A Criss Cross is a logic puzzle where you fit all the words in a word list into a grid of interlocking squares. The meaning of the words isn’t relevant to solving the puzzle. There is only one way to fit the words in, so if you complete the puzzle using all the words once, you know that you’ve solved it correctly.
Getting started
To start solving a Criss Cross, look at the squares that cross the given word. In the example, the six-letter words ‘_ E _ _ _ _’ and ‘ _ A _ _ _ _’ cross the given word ‘ETA’.
In the 6 LETTERS list, there’s only one six-letter word with ‘E’ in second letter position: RELENT. Fill this in.
There are four possible six-letter words for ‘_ A _ _ _ _’ so leave this blank for now. Try to progress through the puzzle based on certainties, and by testing the fewest possible options each move you make.
Making progress
Turning now to the first Down word in the top left of the grid, ‘_ _ _ _ _ R’, there are two possible options: PINCER and RICHER.
If you fill in PINCER, you then need a four-letter word, beginning with ‘C’, to start from its fourth letter. However, there isn’t a four-letter ‘C’ word in the list, so you can rule out PINCER and fill in RICHER.
RICHER is confirmed by HURL, which crosses it, as HURL is the only four-letter word beginning with ‘H’. And so it continues…
Tips
• Score off the words in the word list as you go along.
• Work in pencil so you can test possibilities and erase them if they don’t work.
• You often have to work through several moves in your mind and use a process of elimination.
• If you get stuck, retrace your moves until the last point you had more than one option to choose from.
And here’s the completed puzzle:
