Crossword Puzzles for Beginners
5 puzzlesPlay online or printAnswer keysLarge print
If crosswords have always looked like a closed club, start here. These puzzles are the gentlest on the site: small 9x9 grids from the numbered Easy Crossword series and themed puzzles on familiar topics like colors, animals, telling time and spring.
The Easy clue set is the default on every puzzle, and it is written for someone who has never solved before. Clues say what they mean. A clue might be a simple definition, a fill-in-the-blank from a common phrase, or a short description of something you can see. There are no puns or hidden tricks in the Easy set.
Solving online gives a beginner a safety net. Check looks at a letter, a word or the whole grid and marks what is wrong, and Reveal fills in a single letter, a word or the full puzzle. A good habit is to use Check first, since it tells you something is off without handing over the answer, and save Reveal for the clue you truly cannot crack.
Paper works too. Each puzzle prints on two pages, puzzle then answer key, so a parent or teacher can solve alongside a new solver and peek at page two only when both are stuck.
Puzzles
Tips
Pick a theme you know, read every clue before writing, and fill in the fill-in-the-blank clues first, since they are usually the quickest. Each answer you place gives you letters for the words that cross it.
When the Easy set starts to feel quick, switch the toggle to Medium on a puzzle you have already done. The grid stays the same and the clues get a little less direct, which is a comfortable way to move up. Our guide to solving crosswords walks through numbering, Across and Down, and common clue types.