About
About Cryptic Crossword Solver
A free solving tool and a complete guide to cryptic clues, built by someone who sets them.
Eleanor Vance
Cryptic crossword setter and puzzle editor
Eleanor Vance has been setting and solving cryptic crosswords for over fifteen years. She writes about clue construction, Ximenean fairness and the craft of misdirection, and built this solver to give newcomers the same footing experienced solvers take for granted.
Contact
- Phone
- (907) 243-8806
- Address
- 4211 Spenard Rd, Anchorage, Alaska 99517, United States
Why this site exists
Cryptic crosswords have a reputation for being impenetrable, and the reputation is only half deserved. The puzzles are hard, but they are not arbitrary. Every clue has a definition and a wordplay element, every wordplay type has recognisable indicator words, and the whole system is learnable in a fortnight of evenings.
What holds beginners back is usually not intelligence but access: the conventions are rarely written down in one place, and the tools that exist tend to be built for standard crosswords rather than cryptic ones. Cryptic Crossword Solver is an attempt to fix both: a complete guide to the ten clue types alongside a solver that handles the mechanics a cryptic clue actually uses.
How we work
Every example is verified
Each clue on this site is checked by an automated test before it ships: the letter count has to match the answer, the answer has to be a real dictionary word, and the mechanic (anagram, hidden word, reversal, deletion, initialism) has to actually work. Nothing goes up on a maybe.
The tool runs on your device
The solver bundles an English dictionary and loads it in the browser, one answer-length at a time. Nothing you type is sent to a server, there is no account, and no personal data is stored anywhere.
Honest about what a solver does
A solver finds matching words and patterns. It does not think like a person and it cannot read a clue. We say so plainly, because a beginner who trusts a tool too far learns slower than one who treats it as a shortlist.