How to Play
Crosswords Help
The object of a Crossword is to fill a grid of interlocking words - across and down - by solving from their clues. Crosswords may have a theme - where some entries are related in some way - or they may be themeless. In an American-style Crossword, every letter in the grid is part of a word going across and a word going down, so every letter has two corresponding clues.
Start by looking for easy clues: most solvers start with fill-in-the-blank clues, and the clues for the shortest words. As you enter words into the grid across and down, check the clues for the intersecting words to see if your solution will work.
Clues may be straightforward or they may be intended to mislead - a question mark at the end of a clue probably means you'll need to think creatively. As you become more experienced, you'll build your vocabulary of "crosswordese" - unusual words that appear often in Crosswords and are frequently clued in a similar way.
To add variety to the solving experience, a Crossword may sometimes employ a gimmick. For example, you may be required to enter more than one letter in a square (this is known as a rebus). It is only through experience that you'll begin to more-readily recognize when a puzzle employs one of these tricks.
Crossword App Buttons
- Complete marks puzzle as complete/incomplete.
- Use Pencil toggles entry mode from pencil to pen.
- Enter Rebus enables typing more than one letter in a square.
- Check for Errors marks errors in the grid with a red X.
- Reveal Answers inserts the solution for a single letter, a whole word, or the entire puzzle, or prints the solution.
- Clear Puzzle deletes all entries from the puzzle and any saved progress.
- Save Progress stores your progress (up to 10 crosswords total) to the browser/computer you are using.
- Help displays this page.
Crossword App Shortcuts
- Arrow Keys move the cursor around the grid and toggle the direction across/down.
- Delete/Backspace removes the current letter.
- Enter/Return moves to the next word in the grid.
- Mouse-Click selects a letter and toggles the direction across/down.
Acrostics Help
The object of an Acrostic is to reveal a quote, its author, and the title of its source by solving a series of indexed word clues and transferring their solutions to an indexed quote grid. Our Acrostics are presented in three pieces: the quote author and title of work; the quote itself; and the clues/word list.
Start by looking for easy-to-solve word clues at the bottom. Also search the quote for one-letter words (which are almost always A or I). Periodically scan the quote for short words that you can you can complete once you have a few letters, and continue working back and forth between the grid and the clues until complete.
When you’re done, the grid will spell out a quote, and the first letters of the clue answers at the bottom will form the "acrostic" at the top which spells out the quote's author and the title of the source.
Black squares in the grid indicate the end of a word, and punctuation has been removed including apostrophes, commas, and periods.
Acrostic App Buttons
- Complete marks puzzle as complete/incomplete.
- Check for Errors indicates any errors with red text for a single letter, a whole word, or the entire puzzle.
- Reveal Answers inserts the solution for a single letter, a whole word, or the entire puzzle, or prints the solution.
- Clear Puzzle clears all entries from the puzzle, and deletes any progress you might have saved.
- Save Progress stores the current state of an acrostic (up to 10 acrostics total) to the browser/computer you are using.
- Settings lets you select a color scheme for the solving app.
- Help displays this page.
Acrostic App Shortcuts
- Tab Toggles through author/title, grid, and clues sections.
- Arrow Keys Move around the letters in the current section.
- Delete/Backspace Remove the current letter.
- Mouse-Click to focus on a letter or use on-screen arrows.
Sudoku Help
The object of a Sudoku is to fill the 9x9 grid with digits 1 through 9 so that no digit is repeated in either its own row, column, or 3x3 section. All Sudoku start with some cells pre-filled, and a well-made Sudoku will have only one valid solution.
While many complex strategies have been developed for solving Sudoku, the basic premise is to look for squares where only one possible number can fit. Start by scanning the rows, columns, and sections square-by-square for places where only one number would fit given the the numbers already in that square's row, column, and section.
Each time you enter a number correctly, other squares in that row, column, and 3x3 section can no longer contain that same number so new possibilities for elimination are created. Through this process of logical elimination, all squares can be filled.
To assist in solving a Sudoku, you may enter notes in a square. Notes help you keep track of what possibilities still exist for each square. The "Auto Notes" button in the app can get you started by entering notes with basic eliminations done automatically.
Sudoku App Buttons
- Complete marks puzzle as complete/incomplete.
- Enter Notes toggles entry mode from notes to answers.
- Auto Notes resets all notes in the grid, with simplest eliminations done automatically.
- Check for Errors indicates any errors with red text for a single letter or the entire puzzle.
- Reveal Answers inserts the solution for a single letter or the entire puzzle, or prints the solution.
- Clear Puzzle clears all entries or clears all notes.
- Save stores the current state of a sudoku (up to 10 sudoku total) to the browser/computer you are using.
- Settings toggles the display of notes and errors.
- Help displays this page.
Sudoku App Shortcuts
- Shift+Number enters a note into the square.
- Tab moves the cursor to the next square in the grid; shift+tab reverses direction.
- Enter/Return toggles entry mode from notes to answers.
- Arrow Keys moves the cursor around the grid.
- Delete/Backspace removes the current letter.
- Mouse-Click to focus on a letter or use on-screen arrows.