How to Create Your Own Crossword Puzzle

Have you ever imagined how difficult – or simple – it would be to create your own crossword puzzle? If you’re a teacher, you may want to create some for your kids. You could be a parent looking for an inexpensive way to keep your children buzy. Or you might be a bit of a word geek looking for a new challenge. Whatever your reasons, trying to create your own crossword puzzles could be a fun and rewarding activity so long as you follow a few predetermined rules.

Have you ever imagined how difficult – or simple – it would be to create your own crossword puzzle? If you’re a teacher, you may want to create some for your kids. You could be a parent looking for an inexpensive way to keep your children buzy. Or you might be a bit of a word geek looking for a new challenge. Whatever your reasons, trying to create your own crossword puzzles could be a fun and rewarding activity so long as you follow a few predetermined rules.

Below are some tips to use and rules to follow as you create your first crosswords.

Your puzzle should fit into one of five grid sizes: 1515, 1717, 1919, 2121 and 2323. Alot of publications accept 1313 and smaller, but 1515 and larger sizes are generally accepted as standard, with 1515 being the most popular size.

Your placement of black squares within the grid must be diagonally symmetrical. If a black square appears in the upper left hand corner, there must be one in the bottom right hand corner, etc. Horizontally symmetrical puzzles are a rarety.

Don’t use two-letter words and try to keep three-letter words at a minimum. Every letter square must be part of both an Across and a Down word; letters not interlocked in this way are not accepted.

Try not to use common expressions that may not appear in dictionaries like got busted or cowed out. Don’t use the identical word in the same puzzle even if used to connote different meanings like staring daggers and staring into space.

Theme based crosswords are becoming very popular you simply have the longest words correlate with the main topic or title. Themes, which ordinarely make crosswords a lot more fun, can range from serious topics like geography to subjects topics like punch lines to funny jokes.

To start, make a list of as many possible theme words and phrases and sort the list according to word length. Position them on your grid first, and be sure to maintaining a diagonal symmetry.

Make sure you haven’t inadvertently created any awkward traps such as words that end in Q, or KX or IY pairings.

It may take you a couple of tries before you can get every rule down while still maintaining some fun and creativity. But after a while well who knows you might want to build your own crossword puzzles for a living.