Free printable crosswords: print a daily puzzle at home

How to print a crossword

1. Open the puzzle. Go to Crossword and pick today's Mini or Classic, a day from the archive, or a puzzle from one of the packs.
2. Open the menu. Tap the round check-and-reveal button at the top of the puzzle.
3. Choose Print this puzzle. It is at the bottom of the sheet, under Puzzle.
4. Pick your printer and paper. Your device's print window opens. A4 and US Letter both fit without changes; leave the scale at 100%.
5. Print, or save as PDF. Choose your printer, or Save as PDF to keep the file.

It does not matter whether you have started the puzzle on screen. The printed page always shows an empty grid, so you can solve on paper even after typing a few answers in the app.

What the printed page looks like

The print version is laid out for paper, not copied from the screen. Everything else on the page is hidden, and you get:

• A title and date, such as the puzzle's number and the day it belongs to, so you know which one you printed.
• The grid, about 11 cm wide, in solid black and white with small clue numbers in the corners, leaving room to write letters in pen.
• Every clue in two columns, Across then Down, each with the number of letters in brackets.
• No answers. The solution stays in the app, so nobody can peek at the bottom of the page.

A Mini fits easily on one page. The bigger grids have more clues, so a Classic or a pack puzzle can run on to a second page.

Which puzzles you can print

Printing is free for every puzzle you can open. That gives you plenty to choose from at no cost:

So a week's worth of printing is always free: seven Minis and seven Classics from the archive, plus 34 pack puzzles. Crossword Pro, a one-off $1.99, opens every past day and the rest of the packs, which can then be printed the same way.

Saving as a PDF

A PDF is handy when you want to print later, print several copies, or send the puzzle to someone. In the print window, choose Save as PDF (on a computer it is usually in the printer list; on Android, pick it as the printer; on an iPhone or iPad, use the share button in the print preview).

Name the file with the date or puzzle number so you can tell your PDFs apart. Because the page has no answers on it, it is safe to email to a friend or a group.

Printing for a class, a club or a care home

• Pick by experience. Minis and the Warm-ups suit beginners and children who read confidently; Classics suit adults who already enjoy crosswords.
• Print a solving copy and a master. Solve one copy yourself in the app first, so you have the answers to hand when people ask.
• Use the clue count. The number in brackets after every clue is a gentle hint. Remind new solvers to count squares before they write.
• Bigger on the page. If letters are hard to read, set your printer's scale above 100% or print on A3. The grid and clues are drawn as sharp text and lines, so they stay crisp when enlarged.
• Make it a daily ritual. Everyone gets the same puzzle each day, so a group can print the same Classic and compare notes, or race on the Mini.

Teaching crosswords to a group? Our guide on how to solve crosswords explains clues and crossings in plain words, and common crossword answers is a good handout for regular solvers.

Checking your answers

The answers are not printed, on purpose. To check a paper solve, open the same puzzle in the app and type in your answers, then use Check on a word or the whole grid. Wrong letters are marked, right ones are locked in. Or, if you have finished and just want to see the solution, reveal it a word at a time.

Prefer to solve on screen after all? The app has pencil mode, a timer you can pause and spoiler-free share cards, and on a computer the clue lists sit beside the grid, much like a printed page.