Crossword Clue Search
Search by what the clue means, then narrow by length and the letters you already have.
A dot or underscore stands for one empty square. Leave the clue blank to search by letters alone.
How to use it
- 1 Type the clue
The wording as printed, or just the two or three words in it that carry the meaning.
- 2 Set the answer length
Count the squares. This is what keeps the search fast and the list short.
- 3 Add any crossing letters
Letters you already have, with a dot for each empty square. Usually cuts the list to a handful.
What this searches
A definition index built from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary of 1913 — 66,915 definitions across 37,395 answers, all of them words that also appear in the lexicon our other solvers use, so every result is something you could legitimately write in a grid.
It is not an archive of clues from published crosswords. Those are written by named editors and belong to the papers that printed them. A definition index does much of the same job — most standard crossword clues are a short definition of the answer, sometimes dressed up — without republishing anyone's work.
Where it is strong, and where it is blind
Strong on ordinary vocabulary, and unusually strong on the slightly archaic register crossword setters live in: the words for tools, fabrics, sailing parts, coins, plants and weather that turn up constantly in grids and almost nowhere else.
Completely blind to anything after 1913 and to every proper noun. No people, no places, no brands, no films, no bands, no abbreviations. If your clue is "Rapper with the 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly", nothing here will help and the pattern solver is where you should be.
Use it with the crossing letters
The clue box and the pattern box work together, and together they are far stronger than either alone. A vague clue with three known letters usually resolves to one or two candidates; the same clue with no letters can return fifty. Fill in the easy crossings first, then come back.
You can also leave the clue box empty entirely and search by pattern. You get the same candidate list the crossword solver produces, but with a definition beside each word — which is often all you need to recognise the answer you were groping for.
Reading the results
Answers are ranked by how well the definition matches what you typed: a verbatim match first, then definitions containing all of your meaningful words, then those containing most of them. Where an answer has more than one recorded definition, the closest match is shown and the rest expand underneath.
Common questions
Where do these clues come from?
Why can it not find my clue about a film or a celebrity?
What is it actually good for, then?
Do I have to enter the clue word for word?
Can I search by letters alone?
c.a.e for a five-letter answer. That runs the same search as the crossword solver but shows a definition next to each candidate, which often makes the right one obvious.Why is the language so old-fashioned?
Related tools
Other ways to attack the same letters.
Crossword Solver
Type the letters you have and dots for the ones you do not.
Word Finder
Enter your letters and see every word you can make, ranked by score.
Word Unscrambler
Paste scrambled letters and get back every real word hiding in them.
Anagram Solver
Rearrange a word or phrase into every anagram the dictionary allows.