Crossword by Big T

Fill the grid from the Across and Down clues. Crossing answers share letters.

A letter you're sure of helps twice — once in its own answer and once in the one crossing it.

Tap a square to select it, or tap a clue to jump straight to its answer.

Tapping the selected square again flips between the Across and Down answer running through it.

Types straight past squares that already hold a letter.

With Skip on, the cursor hops over letters you've already got from crossing answers, so you can type an answer without stopping. With it off, the cursor moves one square at a time and types over what's there. The board takes on a subtle green tint while Skip is on. The button changes the puzzle you're playing; the same switch in Settings under Gameplay sets what every new puzzle starts with.

Enters letters as tentative marks you can clear later.

For answers you want to try without committing — pencilled letters are styled differently from ones you've entered for real.

Fills in the correct letters for you. Asks how much first.

Tapping Reveal offers a choice: this square, or this answer. Both are there to unstick you and the puzzle carries on. Use it sparingly, though — once more of the grid has been given to you than you filled in yourself, the puzzle stops counting toward your solves, best time and streak.

Opens the full list of Across and Down clues.

The clue bar under the grid shows the current clue; tap it, or the All Clues button, to browse everything and jump to any answer.

No cryptic wordplay, no hidden anagrams, no misdirection.

Every clue is a short definition or synonym — around a dozen characters on average. If you have come from a cryptic or a Sunday-size American puzzle, the useful adjustment is to stop hunting for a trick. There is no question-mark convention here signalling a pun, and answers are not abbreviated unless the clue says so.

Short synonym clues are rarely unique on their own.

"Marking" is a fair clue for LABELING and for half a dozen other words. That is not a flaw to solve around, it is the reason the grid exists: the clue narrows it and the crossing letters finish the job. Resist committing to an answer you have only read the clue for.

In this game's grids, every single letter belongs to both an across answer and a down answer.

That is a property of the American-style grids used here, and it is worth leaning on hard: there is no letter you can only get one way. An answer you are confident about confirms a letter in every crossing answer it touches, and one that refuses to fit its crossings is wrong however good it looks.

Take the answers whose crossings are already partly filled, not the ones at the top.

Solving strictly in clue order wastes the grid. Fill whatever you are sure of, then work outward from letters you already have — a three-letter slot with two letters in place usually has exactly one answer. When a section stalls, move to a different corner and come back; the crossings will have changed.

Pencilled letters keep a guess visible without pretending it is settled.

Particularly useful when two answers both fit a clue: pencil the one you prefer, solve its crossings, and let the grid pick. Reveal's "this square" option pairs well with this — one letter is usually all it takes to break a deadlock.

Easy 9×9, Medium 11×11, Hard 13×13, Expert 15×15.

A larger grid means more answers, longer answers, and more of the puzzle depending on letters you have not found yet. A 13×13 puzzle carries roughly 64 answers.

The size changes, the fully-crossed property does not.

At every difficulty, all letters sit in both an across and a down answer. Expert is harder because there is more of it and the words are longer, not because it withholds crossings from you.

Asks what to fill in each time: this square, or this answer.

There is nothing to set up beforehand — the choice is offered when you tap Reveal. A square is the gentlest nudge. Lean on it too heavily and the puzzle stops counting as a solve: the line is more squares revealed than you filled in yourself.

Flags letters that conflict with the solution.

This sets what every new puzzle starts with. The Errors button on the board turns it on or off for the puzzle you're playing without changing this, so you can check one answer without giving up the setting.

Show or hide the solve timer.

Switch between light and dark, and pick a colour theme.

Landscape only. Puts the keyboard under your dominant hand.

Moves the keyboard above the board so the grid sits in easier thumb reach.