Stuck on a crossword clue? Enter the letters you know with wildcards (?) for blanks — and our solver instantly finds every matching word from a 450,000+ word dictionary.
Use letters for known positions and ? for unknowns. Click letters below or type directly in the input.
Enter a pattern like C?T or ??IGHT to find matching words
Use ? for each unknown letter
Three ways to find your crossword answer — from simple pattern matching to advanced filtered search.
Type your pattern using capital letters for known positions and ? for unknown letters. For a 5-letter word starting with S: S????
Optionally add letters the word must contain or must not contain. This narrows results when you have crossing letter clues from other answers.
Click "Find Answers" to search the dictionary. Results are highlighted to show which letters match your known positions.
Sort by length or alphabetically. Click any result to copy it. Use recent searches to quickly revisit previous patterns as you work through the puzzle.
3-letter word starting with C, ending in T. Finds: CAT, CUT, COT, CIT, etc.
6-letter words ending in IGHT. Finds: FLIGHT, BLIGHT, SLIGHT, PLIGHT, etc.
5-letter word starting with W, ending in LD. Finds: WORLD, WOULD, WIELD, WULD.
6-letter word with L as 2nd letter, ER ending. Finds: PLAYER, FLOWER, CLEVER, etc.
9-letter words ending in TION. Finds: INVENTION, ATTENTION, DIRECTION, etc.
Nine wildcards = all 9-letter words. Combine with "Must Contain" to narrow down by crossing letters.
Our crossword solver uses regex-style pattern matching against a comprehensive English word dictionary. When you enter a pattern like C??SS, the solver constructs a regular expression that matches any 5-letter word starting with C and ending in SS — returning results like CROSS, CLASS, CHESS, and CRASS in milliseconds.
The "Must Contain" and "Must Not Contain" filters add additional constraints beyond the positional pattern. This is especially powerful when you've already solved crossing answers in the grid and know which letters must appear in the unknown word.
There's a meaningful difference between solving a crossword and cheating at one. Our tool is designed as a learning aid and accessibility tool — not just an answer machine. Results show all possible words matching your pattern, requiring you to use context clues, crossing letters, and puzzle theme knowledge to choose the right answer.
For crossword constructors and puzzle editors, the solver doubles as a fill finder — quickly identifying which words fit a given slot length and pattern during grid construction. This is the same technique used by professional crossword constructors.
A question mark (?) represents any single unknown letter. If you have a 6-letter clue and know the first letter is F and last is T, enter F????T. Use one ? for each blank square in the crossword grid. You can also use a dot (.) as an alternative wildcard character.
Use wildcards for unknown positions and enter known letters in their exact positions. If you know the word is 7 letters, the 3rd letter is E, and the 6th letter is T, enter ??E??T?. Then add any crossing letters you know to the "Must Contain" field to narrow results further.
The solver uses a built-in word list, and if you place a words.txt file in the same directory, it automatically loads the full 450,000+ word database. The larger database includes rare words, variant spellings, and obscure vocabulary often found in challenging crossword puzzles like the NYT or Times cryptic.
Yes, with some adaptation. Cryptic crossword answers often have unusual or archaic words — the full 450K dictionary helps here. The pattern matcher works the same way: if you've worked out from the wordplay that the answer is a 7-letter word with certain letters, enter those positions and the solver will find candidates.
The built-in word list focuses on common vocabulary. With the full 450K words.txt file, coverage of proper nouns, place names, and personal names improves significantly. For specialized crosswords (geography, celebrity names, etc.), you may still need to verify answers against external sources.
Enter your pattern and let our dictionary find every possible matching answer.
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