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Let them practise on their own Crossword puzzle

News quiz crossword

Every clue is a story from this week's paper, with the letter count in brackets. Readers who kept up fill it in, and the rest find out what they missed.

When to use it

The weekend slot on a local news site, built from that week's stories. A Friday newsletter that rounds up the news in a form people actually finish. An anniversary edition, with a clue for every big story of the year.

What makes it this

Built on the Crossword puzzle generator with these changed. Everything else is the default.

  1. Show the letter count

    Each clue ends with the length of its answer in brackets, like (5), or (3,4) for two words.

    In the builder: How it plays › Solving aids

  2. Remember answers between visits

    Answers come back when a player reopens the activity in the same browser.

    In the builder: Answers & timing › Attempts & answers

Preview

View only — copy it to play.

The week in the news: a crossword

Every clue is a story from this week's paper, and the number after it is how many letters the answer has. The stories here are invented for the example; a local site writes the clues from its own front page.

14 words

Why the example is built this way

  1. The letter count does the narrowing.

    A clue about a story fits several words, so Show the letter count is on: every clue ends with the length of its answer, like (6). Don't type the count into the clue as well, or it shows twice.

  2. One story per clue, and no answers inside.

    Write each clue as the story in one line, with the detail readers will remember. Check that no clue gives away another answer: the mayor cuts the ribbon at the reopening, not on the bridge.

  3. Readers come back during the week.

    Remember answers between visits is on, so a half-finished grid is still there when a reader returns in the same browser. Make each week's crossword its own activity, so nobody's letters land on next week's grid.

Build it yourself

  1. 1 Open the Crossword puzzle builder and fill in the first tab, Words & clues.
  2. 2 Change the settings under What makes it this. Each one says where it is in the builder.
  3. 3 Share the link with your players, or embed the activity in your own site.
Open the Crossword puzzle builder

Or skip the building: copy this example and swap in your own content.

More with the Crossword puzzle

Who it’s for