Crossword Helper

Find words that fit your crossword gaps: type the letters you know and ? for the rest, with codeword numbers too.

Pattern

? for each unknown letter; a space or - between words.

Must include

Exclude

Type the letters you already have in a crossword answer, with ? for each square still empty, and the helper lists every word that fits, common words first. It also solves codeword puzzles, where numbers stand for letters. It works from the pattern alone: it does not read clues.

How to use it

Pattern — the answer as it stands in the grid: known letters, and ?, . or _ for each empty square, from 2 to 25 letters. Case and accents do not matter. For an answer of several words, put a space or a hyphen between them, as in ???-?????; up to 4 words.
Codeword numbers — in place of ?, the digits 1 to 9: equal digits are the same letter, different digits are different letters, and a digit is never a letter already shown in the pattern.
Must include — letters the answer holds somewhere; type a letter twice to need it twice. Exclude — letters the empty squares cannot be, such as those ruled out by crossing answers.

Results update as you type. Common words come first, then less common ones, each in alphabetical order. Click a word to copy it. An answer of several words lists at most 500 combinations, built from the most common words first; adding letters narrows it.

Where the words come from

The words come from SCOWL, the word lists behind many spell checkers, in American and British spelling, and from ENABLE, a public-domain list compiled for word games. A word is common when SCOWL lists it at size 50 or below, its medium-sized list.

The lists hold no proper nouns or abbreviations, which crosswords use often: Oslo, Erie and NASA will not be found. An answer of several words is matched one word at a time, so a phrase made of listed words is found, but so are combinations that are not phrases at all.

Examples

A crossword answer with every other letter known

Pattern: c?o?s?o?d
Common words: crossroad, crossword

Only 2 words of nine letters fit.

A codeword

Pattern: 1221
Common words: boob, deed, kook, noon, peep, poop, sees, toot
Less common words: abba, anna, keek, naan, otto

Each word repeats its first letter last and its second letter third, with two different letters.

Frequently asked questions

No. Solving a clue needs a database of past clues and answers, and the helper has only word lists. Use it once you have a few crossing letters: the pattern narrows the words to a short list you can check against the clue.

It may be a name or an abbreviation, which the lists do not hold, or a phrase not split into words. Check the pattern's length too: each ? is exactly one square.