BACK TO THE GAME

This article contains all information you need about Arkadium’s Crossword Games.

Choose one option from the list below:

• Tips
• Calendar
• Settings
  • For mobile devices
  • Check and AutoCheck
  • Reveal
  • Pencil Feature
  • Print
• Scoring
  • How is the daily score calculated?
  • How is the total score calculated?
  • What happens when a new month starts?
• Fairness
• Game Progress
• Useful Shortcuts
• My completion percentage is not 100%, what is the reason?!
• Helpful tips with the Arkadium Virtual Assistant!
• Repeated Puzzles

NOTE: for our new Crossword puzzles, your score will be saved to the leaderboard in a new way - by collecting the total aggregate score of all puzzles you've played this month

Tips

Please watch this video to learn Crossword tips & tricks:

Crossword solving is a skill that improves with practice. The most effective solvers combine vocabulary and general knowledge with careful attention to clue wording, answer length, and crossing letters.

Arkadium offers several types of crossword games, from quick Mini and Easy puzzles to larger Sunday, Hard, Premier, and Cryptic crosswords. The following strategies will help you solve standard crossword puzzles more accurately and efficiently.

1. Choose the right puzzle for your current skill level

Improvement is easier when a puzzle is challenging without being overwhelming. If you are new to crosswords, begin with Mini Crossword, The 2 Minute Mini Crossword, Stan Newman's Easy Crossword, or Penny Dell Easy Morning Crosswords.

As your confidence grows, progress to Daily, Medium, Sunday, Premier, or Hard crosswords. Cryptic Crosswords, Codeword, and Fill-Ins use different solving rules, so treat them as separate puzzle types rather than simply harder versions of a standard crossword.

2. Make a quick first pass through the clues

Start with the answers you know immediately. Fill-in-the-blank clues, familiar expressions, common abbreviations, and straightforward definitions are often good entry points.

Do not spend too long on a difficult clue during your first pass. Every answer you solve adds crossing letters elsewhere in the grid, making previously difficult clues easier.

3. Use crossing letters as your most important tool

Each correct answer provides letters for several other answers. If you are unsure about an Across clue, solve the intersecting Down clues and return to it with more information.

A word supported by several crossing letters is much more reliable than an unsupported guess. Moving between Across and Down clues is one of the fastest ways to make progress.

4. Pay attention to the answer’s length and format

The grid tells you exactly how many letters an answer requires. Arkadium clues may also indicate when an answer contains multiple words, such as “(2 wds.).”

Use this information to eliminate answers that may fit the definition but not the available spaces. Remember that spaces, punctuation marks, and hyphens are generally not entered into the grid.

5. Match the grammar of the clue

The answer should normally match the clue’s grammatical form:

• A plural clue usually requires a plural answer.

• A past-tense clue usually requires a past-tense answer.

• A clue describing a person may require a noun referring to a person.

• An abbreviated clue or a clue containing an abbreviation may signal an abbreviated answer.

Checking grammar can help you identify the correct ending even before you know the complete word.

6. Read every word of the clue carefully

Crossword clues are written precisely. A short word can completely change the intended meaning.

Question marks often indicate wordplay or a playful interpretation. Quotation marks may point to a title, phrase, or spoken expression. Words such as “briefly,” “for short,” or “initially” may signal an abbreviation or shortened answer.

Avoid choosing the first synonym that comes to mind without checking whether it matches the clue’s wording and the crossing letters.

7. Look for a theme—but only when the puzzle has one

Some Arkadium crosswords are explicitly themed, while others are not. In a themed puzzle, several of the longer answers may share a subject, phrase pattern, or wordplay device.

Once you identify that connection, use it to predict the remaining themed answers. However, do not force an imaginary theme onto a standard puzzle that may simply contain unrelated clues.

8. Treat uncertain answers as provisional

An educated guess can help you move forward, but do not become attached to it. If several crossing answers conflict with your guess, reconsider it early.

A partially correct answer can block an entire section of the grid. When an area seems impossible, inspect the answers you entered with the least confidence rather than assuming that every crossing clue is unusually difficult.

9. Use Arkadium’s checking tools strategically

The game provides several ways to review your work:

• Check Letter verifies the selected letter.

• Check Word verifies the current answer.

• Check Puzzle reviews the entire grid.

• Autocheck identifies mistakes as you enter them.

• Reveal Letter, Reveal Word, and Reveal Puzzle provide answers when you are completely stuck.

