Play Online
Solve crosswords directly in your browser with an interactive grid, timer, and hints. Mobile-friendly experience!
Free Crossword Puzzle Maker & Generator
Create custom crossword puzzles online with our free crossword generator. Add your own words and clues, download printable PDFs with answer keys. Perfect for teachers, educators, and puzzle enthusiasts!
Create Your Crossword Puzzle
Add words and clues, preview in real-time, and download PDF with answer key
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Why Use Our Free Crossword Puzzle Maker?
Share Instantly
Share puzzles with one click. Students can play immediately without signing up. Perfect for remote learning!
PDF with Answer Key
Download two versions: blank puzzle for students and answer key with solutions. Perfect for teachers and educators!
How to Make a Crossword Puzzle
Follow these simple steps to create your own custom crossword puzzle
1
Add Words & Clues
Enter your words and clues in the text box
2
Auto Generate
System creates the puzzle layout automatically
3
Preview
See your puzzle and answer key in real-time
4
Download
Get PDF files for puzzle and answer key
Perfect For Everyone
👨🏫 Teachers & Educators
Use our free crossword puzzle maker to create educational puzzles for vocabulary lessons, test prep, and classroom activities. Generate custom crosswords in minutes!
👪 Parents & Homeschoolers
Make fun learning activities for kids. Perfect for homework help, educational games, and family activities.
🎉 Party Planners
Create themed crossword puzzles for birthday parties, bridal showers, weddings, or any celebration.
📚 Tutors & Trainers
Design custom crossword puzzles for student engagement, vocabulary building, and assessment tools.
🧩 Puzzle Enthusiasts
Create unlimited crossword puzzles with different themes and difficulty levels for personal enjoyment.
🏢 Corporate Training
Make team-building activities, ice breakers, and training materials with company-specific terminology.
Powerful Features
Play Online
Interactive solving with timer and hints
Share Puzzles
One-click sharing via link - no sign-up needed
Difficulty Levels
Easy, Medium, Hard - adjust puzzle complexity
Custom Clues
Add your own clues for each word
Answer Keys
Generate PDF with highlighted solutions
Print Ready
High-quality PDFs ready to print
Instant Preview
See your puzzle update in real-time
100% Free
No registration or payment required
The Origin of Crosswords
The first crossword puzzle was created by Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool, and was published in the New York World on December 21, 1913. Designed as a diamond shape without black squares, it was originally called a 'Word-Cross.' The name was later accidentally reversed to 'Cross-Word' due to a typesetting error, and the rest is history!
Tips for Creating Great Crosswords
Choose a Theme
Start with a central theme (e.g., 'Space', 'Summer Vacation') to make the puzzle cohesive and more engaging for solvers.
Mix Word Lengths
Use a combination of short (3-4 letters) and long (7+ letters) words. This helps the generator create a tighter, more interconnected grid.
Write Clever Clues
Don't just give the definition. Try using comparisons, fill-in-the-blanks, or simple riddles to make solving more fun.
Explore More Puzzle Tools
Try our other free puzzle generators
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about our crossword puzzle maker
Making a crossword puzzle is easy! Simply enter your words and clues in the format "word: clue" (one per line), and our free crossword maker will automatically generate the puzzle layout. Then download your puzzle and answer key as PDFs.
Yes! Our crossword generator is 100% free. Create unlimited crossword puzzles, download PDFs with answer keys, and there's no registration required. Completely free forever.
Absolutely! You can add any words and clues you want. Perfect for teachers creating educational puzzles, or anyone making personalized crossword puzzles for parties, events, or learning activities.
We offer 3 difficulty levels: Easy (compact grid with many word intersections), Medium (balanced layout), and Hard (sparse grid with fewer intersections). Choose based on your audience's skill level!
Yes! You can download two versions: a blank crossword puzzle for solving, and an answer key with all solutions filled in. Perfect for teachers and puzzle creators.
You can download your crossword puzzle as a printable PDF. We provide both the puzzle version (blank) and the answer key version (filled) as separate PDFs ready to print.