# Crossword-making software - is there such a thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2022, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921 "2022-05-23T07:03:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921/1 "2022-05-23T07:03:58Z")
I’ve got an upcoming family holiday in a few days. It’s popped into my head that it might be fun to create a crossword, with clues based on family lore (example: “thing that Dad fell into in France, (5)”. DITCH). I reckon I could set it up so that no one person could solve all the clues; they’d have to work together to solve it. I’ve only done this sort of thing once before, and back then I designed the crossword from scratch, writing out the clues in Excel and then using a drawing package to create the actual grid. That was a lot of work though, and I don’t have a huge amount of time. Are there any software packages where I can define the clues and answers, and then it automates the layout of the grid and produces the puzzle? It would need to be web-based, or run on MacOS, iPhone or iPad, and I’d need to be able either to print out the crossword or share a link to an online version. It would be good if it could create an answer sheet as well. I don’t mind paying a small amount but this is a one-off so lower cost is better. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921/2 "2022-05-23T07:16:32Z")
Skeleton-style puzzles (also known as Kriss-Kross puzzles) aren’t too difficult to make up yourself. I’ve done a few over the years (and once wrote a program to solve them). They look generally like this: [![](https://ecdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/SKELETON-CROSSWORD-PUZZLES-4660122-1561742949/original-4660122-3.jpg) ](https://ecdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/SKELETON-CROSSWORD-PUZZLES-4660122-1561742949/original-4660122-3.jpg) Normally, they don’t have clues like the above example does. They just have a list of words (grouped by length) that go in the puzzle, and you have to figure out which word goes where. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921/3 "2022-05-23T08:05:10Z")
A search for ‘free crossword maker’ should throw up some possibilities. Here’s one: [Crossword Puzzle Maker | World Famous from The Teacher's Corner](https://worksheets.theteacherscorner.net/make-your-own/crossword/) ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921/4 "2022-05-23T15:17:23Z")
Those aren’t real crossword puzzles though. I wasn’t able to find one recently when I looked for it. I tried to write one, but it’s kind of a hard puzzle to solve and I couldn’t make it work (yet). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921/5 "2022-05-23T15:34:31Z")
For what the OP wants to do, something like what @bob_2 linked to may be the way to go. But if you’re interested in what the pros use, I found this New York Times Crossword Constructor Resource Guide: > **[Crossword Constructor Resource Guide (Published 2021)](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/08/crosswords/crossword-constructor-resource-guide.html)** > > A collection of tools for people looking to make their own puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921/6 "2022-05-24T06:03:51Z")
Thanks everyone. Plenty to look through in those replies. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2022, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crossword-making-software-is-there-such-a-thing/964921/7 "2022-05-25T05:42:07Z")
I wrote a crossword setter in the past for fun using Python. The first version added word delimiters randomly and then filled the puzzle recursively. It worked ok up to a 6x6 or 7x7 grid, but then took too long. The second version started with a puzzle template and could fill it without recursion (provided a large dictionary). This worked a lot better because once you fill the big words, you just have multiple, smaller puzzles. I never got to the more labor intensive parts: pruning and prioritizing the dictionary of possible words and then creating a database of clues for the words in the dictionary. At the time I didn’t find any crossword building programs which surprised me. I did do a search again today and say this one. I haven’t used it and can’t speak to its quality or safety. I’m a little bit leery of projects on sourceforge. > **[Klest-crossword](https://sourceforge.net/projects/klest-crossword/)** > > Download Klest-crossword for free. Open Source program to create crossword puzzles, which will be professionally compile a crossword puzzle and then is convenient to guessing.