Getting started with Crossword Creator

Crossword Creator runs entirely in your browser at crossword.bearwoodlabs.com. There’s nothing to install and no update step. Here’s how to go from a blank page to your first exported puzzle.

1. Open crossword.bearwoodlabs.com in your browser.
2. Add answers and hints for your puzzle. Add as many as you want; the generator keeps creating layouts to try to fit them all in.
3. Let the app lay out the grid automatically.
4. Download the puzzle as a PowerPoint (.pptx) file, where you can customize it even further.
5. Use it in your classroom, or sell it on your own website.

Note

If you’ve bought a license, enter your license key in the app’s license section to unlock extra features like custom layouts.

Customize the exported puzzle

The downloaded .pptx file is made of normal shapes and textboxes, not an image. Open it in PowerPoint, Keynote, or Google Slides and change any shape or textbox to whichever font or color you prefer.

For a video example, see How to create crossword puzzles for Google Slides.

Fit more words into the grid

If short words won’t fit, try adding a few more words, or swap a short word for a slightly longer one with more common letters. Removing longer words can actually make it harder for short words to fit, since it leaves fewer intersection opportunities.

Fix boxes that are too small to read

This happens automatically when a puzzle has many long words. Try:

• Cycling through the alternate auto-layouts the app generates.
• Resizing the grouped grid after export to PowerPoint.
• Splitting a large word list into two smaller puzzles.

Use accented or non-English characters

The word list accepts any Unicode text, including accented characters. On Windows, type accents with Alt-codes or by switching to the US International keyboard layout in your system settings.

For licensing questions and more fixes, see the FAQ.