How do you make a crossword puzzle with Microsoft Word?

Answer 1

To create a crossword puzzle in Microsoft Word Choose a reasonable grid size, say 13x13. Adjust the table properties, making row height and column width equal (1cm squares are a good size). Define three paragraph styles: crossword, number and clues.

For the 'crossword' style try 16 point Arial. Make it centred and all caps with spacing above and below of 0 points. This is the style for entering the answers.

The 'number' style is obviously for numbering the squares. Use a monospace font such as Courier at around 8 points. Define the style for the following paragraph as crossword.

Create a 'Clues' table consisting of one row and two columns. Within each column create another table consisting of two columns and say, twenty rows. These are the Across and Down tables. You can insert new rows (or delete some) if the need arises.

Adjust the column widths of the Across and Down tables. The left-hand column needs less space because it accommodates the number of the clue whereas the right-hand column is used for the clue itself. Right-align the left-hand columns and left-align the right-hand columns.

Remove all borders in the Clues table but leave the gridlines on to help you place the clues. The font you use for clues is relatively unimportant but do not make the font too big if you want to keep to one page. Ten point Times New Roman should prove sufficient.

Click on the crossword table and from the table menu choose select>table to select the whole of the crossword table then format it with the 'number' style. You can use a predefined grid pattern or make it up as you go along.

To create a black square just set the shading for that cell to 100%. Fill in the grid by typing a number and then the enter key or just the enter key alone. Then type the letter that goes in that square.

Enter the clues as you go along and you should end up with a filled in crossword. Save the crossword. If you now change the style 'Crossword' so as to make the font hidden, you now have a blank crossword with clues which you can print off.

You can send the Word file to friends and tell them that they can reveal the answers when they have finished by changing the font style of the 'crossword' style so that it is no longer hidden.

Alternatively you can delete the letters from the grid and turn it into a form. Save the document with a different name so that you do not overwrite the one with the answers. Use the forms toolbar to insert form fields into each square (you can create one form field and copy it then paste to each square). The field type should be Regular text, maximum length 1, text format uppercase and 'fill-in' should be enabled .

Remove form field shading. Add help text to the form field in each numbered square to show the appropriate clue(s) in the status bar and in a dialog box when F1 is pressed.

Test the crossword by using the padlock icon on the forms toolbar. When you are satisfied click the padlock icon again and select Tools>Protect Document. Set editing restrictions to allow filling in forms only. If you wish, protect the document with a password. You now have a crossword that can be filled in on-screen.

You can also go to http://www.crosswordsforteachers.com and make a crossword puzzle, create the pdf, and cut the crossword image in the pdf and paste it into Microsoft word.

Answer 2

Ideally, you would need to work out all of your clues and words and layout on paper first. Once you have that, you can type your clues in. To create the crossword itself, you could use a table and black out the appropriate squares. That is a better than another option which is using the drawing tools to create it.

Answer 3

The process is the same as you would use to make a crossword puzzle with a piece of graph paper. Select the squares you want to color black and format the cells to have a black background. Change the protection format of the white cells to unprotect, then protect the entire worksheet, so only the white cells allow entries.

See related links for a way to make graph paper on Excel.

If you want to get a bit more advanced and replicate a complete crossword puzzle (including numbers in the top left corner of a square), format the graph grids as one character wide by one character high, then use nine cells for each crossword block.

ADVANCED INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Format Row height = 8.5 and Column width = 1 (play around with the row height to get a square).
2. Select A1:C3 and format border outline to draw a box around the nine squares.
3. Select A2:C3 and format cells to be merged and aligned center both horizontally and vertically.
4. Select A1:C1 and format cells to be merged and aligned left.
5. In A1, enter 1 and format the font size to fit the box (probably size 6).
6. In A2 (the new combined A2:C3 square), enter A and format the font size to fit the box (probably size 6).
7. Verify all fits as you want, then highlight the entrie square (A1:C3) and press delete to empty the square.
8. Select A1:C3 and copy. Then move to D1 and paste. Repeat as needed to make your complete crossword puzzle.
9. Select A1:?? (bottom right corner of your puzzle) and format the border of the entire range to be a medum bold line.
10. Select the cell ranges for the squares you want to be black squares and format the cells to black background.
11. Identify the boxes that need to be numbered and enter the appropriate numbers.
12. If you want to add a title, go to A1 and insert two lines to allow room for a title in the new row 1. Merge all the appropriate cells in row 1, align center, select the font you want, and enter the crossword title.
13. To the right of the entire puzzle, enter your clues.
14. Adjust and clean up each area until the puzzle looks how you like.