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Creating a crossword

Objective

Learn the different ways in which you can create crosswords on the PuzzleMe™ platform.

There are several ways of creating a crossword on the PuzzleMe™ platform. The methods differ in ease of use and control over grid placements. Once your crossword has been created, it can be edited repeatedly as you desire.

  1. Crossword CoPilot : Use our Crossword CoPilot to generate clues and words for your topic
  2. Magic Fill : Use our Magic Fill AI puzzle creation tool to create a dense crosword grid, with advanced customization options
  3. List Entries : Enter a list of words with their clues, and let our system generate the crossword puzzle
  4. Empty Grid : Start with an empty puzzle grid and fill in the words yourself
  5. Upload File : Upload a puzzle file you created offline

Using Game Editor​

Methods of creating crosswords

The game editor has 4 methods that can be used for creating a crossword. These methods are visible in the game editor mode when you try to create a crossword:

  1. Go to the PuzzleMe dashboard.
  2. In the navigation bar at the top, click on "New Game".
  3. From the selection of games, select the Crossword icon.
  4. Under the Content tab, you should see the available methods listed out.

Crossword CoPilot​

PuzzleMe Crossword CoPilot uses the power of large language models (LLMs) to automatically generate words and clues about a topic. Once generated, you can add, remove or edit words and clues, and generate the quiz.

Creating a crossword puzzle using Crossword CoPilot
Note

Sometimes LLMs can "hallucinate" words and clues which might be inappropriate, inaccurate or unrelated to the topic. Please ensure that you review the generated list of words and clues before publishing the crossword puzzle.

Steps to generate a crossword using Crossword CoPilot:

  1. From your dashboard, select New Game > Crossword.
  2. Specify the title and the language of the quiz, and ensure that the "List Entries" option is selected.
  3. Enter the topic of the crossword in the "Crossword Topic" field.
  4. Click on the "Generate" button.
  5. Wait for sometime. The words and clues will be generated and populated in the puzzle creator form fields.
  6. Click on "Create Game" at the bottom of the page.

List entries​

Creating a crossword: list entries method

This is the simplest method to create a crossword. We created one using just this method under the "Getting started: Creating a puzzle" section.

Using this method, you can construct a crossword without worrying about the grid placements. Just enter the list of entries, one at a time, and the PuzzleMe platform will figure out the best possible grid placement for your crossword.

If you construct a crossword like this, you still retain control to come back and add more words later, or to fine-tune the grid placements.

Moreover, you can specify the clue entries at this stage itself, or if you'd like, you can do that in the next stage, using the grid editor.

Empty grid​

Creating a crossword: empty grid method

This method is for those who want to start building their crossword visually. You simply specify the size of your grid, and then move on to the grid editor, where you will have to design your crossword one letter at a time. This method gives you absolute control over the placements and layout of your crossword. It is particularly powerful if you wish to design your crossword in a certain shape.

A crossword in the shape of Mickey Mouse, created by Paulo Freixinho using the PuzzleMe platform.

Under this method, all the construction work is done inside the grid editor. We'll discuss this under the grid structure customization.

Magic Fill​

The creation of Magic Fill was motivated by gaps in the two methods we've discussed above. It makes sense to introduce this method by exposing those gaps.

In the empty grid method, you have to start with a literal blank canvas. Every word has to be manually added. This method grants absolute control over the crossword grid at the cost of having to do everything by yourself.

In the list entry method,

  1. The generated crosswords have all the specified words, but there is no high-level control over the grid layout - the style of the crossword, in terms of the placement of black squares, or the rotational symmetry of the grid. You're free to make this happen in the grid editor, but that will be tedious.
  2. The resulting crosswords are typically not 'dense' — there are word intersections, but typically a 10-word specification will generate at least a 10x10 crossword. This grid uses 100 squares to display only 10 words. A dense crossword on a similar-sized grid can have up to 20 words - 10 across and 10 down.

Enter the Magic Fill method.

Magic Fill editor

This method allows you to generate crosswords that are dense and adhere to popular styles and symmetry constraints. Using Magic Fill, you can create professional crosswords without exerting yourself over the tiniest of details.

  1. Build dense crosswords: Use the grid space as efficiently as possible. Whether you're catering to a casual audience or hardcore puzzle enthusiasts, construct crosswords that are right for them.
  2. Impose style restrictions: Choose from three exciting grid patterns: American, British and Freeform. Within the British style, we offer 4 popular variants for you to choose from.
  3. Make symmetric games: Impose symmetric constraints for the black boxes to make your crosswords aesthetically appealing. Magic Fill supports rotational, horizontal and vertical symmetry constraints.
  4. Content-driven crosswords: Retain control over your games without getting bogged down with details. Specify must-have words and let Magic Fill figure out the remainder from a diverse set of word lists. You can even upload a word list for Magic Fill to use!
  5. Keep it safe: Use a block list to ignore words that are inappropriate for your audience or that don't align with your brand.
  6. Countless choices: Based on your specification, Magic Fill generates all possible grids. It even highlights words that are closely related to must-have words, allowing you to generate crosswords with thematic elements. Choose from a large set of possible grids - and of course, you're free to tweak them after you choose!

Click here to learn more about the Magic Fill method.


Upload File​

Creating a crossword by uploading a file

Crosswords can be created by uploading a compatible file. Read more about the supported file formats here.

Once you have a supported file with your crossword data, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the PuzzleMe dashboard.
  2. Click on the "New Game" button in the navigation bar.
  3. Click on the "Upload Game" button.
  4. Click the Upload panel and select your file. Alternatively, drag and drop your file into the upload panel.

Notes​

  • If you upload a CSV, then this method is identical to the list entries method. The PuzzleMe platform will figure out the optimal layout of your words. Of course, you're free to edit this in the grid editor later.
  • If you upload any other format, then the file specifies both, the words as well as the grid placement of your crossword. In this case, the platform will recreate the puzzle exactly as specified in the uploaded file.