For the best learning experience, try solving through crossing letters first. Then use Check Letter or Check Word to locate a mistake without revealing more of the puzzle than necessary. Save Reveal for situations where you cannot make further progress.

10. Adjust the game settings to match your solving style

Arkadium’s settings can make solving faster and more comfortable. Depending on the game, you can:

• show or hide the timer;

• make the arrow keys change direction;

• skip completed squares;

• move automatically to the next word;

• increase the clue size;

• display clues as a list;

• change the position of the clues;

• turn the sound on or off.

Experiment with these settings. Efficient grid navigation reduces unnecessary clicks and lets you concentrate on the clues.

11. Review unfamiliar answers after finishing

When you encounter an unfamiliar word, name, abbreviation, or piece of trivia, take a moment to look it up after completing the puzzle.

Also pay attention to recurring crossword vocabulary. Certain short words, abbreviations, and names appear frequently because their letter patterns are useful to crossword constructors. Recognizing them will make future puzzles easier.

12. Build accuracy before focusing on speed

If you are still developing your skills, solve with the timer hidden and concentrate on completing the grid accurately. Once you can finish consistently, turn the timer on and work on improving your speed.

Use archived puzzles for additional practice, and compare your results over time. Try to improve gradually instead of rushing and filling the grid with uncertain answers.

13. Know when outside help is useful

Using a dictionary or reference source can be a valuable way to learn, especially during casual play. Before searching for a complete answer, try looking up the unfamiliar part of the clue or confirming a fact.

If you are playing for a personal speed record or want a stricter challenge, decide beforehand that you will solve without outside assistance.

14. Practice different kinds of clues and puzzles

Playing the same difficulty every day can make you faster at one style, but variety will make you a stronger overall solver. Alternate between quick puzzles, themed crosswords, larger Sunday grids, and more challenging editions.

Most importantly, enjoy the process. Getting stuck is a normal part of crossword solving. Each difficult clue you eventually understand makes the next puzzle a little easier.

Calendar

When entering any of the Crosswords, you'll encounter a calendar. This can be used to scroll forward and backward through the available crossword puzzles. Use the arrows on the sides or the slider on the bottom to scroll through the dates. You can see your progress in each of the puzzles, and click to "Play" on the one you would like to solve.

When choosing a puzzle, some of them may appear locked. Different users will have different access to puzzles.

• Users who aren't registered with a free Arkadium Account will only be able to play the latest Crossword puzzle
  
• Users who are registered and Signed in to their Arkadium Account, will be able to play the latest and the previous day's Crossword puzzle.
  
• Users who are subscribed to Arkadium Plus will have the last 30 days of puzzles at their disposal.

NOTE: Our Hardest Crossword Ever has no calendar, because it's meant to be a single Crossword puzzle that will take you a long time to complete. This game is simply a single challenge and will not be updated with future puzzles.

Settings

The Settings feature is located in the top left, by using the hamburger icon (3 lines)

In the Settings menu, you can modify various features in the game.

If you place your mouse over each of the options, an explanation of each option will appear.

• Show timer allows you to choose whether the timer on top is shown. The time will keep ticking while you play, regardless of whether it's shown. It will still affect your final score.

• Arrow keys change direction allows you to toggle whether pressing the arrow keys only changes the cell you're on or whether it changes the direction in which you type.

• Skip over filled squares allows you to keep typing while skipping over the squares you've already filled.

• Skip to next word allows you to keep typing in the next word on the puzzle without selecting the square.

• Increase clue size makes the letters in the clue section larger without changing the size of the rest of the game.

• Display clues as a list toggle between your clues displaying as a list on the side of your puzzle or displaying only a single clue for the word you've selected on the bottom of the puzzle.

• Sound turns the sound effects on or off.

• Clues Position changes whether the clues are displayed on the left or the right side of the grid.

For mobile devices

Keyboard Navigation. If you're playing the game on a mobile platform, such as a smartphone or a tablet, you will notice one extra option - Keyboard Navigation. 

The function of this option is to let you use your mobile keyboard as you would use a computer keyboard when navigating the puzzle by introducing arrows on your screen. You can use these to move around the puzzle and the space bar to switch between horizontal and vertical words.

Pinch and zoom. If you play on a mobile device, you can pinch the grid to zoom in and see the letters closer.

Check and AutoCheck

The Check feature checks whether the letter, word, or puzzle you've typed is correct. So, if you want to check answers in the Crossword game, this option is exactly what you are looking for.

After you've completed a word, you can check 

You can check the letter you've selected, the word, or the whole puzzle. If you've toggled "Autocheck," the puzzle will automatically check whether you've made mistakes as you type.

Reveal

Reveal can show you a part of the puzzle that hasn't yet been guessed.

You can choose between revealing a letter, a word, or the entire puzzle.

By choosing to reveal a word or a letter, please note that you will not receive any score for that same word.

Pencil Feature

If you're indecisive about a word or letter and you're not sure if it fits, you can use the Pencil Feature.

The Pencil feature allows you to insert any letter into any cell without it being recognized as having been completed in the puzzle. If you're unsure about a word or a letter being the right one, but you'd still like to write it, perhaps to erase later, you can click on the pencil icon in the top right and type any word as you would. The letter will appear grey instead of black, so you can know which ones you've inserted as a temporary choice or as your final answer.

This is great for when you'd like to check for answers, but you're not sure about all of your choices.

Print

Print is for when you'd like to print the puzzle on a sheet of paper.

The Print menu allows you to print the puzzle differently, with clear visual options on how to do so.

Scoring

ATTENTION: Please note that the Crossword game features a cumulative scoring system. Players are required to submit their TOTAL SCORE on a daily basis for all three leaderboards: Daily, Weekly, and Monthly. In order to secure a favorable position on the leaderboard, it is essential to maintain consistency and participate in the new crossword game each day.

How is the daily score calculated?

The daily score consists of 3 parts:

• The Puzzle Score. It equals the % of the puzzle that was completed without help X 100 - This is the percentage of cells filled without using the "Reveal" and "Check" buttons.

• The Time Bonus.
  
  • Two Minute Mini - (120 - Solve Time in Seconds) * 10
  • Arkadium Mini - (210 - Solve Time in Seconds) * 10
  • The Daily Crossword - (720 - Solve Time in Seconds) * 10
  • Easy - (850 - Solve Time in Seconds) * 10
  • Hard - (1,700 - Solve Time in Seconds) * 10
  • Sunday - (2,700 - Solve Time in Seconds) * 10
  • All Others - (1,000 - Solve Time in Seconds) * 10

  
  

  - If your puzzle is finished within the allowed time, you will receive a time bonus. (This time bonus will only be awarded if you complete at least 50% of the puzzle manually, without help).
  

• The Daily Bonus. It equals 50 points - For example, if you completed August 31st's puzzle on August 31st, you will get a daily bonus.

General Formula: 

Daily Score = Puzzle Score + Time Bonus + Daily Bonus

NOTE: if you wish to review your answers at the end of the game, please, press the HIDE button at the top left corner of the game end pop-up

Let's breakdown the example above and calculate the score step-by-step:

• Puzzle Score = 10 000. 100% of the puzzle was completed without help: 100 x 100 = 10 000 points.

• Time Bonus = 0. The puzzle was finished within 9 minutes and 18 seconds. There is no time bonus in this case because 9 minutes and 18 seconds equals 558 seconds, and this number is higher than the 300 seconds limit, which is why the time bonus is not awarded in this case. (Remember, this time bonus will only be awarded if you complete at least 50% of the puzzle without help).
  

• Daily Bonus = 50. The puzzle was completed on the daily puzzle date (the 2 October puzzle was completed on the 2 of October), and 50 points Daily Bonus was awarded. 

The Daily score = 10 000 + 0 + 50 = 10 050 pts

NOTE: keep in mind, Arkadium players are located across the world, but our leaderboards are set on Eastern Time, which in the winter months (EST) is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-05:00) and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) during the summer months which is four hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-04:00). So, while you may be playing your game on August 31st at 9:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), it's already September 1st at 12:30 AM EST, so the leaderboards may already reset your monthly score

WARNING: When you're not signed in, your browser will save cloud saved games using the cache system as described in older puzzles. Please be careful, as if you save a game using the cache system and sign into your account afterwards, your progress might be overwritten. We always recommend signing into your account before starting the game.

NOTE: The cloud saving system is only available in Crosswords on the Arkadium.com website. Any other website where Arkadium games are available will use the local browser file system to save all progress, so please be careful with clearing any files.

WARNING FOR SAFARI BROWSERS: Due to a few recent updates on Mac OS systems, the Safari browser has become incompatible with some of the progress saving systems. Unfortunately, Apple's security clearances aren't always compatible with the way progress files are saved. For this reason, we recommend using a different browser, such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge

ATTENTION: Please note that using helpers or having done mistakes will not affect the Calendar percentage, as long as all of the cels end up filled with the correct letters.