Crossword Puzzle

by Hla Min

Updated : May 2025

Friendly competition

My uncle and my cousin brother would have a friendly competition to complete “Cross word puzzle” which was featured daily in an English newspaper.

Several magazines and journals also publish “Cross word puzzle”.

Complexity

There may be

• Simple Cross Word Puzzle which can be completed in about 10 minutes
• Hard Cross Word Puzzle which requires 30+ minutes
• Challenging Cross Word Puzzle which may take a long time
• Subject-specific Cross Word Puzzle
• Book of Cross Word Puzzles

Entries

Some entries are easy to fill.

For example, a two-letter word for printer’s measure will usually be “en” or “em”. In printing, the width of the letter M is known as an “em”. The width of the letter N is an “en”.

A three-letter word for referee’s cousin will probably be “ump” (for umpire).

Some entries may be anagrams. Examples of anagrams for the four directions are

• Seat (for East)
• Stew (for West)
• Thorn (for North)
• Shout (for South)

Some entries might refer to

• Shakespeare
• Bible
• Literature
• Music

Special Dictionary

• for Crossword
• based on number of letters