Loona Crossword Generator — Real Intersecting Puzzles
Crosswords are the deepest vocabulary workout on this site — the crossing letters give solvers partial information, so a hard word can be unlocked by an easy one. Until now, making one by hand took an evening of graph paper.
Crossword — Answer Key
How to Use It
- Type words and clues, one per line as WORD = clue. Words of 3–12 letters that share common letters (lots of vowels and S, T, R, N) cross most easily.
- Generate: the longest word is placed first, then each word is fitted across a placed word on a matching letter.
- If a word cannot fit, it is named in the status line. Regenerate to try another layout, tweak the word list, or accept a puzzle without it.
- Print the puzzle for the class and the answer key separately for yourself.
How It Works
The generator works on a large internal grid. The longest word goes across the middle; every later word must cross an existing word on an identical letter, in the perpendicular direction, without touching parallel neighbours or overrunning another word's end — the same rules a human setter follows. Placements that cross the most letters are preferred. Words that cannot legally cross anything are reported rather than silently dropped, and the finished grid is trimmed and numbered from the placed words' start cells.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did one of my words not fit?
A word can only be placed where it crosses an existing word on a shared letter, with clear space around it. Words with rare letters (Q, X, Z, J) or no vowels often cannot cross. Add a bridging word that shares letters with both, or regenerate — ties are broken randomly.
How many words make a good crossword?
Eight to fifteen words of mixed lengths. More words fit when they share common letters; themed lists (all animals, all geography) naturally share vocabulary letters.
Can students solve it on screen?
This version is print-first: the puzzle and key are designed for paper. Students solve with a pencil, which most teachers prefer for crosswords anyway.
Are the clues I write shown exactly?
Yes — your clue text appears unchanged, numbered by the grid position of each word, split into Across and Down lists.