Crossword solver, every word that fits your squares.

A crossword solver by pattern finds every word that fits the squares you have filled in. Type the letters you know and put a ? for each empty square, so c?o??w?rd finds crossword. It is a crossword helper for the part of the puzzle where you already have a few crossing letters and need the word. It does not read clues. If you have the clue but no letters, the answer has to come from your own head or a clue dictionary.

How to use the crossword solver

1. Type your pattern in Pattern. Use a letter for a square you know and ? for a square you do not. A full stop or an underscore works as a ? too.
2. Or work in the row of squares under the box. Pick a length under Length, click a square and type a letter. It fills the square and moves to the next one. Backspace steps back, and the arrow keys move along the row.
3. Use * when you do not know how many letters are missing. *tion finds every word that ends in tion.
4. If the clue tells you a letter must be in the word but not where, type it under Must contain. Type letters you have ruled out under Cannot contain.
5. Read the matches. Common words come first, rarer ones are fainter. Click a word to copy it, or press Copy all words, Copy as a comma list or Download .txt.

Worked examples

The pattern ?r??e has five squares and an R in the second. In the Most words list it finds 73 words, starting with the common ones such as price, prime, prove, drive and grave. The pattern a??le finds 8 words: angle, apple, ample, agile, aisle, amble, ankle and addle. That is a short enough list to check against a clue by eye.

Now add more knowledge. Take ??a?? and say you know an E is somewhere in it and you have ruled out S. That leaves 99 words, such as awake, blame, frame and heart. Every square you fill in from a crossing word cuts the list further, which is the whole point of working the grid from both directions.

The * is a different tool. *tion finds 1,270 words, grouped by length so the short ones come first. It is useful when a long answer ends in a known suffix, or when you only know the first letters, as in un*.

What the lists contain

The words come from SCOWL, a word list made by Kevin Atkinson that anyone may use. This tool keeps the words that every English spelling shares and leaves out names, abbreviations and hyphenated words. That is a limit for crosswords. Proper names, short forms, phrases and many British or American spellings will not be there. Tick Add spelling variants to add forms such as colour and centre. A newspaper puzzle may also use a word that is in no standard word list.

Tips for a long list

• Set Words to show to Everyday words if you only want words most solvers know. Choose Include rare words when you are stuck.
• Use Cannot contain after you have placed letters in other answers. A letter you know is wrong in this word is as useful as one you know is right.
• If a pattern gives nothing, check the count of squares first. A wrong length is the usual reason.

How each known letter shrinks the list

The list holds 4,999 five letter words in the Most words setting. Every letter you know cuts that number, and where the letter sits matters. These counts come from the same list the tool uses.

The second letter is the most common place for an A, and a final A is rare. Two crossing letters drop the list below 100 in most cases, so work the grid until you have two or three letters in the answer, then use the tool.

Making the most of the filters

If you know a letter is in the word but cannot place it, Must contain is better than guessing patterns one by one. If the clue says the answer is plural, the last letter is probably S, so put it in the pattern. When a long answer is stuck, try the * form with the letters you are sure of at each end, such as s*ing, and read the list by length.

To make a puzzle rather than solve one, use the crossword puzzle maker. For letters in any order, try the word unscrambler or the anagram solver.