Grid Structure

The grid editor allows you to customize the structure of your crossword puzzle using tools in the left-hand toolbar. This includes managing letter entries, changing the grid shape, adding cell walls, and using the 'Find more words' feature to increase grid density.

Crossword: grid editor

Entering and Removing Letters

You can manually enter letters, remove letters, or change existing letters in the grid.

1. Click the Enter letters icon (T icon) in the left toolbar.
2. Click on any cell in the grid to select it. Use the arrow keys to navigate between cells.
3. Type a letter to add it to the selected cell or change an existing letter.
4. Press Backspace to remove a letter and convert the cell into a black square.
5. Click Save Puzzle or Reset in the navigation bar to either save or reset your changes.

Creating Rebus Letters

Rebus letters allow you to place multiple letters or symbols within a single grid cell. This is a creative tool that can be used to make your puzzles more engaging.

1. Click the Enter rebus letters icon (AB icon) in the left toolbar.
2. Click on a cell in the grid to select it. Use the arrow keys to navigate.
3. Type multiple letters or symbols. They will all be placed in the selected cell, forming a rebus.
4. Click Save Puzzle or Reset in the navigation bar to either save or reset your changes.

Changing Grid Size

You can adjust the size of your crossword grid by adding or deleting rows and columns.

Adding Rows or Columns

1. Click the Add row or column icon (grid with + icons) in the left toolbar.
2. Following opions will be available: Add top row, Add bottom row, Add left column, Add right column.
3. Click the option corresponding to where you want to add an empty row or column.

Deleting Rows or Columns

1. Click the Delete row or column icon (grid with - icons) in the left toolbar.
2. Following opions will be available: Delete top row, Delete bottom row, Delete left column, Delete right column.
3. Click the option corresponding to the row or column you wish to delete. You will be asked to confirm the deletion.

Transposing the Grid

Transposing the grid swaps rows with columns and columns with rows. This also updates the clues accordingly, switching Across words to Down words and vice versa.

1. Click the Transpose grid icon (rotate icon) in the left toolbar.

Adding Cell Walls

Cell walls function like black squares, but they only block entries in a specific direction (right or bottom). They can divide a long word into shorter segments.

Crossword: Without cell walls. There are 5 words in this grid.

Crossword: With cell walls. The letters on this grid are identical to the grid above.
Cell walls have been added at the bottom of 'C' and 'O' in the top row. Due to this, "CZ" and "OP" are no longer considered as words inside the grid. This is reflected in the clue box.

1. Click the Mark right wall for cell or Mark bottom wall for cell icon (wall icon) in the left toolbar.
2. Click the cell where you want to add a wall to the right or bottom edge. Clicking adds a cell wall. Clicking again removes it.
3. Click Save Puzzle or Reset in the navigation bar to either save or reset your changes.

Cell walls

Cell walls can only be added at the right/bottom side of a cell. If you'd like to place one on the top or left side of a cell, you can achieve the same effect by adding cell walls on adjacent cells.

For instance, a top cell wall can be achieved effectively by adding a bottom wall on the cell above your target cell. Something similar can be done to achieve a left wall if required.

Using 'Find More Words' for Grid Density

The 'Find more words' tool helps you automatically populate your grid with more words, increasing the puzzle's density. The tool works by analyzing the current state of the grid, including presently filled in words, their position, and where they intersect. It then provides suggestions for words that can be filled into the grid. You can generate list of words using PuzzleMe AI, or provide a list of your own words to use for suggestions, as well as select one or more custom wordlists or built-in dictionaries.

Use Cases:

• To increase the word count in a crossword puzzle for a denser grid.
• To incorporate words from a specific list of words into your puzzle, such as for a themed crossword.
• To add general vocabulary words from common crossword wordslist to a themed crossword for variety.

Steps to use the "Find more words" feature:

1. Make sure you have already entered some words in the grid. The 'Find more words' tool is not available for empty grids.
2. Click the Find more words icon (A+ icon) in the left toolbar.
3. A popup box will appear. This popup contains sections for selecting word sources:
   • AI CoPilot (Beta): Enter comma-separated topics related to your desired words and click Generate to get AI-powered suggestions.
   • Custom words: Expand this section and enter your own list of words, one on each line.
   • Built-in dictionaries: Expand this section and select from curated dictionaries of various lengths, themed word lists, and word lists for specific languages.
4. Once you have selected your word sources, click the Get Suggestions button at the bottom of the popup.
5. The right side of the editor will show a list of suggestions of words that can be filled into the grid, along with their possible positions (row, column) in both the Across and Down directions.
6. Hover your mouse pointer over any word suggestion to see a preview of where it would be placed in the grid.
7. To add a word to the grid, click on the suggestion in the list. The word will be filled into the grid, and the set of suggestions will be updated based on the new words in the grid.
8. You can also click on any cell in the grid. This will filter the suggestions list on the right to only show words that can be placed in that specific cell. Click the cell again to clear the cell-specific filter.
9. Continue adding more words until you feel that the grid is densely filled.
10. Click the Reset button at the top-right of the suggestions area to clear all current suggestions if needed (this does not affect words already placed in the grid).
11. Click Save Puzzle in the navigation bar. This will save the grid with all the word suggestions you recently accepted. You will still need to write the clues for each of the added words. You can use our AI Clue Management tools to add clues for these words.