How to Make a Printable Crossword Online

Create your own crossword puzzle in minutes

Are you the type of person who love's combing through the Sunday paper to find the crossword puzzle looming on the back page? Do you fancy yourself a puzzle expert of unrivaled skill? Why not put all your crossword knowledge to good use and create a puzzle of your own. Though you may never have thought it possible, creating a crossword puzzle can be a fairly easy task. Thanks to the Internet, there are many websites that allow you to customize a puzzle in mere minutes. Say goodbye to merely solving crossword puzzles and amaze your friends by having them solve a puzzle customized entirely by you.

Instructions

1. Navigate to a free puzzle-maker website like crosswordpuzzlegames.com or puzzlemaker.discovery.com. Crosswordpuzzlegames.com has a simple crossword puzzle format with clues printed neatly at the bottom of your puzzle. The puzzle-maker site at discovery.com offers users an opportunity to not only make a crossword puzzle, but to use the same entered information to make other world puzzles.

2. Click on the Create a Puzzle option and give your puzzle a title in the available box. For instance, if you decide to give your puzzle a theme your title might reflect as much: a horse lover might use "Sublime Equines" while a bear lover might emphasize "The Bear Facts."

3. Decide on the number of squares you would like to have in your puzzle; 50 x 50 squares is usually the default setting. The number of clues that you have available determines the look of your puzzle. The default number gives your puzzle an even look and is advisable to use if you have at least 20 clues. If you have less than that, you may want to use a 30 x 50 or a 40 x 50 square pattern which will elongate your puzzle and give it a more balanced look.

4. Type the answer in the clues box followed by a space and then the question or clue. Press enter and repeat until you have typed out all of the clues and answers you want in your puzzle. Regardless of the website you chose to use, there is between a 25 to 30 character limit for entering clues. When coming up with clues, it is sometimes helpful to imagine that you are writing a test or quiz for someone. You want the quiz-taker to have enough information to answer the question, but still be challenged. For instance, the clue is "a legendary inventor with a northern New Jersey town named for him." The answer to the clue would be Thomas Edison.

5. Click the Create Puzzle option and your puzzle is now visible on your screen. Click the Print Puzzle option to print the puzzle. Your puzzle is now complete and ready for your friends to solve.

References

• Puzzle Maker Criss Cross
• Crossword Puzzle Games