Crossword Solver

Love solving those word puzzles? I enjoy crosswords and while I make sure that I do not miss on the newspaper crossword till date, I also keep checking on the new games online or on my smartphone. Crossword solvers are simply addictive and are known to improve mental functions.   There are people taking on a crossword puzzle in the morning newspaper as soon as it is in. So, while they take it as a fun and hobby, some imbibe this game in their daily schedule to boost brain health. Studies suggest that crossword indeed benefits your brain by working on your brain cells.   Here’s a quick rundown on crossword solvers giving you an insight into what is, what are it benefits, interesting facts, top games and more.  

What is a Crossword Solver?

  It’s a popular word puzzle game that’s made of black and white empty grids. There are a few questions listed below the crossword box that has some empty spaces. You have to guess those missing words and fill in the white blocks with letters (forming a word or phrase) based on the clues.   These are the answers of the questions listed below. You have to fill in the answers from left to right or from top to bottom based on the listed instructions. The shaded black blocks are designed to distance the word or phrases. This helps you to understand how long a word or a phrase will be in the answer.  

Different Types of Crossword Puzzles

  Every country has their style of crossword solvers. The crossword grids in North America include majority of solid white squares. The shaded/black squares are usually restricted to nearly one-sixth of the total blocks. Every letter in the grid is checked (a portion of both across and down word). Each answer contains a minimum of three letters.   In other countries like Britain, India, Australia, and South Africa, the crossword resembles a lattice with more shaded black blocks that is, close to 25%. Here, half the letters in the answers are left unchecked. The Japanese crossword on the other hand, works on two added rules:  
1 - Shaded blocks may not share a side
 
2 -the corner blocks must be white.
  The Swedish crosswords feature no clue numbers because the clues are inside the cells that do not have the answers. The arrows will guide you if the answer would be in vertical or horizontal direction.   Again, there are different variants of the crosswords, mostly in two common forms – “barred”, with bold lines between the blocks to separate the answers, and circular, offering space for answers either in radial form or concentric circles. The one seen on the school worksheets are the “free-form” crosswords for an easier approach. These feature simple and asymmetric designs. Grids in other shapes apart from squares are also occasionally seen.   Puzzles can be of different sizes. For example, 15X15 for weekday newspapers, while 21×21, 23×23, or 25×25 for weekend puzzles. Some newspaper bodies like the New York Times have a set pattern for crosswords that is, they increase the difficulty with each day starting from Monday.  

Different Types of Clues

 
Orthography
  It’s the process of arranging the proper letters in the correct order to form a meaningful word in English Language.  
Straight
  The Straight or Quick clues are actually the simple interpretations of the answers. Some of the features may also include anagrams that are generally exceptionally described.  
Themes
  Themes consisting of a number of long entries sharing some connection, sort of puns or other common elements are see in many American puzzles.  
Indirect
  These are wordplays that are to be taken symbolically or in a sense other than the real meaning. This requires lateral thinking.  
Cryptic
  The clues here are the puzzles in themselves. A clue in a cryptic crossword, usually consists of a definition at the beginning or towards the end of the clue and the wordplay, that offers a technique to generate the word suggested by the definition, and that may not have a logical definition.  
Metapuzzles
  It’s a second puzzle designed within a completed puzzle. Once the main crossword puzzle is solved successfully, the result becomes the foundation of a second puzzle.  
Quantum Puzzles
  Some of the puzzle squares in quantum puzzles feature more than one correct answer for the same set of clues.  
First Entries
  This is usually seen in newspapers like The Daily Telegraph where the first few words are converted to a complete phrase.  
Double Clue Lists
  These are related to crosswords that feature one grid but can be completed by solving either of the two lists of clues that is, either using straight or cryptic clues.  
Other Types
  Cross-references are a part of any type of puzzles. Here, the answer to one clue leads to a portion of another clue where it is indicated by number and direction.  

What are the benefits of Playing Crossword Puzzles?

