Puzzle Solver: How to Solve Crosswords, Anagrams, and Logic Puzzles
A puzzle solver is software that searches a word list or logic engine to find answers you can't recall yourself. Cross+A, the program described on cross-plus-a.com, is one example: it handles crosswords, anagrams, word puzzles, Sudoku, Kakuro, nonograms, and other logic grids, and it ships with a dictionary of 159,000 English words, some with descriptions. Use a solver when you're stuck on a specific gap, checking a finished grid, or generating candidate answers to choose from — not when you want the puzzle itself to be the challenge.
What a puzzle solver actually does
Two different jobs get lumped under "puzzle solver":
- Word lookup — you supply partial information (known letters, a pattern, a clue, or a set of letters) and the program returns matching words from its dictionary.
- Logic solving — for Sudoku, Kakuro, nonograms, and similar grids, the program applies the puzzle's rules to a given state.
Cross+A covers both, plus puzzle creation, which is why its own description calls it an app for "solving and creating puzzles." The word side is the part most people need for crosswords and anagrams, so the rest of this covers those search modes and their limits.
Choosing the right search mode
Each mode expects different input and returns a different kind of list. Picking the wrong one is the most common reason a search comes back empty or useless.
| Mode | What you enter | What you get back |
|---|---|---|
| Search by Letters | Known length and known letters | Words matching those positions |
| Anagram — Descending | A word or set of letters | All words that can be built from those letters |
| Anagram — Ascending | A word or set of letters | All words that contain all of those letters |
| Search by Description | Words you know appear in the answer's description | Words whose descriptions match |
| Search by Pattern | Letters plus wildcard characters | Words fitting the pattern |
| Word-combination | A phrase or string of letters | Ways to split it into valid words |
Search by Letters
Use this for a crossword gap where you know the length and some positions. It's the most direct mode: give the length and the letters you're sure of, and the program returns candidates. If you get nothing, the letters you "know" are probably wrong — loosen them one at a time.
Anagram search: descending vs ascending
These two are easy to confuse and produce very different results.
- Descending finds words made from your letters. The site's own example: for
option, it returnspoint,piton,top,into,tip, and so on. Use it when you have a jumble of letters and want every word hidden inside them. - Ascending finds words that contain all your letters. For
melody, it returnselectrodynamics,employed,formaldehyde,methodology,polyamide, and similar. Use it when you know a set of letters must appear somewhere in a longer answer.
If a descending search returns too many short words, that's expected — it's finding every subset, not just full-length anagrams. Switch to ascending if you actually want longer words that use all the letters.
Search by Description and Search by Pattern
Search by Description works when you know part of the clue wording that appears in the dictionary entry — useful when a crossword clue is a near-quote of a stored description. Search by Pattern uses wildcard characters to stand in for unknown letters, so you can search a shape rather than a fixed length.
Both depend entirely on the dictionary. A word that isn't in the 159,000-word list, or that has no description attached, won't surface no matter how you phrase the search.
Word-combination search
This mode tries to split a string into valid words. The site's example: incredible = nice + bridle. It's the mode to reach for when a phrase or answer is really two words run together, or when you're checking whether a letter string can be parsed into real words.
Working with the dictionary
The dictionary is the ceiling on every word search. Cross+A's list holds 159,000 English words, only part of which have descriptions — so description searches cover a smaller set than letter or pattern searches. You can add new words, delete or change descriptions, and copy words to the clipboard. Word lists for other languages are available for downloading, which matters if you're solving in a language other than English.
Practical consequences:
- No results usually means the word isn't in the list, your known letters are wrong, or (for description search) that entry has no description.
- Too many results means your constraints are too loose — add known letters, fix the length, or switch from descending to ascending anagram search.
- Wrong-language results mean you haven't loaded the relevant word list.
Beyond words: logic puzzles
Cross+A also covers Sudoku, Kakuro, nonograms (griddlers), and other logic puzzles, plus puzzle variations. For these, the input is the grid state and the output is a solved or advanced grid — a different workflow from the word searches above. If your task is a logic grid rather than a crossword or anagram, start from that part of the program rather than the dictionary tools.
When a solver helps and when it doesn't
Use a solver when you need to fill a gap, verify an answer, or generate options to judge yourself. Skip it when the point is the solving — a completed grid you didn't work out gives you the answer but not the puzzle. For crosswords and anagrams, the search modes above are the whole toolkit; the dictionary you load determines how well they work.