Easy Crossword
Easy Crossword
Easy Crossword is a beginner's puzzle in the good sense: designed to be finishable, not dumbed down.
It comes from Stan Newman, who edits the Newsday crossword and has spent decades calibrating difficulty. That matters because there is a real craft to making an easy crossword that is still satisfying. Anyone can write simple clues. Writing simple clues that still produce the moment where a corner suddenly opens is harder.
Every puzzle carries a theme you can actually spot, and hints are there when a section closes. If crosswords have always looked like something other people do, this is where to start.
How to play Easy Crossword
- A new puzzle appears every day.
- Click a square to select it and see its clue.
- Click again to switch between across and down.
- Type your answer. The cursor advances by itself.
- Use the clue help when a section stops moving.
Your first crossword
Do not try to solve it in order. Nobody does, and trying is the main reason beginners give up.
Read all the across clues once, writing in only the answers you are sure of. Then read the downs. You are not collecting answers, you are collecting crossing letters, and those are what make the clues you could not solve become obvious.
Spotting the theme
The long answers are related. Working out how usually cracks the rest of the puzzle, because a theme turns an unknown long entry into a guess you can make from two letters.
Using help without spoiling it
Help is there so a puzzle never becomes a dead end. Used on a single answer in a stalled corner, it unlocks crossings and lets you solve the rest yourself. Used on five answers in a row, it finishes the puzzle for you and teaches you nothing.
Tips and strategy
Where to start
- Fill in the blank clues. One answer, no wordplay, free crossings.
- Three and four letter answers are scaffolding. Place them and the long entries become approachable.
- Clues naming a specific river, currency or card game have exactly one answer.
Reading clues
- Match the grammar. Plural clue, plural answer. Past tense clue, past tense answer.
- Abbreviated clues want abbreviated answers, which tells you the length before you count.
- A question mark at the end means wordplay rather than a straight definition.
Building the habit
- One a day beats five on a Sunday. Crossword skill is pattern recognition and it accumulates through repetition.
- Come back to a stalled grid later rather than revealing it. Crosswords resolve overnight in a way very little else does.
- Notice which clues defeat you. Beginners are usually stopped by the same two or three clue types, and naming them is most of the fix.
When these become comfortable, Thomas Joseph Crossword is the next step up and the full set is on the crossword page.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Easy Crossword good for beginners?
Yes, that is what it is designed for. The clues are direct and every puzzle has a theme you can spot, which gives you a way in.
Who creates the puzzles?
Stan Newman, the crossword editor at Newsday, who has spent decades calibrating puzzle difficulty.
Is there a new puzzle daily?
Yes. A fresh grid is published each day.
Can I get help if I am stuck?
Yes. Clue help is available, and it is most useful spent on a single answer in a corner that has closed rather than on several in a row.