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New to crosswords? Each numbered answer has a clue in the Across or Down list. Tap a square of the answer, type the animal, and the letters land along the answer; a square where two answers cross belongs to both.
How to play Crossword
Crosswords in one sentence: write an animal into every run of white squares so that every clue is answered. Below is a real easy crossword from the game, step by step, and then every rule in detail.
Play Crossword →A ManyPlay browser walkthrough · Checked . Screenshots below show the actual game. Illustrated catalog covers are presentation artwork. Who publishes these games?
Verified opening-board solution
The rules you need
- Every answer is an animal and runs across or down.
- The number in brackets is the length of the answer.
- A crossing square belongs to both answers.
- Easy crosswords mark a wrong letter as soon as you type it.
- Help can check or reveal a letter, an answer or the grid.
Worked example: an easy crossword, step by step
Here is the real easy crossword No. 831096, opened in the game: a 9 × 10 grid and 8 animal answers, from a 3-letter flying animal to a 6-letter reptile.
Start with the long downs
1 Down asks for an animal with big teeth that builds dams, six letters: BEAVER. 2 Down is a slow creature that carries its shell on its back, five letters: SNAIL. Two answers are in, and their letters now stand in the crossings.
Start with the long downs — actual result Use the crossings
3 Across, a flying animal that hangs upside down (3), shares its A with BEAVER: BAT. 4 Down, a reptile with a hard shell that swims, is TURTLE, and 5 Across, a tall Australian bird that cannot fly, shares the E of BEAVER: EMU. Five of eight after 11 seconds.
Use the crossings — actual result Finish the grid
6 Across, an eight-legged creature that spins a web, gets its I from SNAIL: SPIDER. 7 Down is a large bird of prey with a hooked beak, EAGLE, and 8 Across, a buzzing insect that lands on food, is FLY. All 8 answers in 16 seconds with no hints: the notebook is stamped Observation complete.
Finish the grid — actual result
Why this sequence works
Long answers are easier to be sure of, and every letter they place sits in a crossing square that also belongs to a shorter answer. Solving in the order of what you know turns each word into free letters for the next one.
Mistakes to avoid
- Typing a guess over a crossing letter you were sure of breaks two answers at once.
- Revealing the whole grid ends the crossword without a win: check one answer first.
Questions about this board
Are all answers animals?
Yes. Every crossword in the game is about animals: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, insects and sea life. Only your own crossword can use other words.
What is the Bestiary?
Every animal you solve joins the Bestiary, a field notebook of the animals you have met, with a card for each.
Does the game keep score?
No. The top bar shows your time, the answers solved and the help you used. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Other modes and further play
The game also has mini, regular and hard crosswords, the daily crossword, kids and large print, your own crossword and printing with an answer sheet. This example checks one easy crossword in the browser build, not every grid or language.
Report a changed rule or control. Browser and Android editions can differ; the checked date describes this walkthrough, not a new game release.
Crossword rules in detail
A crossword is a grid of white squares with numbered answers that run across and down. Every answer here is an animal, and your goal is to write each one so that every clue is answered.
The grid and the numbers
Your goal is to write an animal into every run of white squares so that every clue is answered. The grid is laid out freely around the theme: each answer crosses at least one other, and there are no black squares to fill.
Every answer has a number in its first square. The clues come in two lists, Across and Down, ordered by these numbers. On a phone the clue of the current answer sits on a label just above the game keyboard, and the Clues button opens both lists; on a computer the lists stand next to the grid.
Typing an answer
Tap a square to select it: its answer lights up and its clue appears on the label. Tap the same square again, or the label, to switch between across and down. Type a letter and the cursor moves on along the answer, skipping squares that are already filled. On a computer you can use your own keyboard, the arrow keys and Backspace.
Crossings and lengths
A square where two answers cross belongs to both of them, so one solved answer gives you letters for the other. The number in brackets after a clue is the length of the answer. Two numbers, like (5, 7), mean two words written without a space.
Check and reveal
Stuck? Help can check or reveal a letter, an answer or the whole grid, as often as you like. Each use adds one to the help counter in the top bar. Checking marks wrong letters with a red pencil stroke; easy crosswords and crosswords for kids show mistakes as you type. Reveal all ends the crossword without a win.
Solved, time and progress
You win when every square holds the right letter. There is no score: the top bar shows your time, the answers solved and the help you used. Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can come back to an unfinished grid later.
Explanation checked 2026-11-12. Studio page text docs/page/content/en/game.md (spec 04, git-house-morn/crosswords 3665265), checked against src/game/config.js (presets, answers and grid sizes), the help and the auto-check of easy and kids, and the build in the browser 2026-11-12