Turn your own words and clues into a crossword people can play or print
A custom crossword starts with a list of answers and clues; the hard part is fitting them into a grid where they cross often enough to be solvable. Anticode can build a crossword app that lays out your words, plays on a phone or laptop with checking and reveal, and prints a clean copy with a separate answer key.
Two kinds of crossword
Newspaper crosswords use a symmetrical grid where almost every square belongs to two words. Building those needs a large dictionary to fill the gaps around the setter's chosen words, and a good setter. Custom crosswords for a class, a party or a newsletter are usually the other kind: a freeform grid built only from your words, crossing where they share letters, with empty space around them. That's the kind a crossword maker can produce from a short list, and it's the right choice when every answer has to be on-topic.
How the layout works
A layout algorithm places the longest word first, then tries each remaining word at every point where it shares a letter with something already placed, rejecting positions where it would touch another word side by side and create nonsense. It scores each attempt by how many crossings it makes and how compact the grid is, tries several orders, and keeps the best. A few practical consequences:
- Words with common letters cross more easily. A list of words full of E, A, R and S makes a dense grid; a list heavy in Q, J and X leaves islands.
- Not every word may fit. A good generator tells you which ones it couldn't connect, rather than dropping them silently.
- More words, better grid. Twelve to twenty-five answers usually produce a satisfying puzzle; five rarely do.
- Regenerate for a different layout. The same list can produce many grids; pick the one you like.
Writing clues people enjoy
For a custom crossword, straightforward definitions work better than cryptic clues. Aim for clues a solver can get from the clue alone at least half the time, and let the crossings help with the rest. For a birthday, in-jokes are the point ("Where Sam lost his passport, 2019"), but include enough general clues that guests outside the joke can join in. For revision, the clue is the definition and the answer is the term, or the other way round. Give the letter count in brackets, as solvers expect.
Playing on screen
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Typing moves along | After each letter the cursor moves to the next square in the current direction |
| Switch direction | Tap the same square again, or press Space, to swap across and down |
| Clue highlight | The current clue is shown above the grid on phones, where the clue list is off screen |
| Check | Check a letter, a word or the whole grid; wrong letters marked, not erased |
| Reveal | Reveal a letter or a word for when someone is stuck |
| Saving | Progress kept on the device so a solver can come back later |
| Mobile keyboard | An on-screen letter keyboard, because a phone's own keyboard covers half the grid |
Printing it
Many custom crosswords end up on paper: a classroom handout, a place setting at a wedding, a page in a parish newsletter. Ask for a Print button and a print layout: a clean grid with numbers only, clues in two columns underneath, and an answer key on a separate page. The button opens the browser's print dialog, and "Save as PDF" in the print dialog gives you a file to send to a printer.
Building it with Anticode
Paste your answers and clues in the request: "A crossword for my dad's 70th from these 18 answers and clues. Playable on phones with check and reveal, and a print layout with the answer key on page two. Title: 'Seventy Across'. Navy and cream." The model writes the layout algorithm, the grid and the play controls in one HTML document. If you'd rather people can't regenerate it, ask for the layout to be fixed once you like it.
Want a tool rather than one puzzle? Ask for an editor screen where you type words and clues and press Generate. Your lists save in your browser, so you can make a new crossword each week; anything you publish has to go through a build, though, because a visitor's edits stay on their device.
Limits
- No dictionary fill. Dense, newspaper-style grids need a big word list and editorial judgement; this builds freeform grids from your words.
- Answers are in the page. Anyone who inspects the code can find them; fine for fun, not for a prize.
- No shared solving. Two people on two phones each have their own grid.
For a quicker puzzle from the same list, the word search maker is easier to solve, and the word game maker covers daily puzzles.
Questions people ask
Can I make a crossword in another language?
If you supply the words and clues in that language, the grid works the same. The builder itself is in English.
Can the crossword appear on our club's website?
Publish it to its own address and link to it, or on a paid plan connect a subdomain of your own domain.
Can I make a new one every week?
Yes. Ask for a change with the new list each week; recent versions stay in the version history.