Blank Crossword Grid (Free Printable PDF)
A numbered crossword grid with a proper symmetric black square pattern, plus a clue sheet listing every entry and its length.
Free · no watermark · no sign-up for your first 20 downloads a day
This is the blank you need if you want to build a crossword yourself. The black squares are laid out in a 180 degree rotationally symmetric pattern, the convention every published crossword follows, and the pattern is checked so that no entry is shorter than three letters, every white square belongs to both an across and a down entry, and the white area is fully connected. The squares are then numbered in the standard way, left to right and top to bottom.
Three sizes are available. The 13x13 grid has 28 black squares and 56 entries, the 15x15 daily size has 36 black squares and 62 entries, and the 21x21 Sunday size has 72 black squares and 132 entries. The grid fills the width of the page with room underneath to write the puzzle title and the setter's name, so a finished sheet looks like something you could hand to a solver.
A clue sheet follows the grid. Every entry number is printed in an Across or a Down column with its answer length in brackets and a ruled line to write the clue on, which saves you counting squares while you work. The 21x21 grid needs two clue pages; the smaller grids fit on one. Nothing on either page is a form field, since a crossword is drafted in pencil and rubbed out more than once.
