How to play CRSWRD

Is CRSWRD free?

Yes. The daily puzzle, every past daily in the archive, Rush minis, Practice puzzles and the multiplayer modes in the Arena are all free. There are no ads, no subscription and nothing to unlock.

Do I need an account?

No. The first time you play, CRSWRD picks a random display name for you and remembers you with a signed cookie in your browser. You can change the name on your profile. To keep the same identity on another phone or computer, add a passkey there: it uses your device's own sign-in, with no password and no e-mail address.

When does the new puzzle come out?

A new daily goes live at 00:00 UTC every day. Everyone in the world gets the same grid at the same moment. Puzzles for future days are never available early, and every earlier day stays playable from the archive, starting with CRSWRD #1 on September 12, 2026.

Controls

Click or tap a square to select it, then type. On a keyboard:

• A–Z types a letter and moves to the next square of the word.
• Arrow keys move around the grid.
• Space switches between across and down.
• Tab or Enter jumps to the next clue, and Shift+Tab goes back to the previous one.
• Backspace or Delete clears the letter in the current square; on an empty square it steps back and clears the one before.

On phones and tablets an on-screen keyboard appears with the grid; you can set it to always or never show on your profile, next to the auto-check and skip-filled-squares settings. Squares you revealed, or that a check confirmed, are locked and skipped when you type.

The timer

The clock starts when you type your first letter, not when the page opens, so you can read the clues first. It pauses while the tab is hidden and picks up again when you come back. If you reload a daily halfway through, your letters and time are restored and the clock waits for your next input.

Checks and reveals

Stuck? Check word and Check all mark each filled letter as right or wrong. Reveal fills in the current square or the whole word. There is also an auto-check setting that checks each letter as you type it. Checks that only confirm correct letters cost nothing; a check that catches a wrong letter, and any reveal, means the solve is no longer clean.

Clean and ranked solves

A solve ranks on the day's board when all of these are true:

• it is your first attempt at that puzzle;
• it is clean: no reveals and no check that caught a wrong letter;
• it meets the ranking minimum of 200 milliseconds per white square;
• the time is not longer than the time that actually passed since the puzzle was handed to you (with 1.5 seconds of slack).

A solve that misses one of these is still saved to your profile, but it never appears on a board and never extends a streak. Solving a puzzle again is fine for practice; only the first attempt counts.

Streaks

Each clean, ranked solve of today's daily adds a day to your streak. If you open a puzzle before midnight UTC, it still counts for that day as long as you finish within six hours of opening it (not of typing your first letter). Older puzzles from the archive add to your total solved but never to your streak, so a missed day cannot be filled in later.

Rush

Rush is a run of 5×5 minis timed to the hundredth of a second. Each day has a pool of 200 minis, served in a random order, and none repeats in a session until you have played them all. Your fastest clean mini of the day is your entry on the Rush board.

Practice and the clue coach

Practice gives you authored 5×5 crosswords with Gentle, Everyday and Tricky clue styles. The grid stays the same across styles, while the clues become more indirect. Each clue has guided help, optional AI reframing and an explanation to review after solving.

Practice is unranked, with progress saved in this browser. Check, reveal and retry freely as you learn. The strategy coach helps you spot clue signals and use crossing letters; see the AI hint guide for a walkthrough.

How do I play with friends?

Open the Arena, create a room and send the link. Anyone who opens it joins, with no account needed. Race and Duel also offer a quick match that pairs you with the next waiting player.

Race

Up to eight players get the same grid at the same instant. The host chooses a 5×5 or 7×7 grid, and connected guests mark themselves ready before the host starts. The fastest correct grid wins, penalties included. Submitting a full grid that is wrong adds five seconds to your time, and a round ends after ten minutes at most. Games and wins count toward your profile only when at least two people played the round. The host can start another round in the same room, and session wins keep your friendly rivalry going.

Co-op

Up to twelve people solve one shared 5×5 or 7×7 grid together, each with a live cursor so you can see who is working where. The host chooses the size before you begin and can deal the next grid when you finish.

Duel

A turn-based game for two. Place letter tiles on the grid; every letter has a point value, star squares add a bonus, and each turn has a 90-second clock. Play a friend, or play the computer at Easy, Medium or Hard. Human players both accept a rematch; the starting player alternates each round.

Sharing your result

When you finish, Share result copies a short text: the puzzle number, your time, your streak once it is longer than a day, your "top X%" once the board has ranked you, and a small emoji picture of the grid. 🟩 is a square you filled that no check confirmed, 🟨 a square a check or auto-check confirmed, 🟦 a square you revealed and ⬛ a black square. It never contains the letters, so posting it spoils nothing.

Nudges

A nudge is a short hint about the clue you are on. Optional AI hints are checked before display, with guided text used when the reply is unavailable or unsuitable. Asking for a nudge does not affect a clean solve. Nudges are rate-limited, so save them for the clue that really has you stuck.

Can I play offline?

Yes. CRSWRD is an installable web app: add it to your home screen from the browser menu. After one visit, the home page and today's puzzle keep working without a connection. A solve you finish offline is saved on your device and sent when you are back online.

More help

The FAQ answers shorter questions, How to get better at crosswords has solving technique, and About explains how the puzzles are made and what data CRSWRD keeps.