Games & Puzzles
Crossword Pattern Solver - Fill in the Blanks
Enter a crossword pattern with known letters and ? for blanks (e.g. "C?T"). Find all matching words from the built-in dictionary.
Pattern length determines word length. Use letters for known positions, ? for unknowns.
How crossword solvers work
A crossword solver matches a letter pattern (e.g., "C_T" = 3-letter word starting with C and ending with T) against a dictionary. Solvers use wildcard matching against sorted or indexed word lists, typically returning results sorted by frequency of use.
Cryptic crossword clue types
- Anagram: indicator words like "confused", "broken", "arranged" signal the letters are scrambled.
- Hidden word: the answer is hidden inside the clue text itself.
- Double definition: two definitions of the same word, side by side.
- Charade: the answer is built from consecutive parts of the clue.
How to enter a pattern
Patterns use placeholder characters to represent unknown letters. Enter known letters in their exact positions and use a wildcard for each unknown:
C_TorC?T- 3-letter word starting with C, ending with T_IGHT- 5-letter word ending in IGHT (e.g., LIGHT, NIGHT, SIGHT)*- matches any number of letters (broad search)
The solver returns all dictionary matches sorted by frequency of use in English text, so more common words appear first.
Common crossword abbreviations
| Clue phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "abbr." | Answer is an abbreviation (e.g., "State capital, abbr." -> 2 letters) |
| "var." | Variant spelling accepted |
| "briefly" / "in short" | Answer is an acronym or initialism |
| "old" / "arch." | Archaic word form |
| "poet." | Poetic or literary form |
| "pl." | Plural form required |
Cryptic crossword worked example
Clue: "Confused by siren (6)"
- Identify the indicator: "Confused" signals an anagram.
- Find the fodder: "siren" has 5 letters - but we need 6. The word "by" is part of the anagram fodder too: BYSIREN -> rearrange.
- Anagram SIREN: RINSE, RESIN, RISEN, SIREN, INURES - the 6-letter anagram of INURES fits.
- Check the definition: "confused by" = INURES (to accustom to something unpleasant). Answer: INURES.