A Snakeword is a special crossword where, instead of travelling in straight lines, words snake around in different directions.
Specifically, as you can see in the first entry below, words start in numbered coloured squares, follow the arrow and change direction by 90 degrees at every vowel. Words also finish in coloured squares, so the last letter of one word will be the first of the next. The final word will end in the grey square.
In this tricky variation on the crossword format, words can cross over each other, and multiple can start from the same square. Simply solving the clues isn’t enough to complete this tricky little puzzle.
Getting started
Try working though the clues in order, as the end of the previous clue will help you solve the next. Once you have an answer, try fitting it in so that it starts in the direction of the arrow, changes direction at every vowel, and finishes in the next numbered square. If you can’t make the word fit, then you’ll have to think of a different word that will work.
Tips
- Go through the clues and make a note of any answers you’re sure about; you can use these to help solve adjacent clues from their start and end letters.
- Consider the lengths of words, and how shorter ones will have fewer possible ways to be entered in the puzzle grid.
- Plotting out the route a word will have to take will tell you where and how many vowels it has.
- Remember that words can cross over, and sections of one word may get reused in another.
