Three Pins

Building the grid

Click on any white square and start typing the word you want. A list of words and phrases which fit will appear in the little box underneath the grid. There may be a lot of them, so scroll the box to see them all. Click on any word or phrase to insert it into the grid, and the clue enumeration will automatically update to match.

As you fill words in, you may find places where nothing good fits - that's part of the challenge! To backtrack, select an entry in the grid and click ‘clear’ in the box underneath.

To add or remove black squares, select the ‘Edit pattern’ radio button beneath the grid and then click the squares you want to change. Clue numbers and enumeration will automatically change to match the grid. When done, select the ‘Edit text’ radio button to go back to filling in words.

Progress is automatically saved in your browser as you go along, and will persist until its cache is cleared or you click ‘start over’.

Writing clues

Clue entry is free-form, and this tool is too dumb to help you with them. It provides convenient spaces to write them down, but the rest is up to you!

It's finished, what now?

Use the buttons beneath the clues to save or print your puzzle and its solution. You'll be asked to provide some details before saving so that you can log in and edit the puzzle later on. You can also download it as an ipuz file, a text format which is compatible with professional software such as Crossword Compiler and Sympathy. If you have a UK-style cryptic and want an audience, try sending it to Big Dave for his Rookie Corner series. It's a great place for beginners to get feedback and advice.

If there are other features you'd like to see, please get in touch. For any technical problems, you can also log an issue on the site's GitHub page.