How do I use the crossword solver?

Type the answer's known letters in their positions and a ? (or _ or .) for each blank square. The solver finds every word of that exact length whose known letters match your pattern.

What symbols can I use for blank squares?

You can use ?, _ or . for each unknown square — they all work the same way. The word length is taken from the total number of characters in your pattern.

How is this different from an anagram solver?

An anagram solver rearranges a set of letters. The crossword solver matches letters to fixed positions, which is what a crossword grid gives you once a few crossing letters are filled in.

Can it solve cryptic crosswords?

It helps with the final step: once the clue and your crossing letters give you a length and known letters, it lists every word that fits so you can match it to the clue.

Is the Crossword Solver free?

Yes — completely free, with no sign-up or download. It runs instantly in your browser on any device.

Why are there no results for my pattern?

Usually a crossing letter is wrong or the length is off. Double-check each known letter and the total number of squares, then try again.

Crossword Solver

Enter a pattern with your known letters and a ? for each blank square, and instantly see every word that fits the length and letters you already have.

Updated July 10, 2026 7 min read

Enter known letters and use ?, _ or . for each unknown square. The word length is taken from your pattern.

About the Crossword Solver

A crossword solver fills in the blanks for you. When you have part of a word — a few crossing letters and some empty squares — you type what you know as a pattern, and the AllWordTools.com Crossword Solver searches a large dictionary for every word that fits both the length and the letters already in place. In a fraction of a second, a stubborn clue turns into a shortlist of real answers.

The pattern approach is what makes it so powerful. Use a letter for each square you already know and a ? (or _ or .) for each blank. Enter "c?t" and you get cat, cot and cut; enter "cr?ssw?rd" and it returns crossword. Because the length is taken directly from your pattern, results always match the number of squares in your grid.

It is fast, free and works instantly in your browser on any device — perfect for newspaper crosswords, cryptics, quick puzzles and puzzle apps alike.

How to use the Crossword Solver

1
Count your squares
Work out how many letters the answer has, including the squares you already know.
2
Type your pattern
Enter the known letters in their positions and a ? (or _ or .) for each empty square, e.g. b??k for a four-letter word starting with b.
3
Solve
Press Solve and the tool returns every dictionary word that matches your pattern exactly.
4
Pick your answer
Scan the ranked results and tap any word to copy it into your grid.

How pattern matching works

Every crossword answer has a fixed length and, once you have a few crossing letters, a fixed set of known positions. The solver treats your input as a template: each real letter must match exactly, while each ? can be any letter. It then scans the dictionary for words of the same length whose known positions line up perfectly with yours.

This is fundamentally different from an unscrambler or anagram solver, which work from a bag of letters. The crossword solver cares about position: where a letter sits in the word matters just as much as which letter it is. That is exactly what a crossword grid gives you — letters locked to specific squares.

Cryptic and quick crosswords

For quick crosswords, the solver is a straightforward way to confirm an answer or break a deadlock: enter the pattern from your crossing letters and read the candidates. For cryptic crosswords, it complements your wordplay — once the cryptic clue and a couple of checked letters point you toward a length and shape, the solver reveals every word that could fit.

Because it returns all matches, you can weigh several possibilities against the clue rather than committing to a guess. That is especially handy for less common words and unusual letter patterns.

Why our Crossword Solver stands out

It is fast and precise. Enter a pattern and results appear immediately, drawn from a large, well-maintained dictionary, and ranked so higher-value words surface first. The flexible ?, _ and . blanks mean you can type patterns however feels natural to you.

And like every AllWordTools.com tool, it is completely free, private and requires no sign-up — everything runs right in your browser, with no limit on how many clues you can solve.

Examples

Input

c?t

Sample output

cat, cot, cut

One blank in a three-letter word yields a tidy shortlist.

Input

cr?ssw?rd

Sample output

crossword

Longer patterns often resolve to a single answer.

Input

?pp?e

Sample output

apple, ample

Mix known letters and blanks anywhere in the word.

Pro tips

Count the squares carefully — the pattern length must match the grid exactly.
Fill in every crossing letter you have; each one dramatically shrinks the results.
Use ?, _ or . interchangeably for blanks, whichever is easiest to type.
For cryptics, solve the wordplay first, then use the pattern to confirm the answer.
If nothing matches, re-check a crossing letter — one wrong square blocks every result.

Questions & answers

Crossword Solver FAQs

The AllWordTools.com Team

Word-game specialists and language enthusiasts building fast, accurate tools that help millions of players find the right word. Last reviewed July 10, 2026.