims 2 is a simulation game in which you play God and control the lives of your characters. You decide which goals, wants and needs they can fulfill and which ones they can't. In order to make the…

The first crossword puzzle was published in the "New York World" newspaper on December 21, 1913. Today, there are many daily devotees of this word puzzle, including former president Bill Clinton,…

Providing the answers for a crossword puzzle is a must. Learn different ways to provide answers for a crossword puzzle in this free video on creating word games.

Use a dictionary as a reference when writing definition clues. Learn how to write clues for a crossword puzzle in this free video on creating word games.

The clues used to define a word often depend on the intended audience. Learn the types of crossword puzzle definition clues in this free video on creating word games.

The number system for crossword puzzles has evolved over the years. Learn how to number a crossword puzzle grid in this free video on creating word games.

Avoid using unusual words when making a crossword puzzle. Learn tips for choosing words to put in a crossword puzzle in this free video on creating word games.

A word in a crossword needs to be easy to define and playable. Learn the criteria for choosing words for a crossword puzzle in this free video on creating word games.

Start making a crossword puzzle by putting one or two letters into the grid. Learn how to put words into a crossword puzzle that you are making in this free video on creating word games.

A crossword answer shouldn't rely entirely on the clue. Learn how to make a crossword puzzle in the cryptic style in this free video on creating word games.

British style crosswords avoid using unusual words. Learn how to make a British or North American style crossword puzzle in this free video on creating word games.

A good grid is the difference between a real crossword puzzle and an amateur effort. Learn how to make a crossword puzzle grid that's square and has rotational symmetry in this free video on creating…

Crossword puzzles are a great way to keep your brain stimulated. Crossword puzzles books come in all shapes in sizes, so you can use them while waiting at the airport or even while you're winding down…

Crossword puzzles are annoyingly addictive and dreadfully difficult, but fortunately, there are ways to improve your skill. There are no magic powers while playing (that we know of), and you can't…

Cryptic crosswords are trickier than regular crossword puzzles because every clue in a cryptic crossword is a puzzle itself. Each clue contains some sort of wordplay in addition to the definition…

Diagramless crossword puzzles seem impossible until you know the two secrets to solving them--the clue numbers and the symmetry. With a little practice, any crossword lover can solve a diagramless…

No matter how old a person gets, they are never too old to enjoy a good crossword puzzle. You can buy from thousands of puzzle books, but there is no need to do that when it is so easy to make your…

In a perfect world for the vision impaired, menus and birthday cards would automatically come in large print. Since this isn't a perfect world, one must adapt as necessary. Crossword puzzles can…

Ever watch someone jot down the solutions to a crossword puzzle in pen? It's a sure sign of confidence. However, there's always the possibility that some or all of the solutions are incorrect. After…

Crostic crossword puzzles originate from a form of poetry that predates the birth of Christ. In fact, the earliest form of crostic is credited to Quintus Ennius, a Roman who drafted a poem in which…

Solving interactive crossword puzzles online can be gratifying, especially since you can access several different crossword puzzles every day. However, some crossword puzzle aficionados prefer the old…

Since its inception in 1851, the New York Times has become noted for holding several records. For one thing, it's the largest daily newspaper published in the U.S. For another, the New York Times has…

For crossword puzzle enthusiasts, completing the "New York Times" oversized Sunday puzzle (which appears every week in the magazine section) can be as addictive as sex, and often more rewarding. But…

Crossword puzzles provide hours of wordplay enjoyment, and they also increase your vocabulary. With some practice and a few hints, you'll be scribbling down the answers with ease.