Crossword Solver

A crossword puzzle fills a grid of white and black squares with interlocking words — each word is clued separately, and the letters where words cross each other help you solve adjacent answers. Clues range from straightforward definitions to puns, fill-in-the-blank phrases, and tricky wordplay. To use this solver, type your clue exactly as it appears in the puzzle, set the answer length to match the number of squares in that slot, and enter any letters you've already confirmed from crossing answers. Hit Solve Clue and Claude AI returns the most likely answer along with an explanation — making this solver especially useful for the tricky clues that a simple pattern match can't handle. Use square brackets like [__] to mark the blank in fill-in-the-blank clues such as "[__] de Janeiro."

Disclaimer: PuzzleUnlock is an independent puzzle help site and is not affiliated with The New York Times, Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, Strands, Scrabble, Hasbro, Boggle, or any other puzzle publisher. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

About Crossword

The crossword puzzle was invented by journalist Arthur Wynne and first published in the New York World newspaper on December 21, 1913. Wynne called it a "word-cross" puzzle. The format spread rapidly and by the 1920s crosswords had become a national craze in the United States. Simon & Schuster published the first crossword puzzle book in 1924 — it became a bestseller and launched the modern puzzle publishing industry.

The New York Times crossword, now considered the most prestigious in the world, debuted in 1942. The NYT crossword famously increases in difficulty throughout the week — Monday puzzles are the most straightforward, Tuesday through Thursday escalate in challenge and wordplay sophistication, Friday and Saturday feature themeless grids with the most devious cluing, and Sunday is the largest grid (15×21 rather than the standard 15×15) at roughly Thursday difficulty. Will Shortz has edited the NYT crossword since 1993 and is the only person in the United States to hold a university degree in enigmatology — the study of puzzles.

American crosswords follow specific conventions: the grid must have 180-degree rotational symmetry, every letter must be checked (part of both an Across and a Down answer), and no two-letter answers are allowed. British cryptic crosswords follow entirely different conventions — clues use wordplay mechanisms rather than straightforward definitions, and the grid has many unchecked squares. Regional variants exist in French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese, each with their own grid conventions and cluing styles.

Competitive crossword solving is a serious pursuit. The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, founded by Will Shortz in 1978, draws hundreds of competitive solvers annually. Top competitors can solve a Saturday NYT puzzle in under two minutes — a feat that seems impossible to casual solvers. The documentary Wordplay (2006) brought crossword culture to mainstream audiences, profiling top solvers and constructors including Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, and Bill Clinton among the puzzle's celebrity devotees.

Fill in answers you're completely confident about first. Every confirmed letter helps crossing answers. Fill-in-the-blank clues (like "___ de Janeiro"), proper nouns you recognize instantly, and short common words are often the best starting points. Confidence in early fills prevents cascading errors.

If you're stuck on a clue, work on the intersecting answers to gather letters. Even one or two confirmed letters dramatically narrows the possibilities — which is exactly what PuzzleUnlock's clue solver uses when you enter known letters. A confirmed first letter eliminates more than 90% of possibilities for most word lengths.

Clues ending in ? signal wordplay, puns, or non-literal meanings. Clues containing abbreviations (like "Org." or "Jr.") suggest abbreviated answers. Plural clues suggest plural answers. Past tense clues suggest past tense answers. Foreign language words in clues suggest foreign language answers. These conventions are consistent and can be relied upon.

Certain short words appear in crosswords constantly because they fit grids easily: ETNA (Sicilian volcano), ARIA (opera solo), OREO (sandwich cookie), ALOE (succulent plant), ERNE (sea eagle), ESNE (Anglo-Saxon serf), OLEO (margarine), APSE (church recess). Learning these "crosswordese" words provides immediate advantages.

PuzzleUnlock uses Claude AI to interpret clues — meaning it understands puns, references, cultural knowledge, and wordplay rather than just pattern-matching against a database. For tricky clues where the meaning isn't literal, the AI solver often performs better than dictionary-based solvers.

Start with what you know with certainty

Use crossing letters strategically

Learn crossword conventions and signals

Build crossword vocabulary deliberately

The AI solver understands wordplay

Q: Why does the solver return multiple answers for some clues?

Without a clue, the solver matches any word fitting your length and letter pattern — this produces many candidates. Entering the clue text enables Claude AI to identify the specific intended answer using its knowledge of trivia, wordplay, cultural references, and crossword conventions.

Q: What does [] mean when entering a clue?

Use [] to mark where the answer goes in fill-in-the-blank clues. For example, '[] de Janeiro' tells the solver the answer fills that position. The word 'blank' spelled out in a clue means the literal English word blank, not a placeholder — enter it as written.

Q: How do I handle two-word or hyphenated answers?

Enter the total letter count including all letters in both words, ignoring spaces and hyphens. Crossword grids run multi-word answers together without spaces. The solver handles this automatically.

Q: What if the solver's answer doesn't match my grid?

First verify your crossing letters — one wrong crossing letter changes everything. Also confirm the clue number and direction (Across vs. Down). For themed puzzles, the theme itself may indicate a non-obvious answer format.

Q: Can I use this for non-NYT crosswords?

Yes — the solver works for any crossword puzzle regardless of publication. The LA Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and hundreds of other publications all use the same cluing conventions. Enter any clue, set the word length, add known letters.

Q: How does the solver handle cryptic crossword clues?

Standard crossword clues and cryptic clues use completely different logic. Use PuzzleUnlock's dedicated Cryptic Crossword Solver for cryptic clues — it specifically identifies wordplay mechanisms including anagrams, hidden words, reversals, and charades.