  While playing crossword solvers is fun and challenging, they have their own health benefits. It’s more of a brain exercise that contributes to the overall growth and development of an individual.   Crossword puzzles are a perfect way to indulge your brain in a stimulating activity that forces you to think out of the box and improves your analyzation power. Bonus – it keeps you mentally fit and fine. In fact, there are many more benefits that crosswords can provide.  
Refines your Vocabulary
  According to research, working on crossword solvers daily improves your vocabulary and therefore, verbal skills significantly. The puzzles motivate your brain to grasp several clues and identify new words on a daily basis. This further enhances your vocabulary and getting a hold on new words.  
Helps you Relax
  Crosswords are interesting and captivating. The manner in which it engages people in racking the brains surely works as a great stress reliever as people get so involved in the world of words. This helps them forget the mayhem around at least for while.  
Improves Cognitive and Analytical Skills
  Crossword solvers work as a simulator for your brain while improving your cognitive and analytical efficiency by encouraging them to focus on getting a hold on the clues smoothly.  
Improves Memory
  With a boost in your cognitive and analytical skills, your memory is automatically sharpened and enhanced.  
Prevents Dementia
  The aim of the puzzles is to keep your brains sharp and well-functioning with your growing age. To keep off dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association suggests solving crossword puzzles as a habit.  
Exercise Problem Solving
  Crossword puzzles offer a great way to exercise problem solving thereby, improving your problem-solving skills.  
Learn to view patterns
  Finding patterns is a practice that gives a shape to our lives. Patterns help you understand how different things are linked and form the basis of math and science. One of the major health benefit of solving crosswords is that they are a wonderful way to exercise the pattern detecting muscles in an individual.  
Lose yourself
  It allows to lose yourself for a while as you are solving the puzzle, or to be precise, lets you find your flow. It’s one form of meditation that destresses you by spending a few minutes each day solving crossword puzzles.  
Trivia fan
  Crosswords are great entertainers for the trivia fans. These are trivia solitaire that can prove to be great conversation starters.  
Priceless fun
  It’s the aha moment bringing you the elated feeling once you have solved the puzzle that matters the most. Being able to solve the crossword is the happiest moment which is priceless. Overall, crossword solvers are plain, simple, and priceless fun.  

Interesting Facts About Crossword Solvers

• - There’s a beguiling history behind crosswords. We are sharing a few of the interesting facts here related to this famous puzzle game.
• - Crossword experts are termed as “cruciverbalists”.
• - The world’s first crossword puzzle was reportedly created by Arthur Wynne which was published in the New York World back in December 1913.
• - Crossword solvers were prohibited in Paris during World War II to prevent in secret messages to be passed on to the enemies.
• - The biggest ever crossword was 7X7 (feet) featuring 91,000 squares and 28,000 clues/hints and which was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.
• - The Times Crossword solver was issues in 1930.
• - Alfred Mosher Butts, an architect, designed a board game in the 1930s that was based on the concept of crossword puzzle. This was an extremely popular past time at that time and which later became popular as Scrabble.
• - Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is the oldest crossword solver competition in the world that started in 1978.
• - Nonogram is the name of the Japanese crossword puzzle and is called as “paint by numbers”. It’s not based on the concept of filling in world clues.
• - Stanley Newman is known to fill a New York Times Crossword in record time held in 1996. It’s the fastest till date. He completed it in 2mins 14 secs.
• - The word square puzzles were discovered in the Pompeii ruins.
• - The book “Cleutopia” written by David Astle in 2013 is great read that narrates the first 100 years of the crossword solver game.
• - 21st December, 2018 will be celebrated as the National Crossword Day.

 
Top Crossword Apps for Android and iOS
  Almost every one has a smartphone these days and so, apart from just solving them on the newspaper dailies and in the magazines, downloading a crossword solver app on the mobile platform is perhaps the easiest these days. Simply download your favourite game and start playing. Let’s see the best crossword apps for Android and iOS.   Crosswords – It includes more than 2300 word puzzles in six different languages across the world. Bonus – 180 puzzles are available to play for free. The game comes along with its own keyboard, scrolls smoothly around the puzzle, option to check errors, option to solve a word or a letter, and so on.   Crossword Light – Comes with 40 free puzzles and also an option to upgrade. It features an easy to use interface, a detailed leader board and offers a huge number of tips along with access to website. There’s a wide choice of crossword puzzles in full version.  
*Also for iOS
  Crossword Puzzle – You get access to thousands of crossword puzzles for free at each level that you can play on your smartphone or tablet. Search Google for help, seeing elapsed time, hide/show mistakes, etc. are few of the key features of this game. It also allows you to customize your settings like view your rankings compared to others for each puzzle, show timers, lock scree orientation, auto downloading puzzles for each day, and more.   Crossword US – It’s a grid-based crossword puzzle where in, each letter falls 2 tips based on each other (down and across). You must complete all 480 levels. You get free access to 48 puzzles and if you wish, you can upgrade it to the paid version for 8 packages of crossword. The keyboard comes in different colors and has 3 vision options. There are some unique added features like jumping letters, grey shading, etc. You also have the opportunity to view the key.  
*Also on iOS
  Word Search Puzzle – This game is pretty addictive as it lets you play many fascinating words of your selection. From Hollywood, Music, or Personalities to Kids, Places or Dictionaries, it offers several categories to choose from.   Crossword solvers are fun addictive and good for your brain health. So, start solving those word puzzles today and stay ahead in brain power!